I laugh as hard and frequently at this as peak Daily Show and Colbert Report. The fact they do most of it off-the-cuff (without much of a writing room, based on interviews I've read) blows my mind.
Vice has something really special here, with two, naturally gifted comedians, both with genius-level understanding of all manner of pop culture plus the ability to find the best humor angle on anything from Scaramucci to James Patterson Novels (and who likely reads them) to demon goats (a regular segment).
I'm watching an old episode right now and laughing so hard I'm wiping away tears. My wife literally applauded ... APPLAUDED at one of their jokes, just sitting in the living room with nobody else around but me. That doesn't happen with other shows.
There are a few things that bother me. They give way too many props to the BX when everybody knows BK is what's up. I've seen Yankees hats all over the set, but no Mets so far. Desus's hats are sometimes too large for his head (wardrobe, can you get on that?).
Other than that, though, this is a brilliant update on the typical late night show and I'm guessing Vice TV's first serious triumph. Too-large hats-off to everyone involved. If you like late night comedy shows and want to see something new, and if you'd love to see the power of Black Twitter harnessed into its best possible TV incarnation, you'll love Desus & Mero.
