I don’t know about your experience, but there are tons of viral videos I have seen over the years, but there are also gaps where it seems everyone-but-me has seen a video.

This might be one of those videos.

I watched a lot of Letterman over the years, but most of it was when the show was on NBC. Over the last year or so, the Letterman YouTube channel has been posting lots of “favorite moments” by the staff — I’ve watched most of them, if not all. In his video, Drummer Anton Fig off-handedly mentions a performance by Future Islands, which is then followed by a very brief clip.

Wow. I sought it out and it was amazing. Vocalist Samuel T. Herring look eerily similar to a young Marlon Brando, and dances in a very hypnotic way. He occasionally drops his voice into a demonic growl. It all works.

Another nice little bonus is how clearly delighted Letterman is by the performance. It was great seeing someone who is often a little guarded just exuberantly enjoying a moment.

Was I the only person to not see and hear this? I hadn’t even heard of Future Islands before. It’s embarrassing!

Anyways, sorry if you’ve already seen/heard this video. If you haven’t, please enjoy.

Because I feel like it and it’s my blog, I’m going to highlight videos that have personally affected me in some way. Here’s the first one.

It’s an entire episode of The Chris Gethard Show. It’s a talk show, but it’s different in really neat ways. First of all, it’s not a traditional studio audience. Everyone is sitting around Gethard and his guests. Gethard comes across as this incredibly empathetic and somewhat harried host. He’s barely keeping the show on the rails, but it really is something to behold.

The show started as a live event at the Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC, eventually ran on public access channel MNN, then finished up after a few seasons on Fusion and truTv, stopping broadcasting in 2018.

There’s a show where Gethard and his cast/crew stay up all night before filming (a well-rested Seth Meyers is the guest), and the host is even more raw and emotional than normal. I say this as a compliment, I really do. Something is really happening, something genuine. Another show (Maria Bamford guesting) discusses depression openly and honestly, with everyone including Gethard, Bamford, and callers sharing personal, gut-wrenching moments in an atmosphere of support.

I’m going for more of a fun episode that I want to share, though. The episode I want to highlight is “One Man’s Trash”. Chris is joined by Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas to help him determine WHAT’S IN THAT DUMPSTER. A dumpster is wheeled into the studio under cover of secrecy, and at the start of the show, only Chris knows the contents.

There’s so much love and affection and ribbing from Paul and Jason (okay, way more from Jason) towards Chris. I believe the three did stints at the UCB in NY, and I think Jason and Paul are kind of mentor figures to Chris.

Anyways, please watch if you like. It makes me happy to be a human being. And also, please don’t peek ahead. You’ll enjoy it much more if you watch the entire show.