New York improv mainstay Chris Gethard (known, kind of, for replacing Jon Heder on Comedy Central’s short-lived Big Lake), mounted a YouTube and Twitter-based campaign to co-star in an Upright Citizens Brigade showcase with Sean Combs, a.ka. Diddy or Diddy Dirty-Money or Sir Didworth of Ciroc-Tubwater Manor, or whatever the fuck he wants to be called today. And the weird thing is Diddy actually did it, turning up for Gethard’s show on Friday and gamely participating in a series of sketches that, according to the New York Times, was “equal parts talk show, improv show and Friars Club roast.”
The show began with Gethard and Diddy reenacting some of the phone calls they’d exchanged during Gethard’s yearlong pursuit, which was followed by a set of video clips that included a fake commercial for Ciroc and another where UCB cast member Will Hines traversed New York to deliver a Junior’s cheesecake to Diddy, and a pair of sketches that had Diddy participating in a blindfolded vodka taste test and watching a fashion show featuring his Sean John clothing line—and he did not fly into a rage and order his security detail to kill everyone, so it was a success. But beyond just playing passive observer, Diddy also flexed the comedy skills he showed off in Made and more recently Get Him To The Greek:
Diddy seemed more engaged by a segment in which he was asked to come up with nicknames for Mr. Gethard and his crew. He repeatedly buried his head in his hands and went into long, Zen-like trances, emerging to declare that Mr. Fanelli’s nickname was Luther, Ms. O’Neill’s was Mercedes (“a down-home stripper name,” Diddy explained) and Mr. Gethard’s was Ray Ray (no explanation offered)…
Knowing that Mr. Gethard was about to get behind the wheel of an R.V. and embark on a cross-country comedy tour, Diddy told him, “I do care about you. I do have this connection to you.” He then presented Mr. Gethard with several farewell gifts including Tic Tacs, cologne, lip balm, three strippers, a wad of cash (almost certainly fake) and a handgun (hopefully fake, too).
Then, in the final skit of the night, Diddy and the cast performed a short play written by Mr. Gethard, in which he imagines that he and Diddy become best friends, travel to flashy parties and exotic locales (stopping at Mr. Gethard’s home in Woodside, Queens, for a game of Risk) before parting ways.
Adding a personal flair to the lines Mr. Gethard had composed for him, Diddy said: “Do what you do, and don’t quit. Never forget, Ray Ray. Never give up, Ray Ray.”
Anyway, let this be a lesson to you: Harass Diddy long enough and he’ll do whatever you want.