Nothing like a little natural disaster to bring out the funny.
As high-powered winds wreaked havoc in Los Angeles last night, the lights in Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show studio suddenly went pitch-black during the last few seconds of his interview with Alicia Silverstone—to the surprise of host, guest and stagehands and, thanks to the quick-thinking Ferguson, the amusement of viewers.
"Oh!" the suddenly faceless Ferguson cried out. "Oooh, it's getting close to Halloween. This is awesome. We've gone to radio, everybody!"
When prompted by a producer to "keep going" for the last few seconds before the commercial break, Ferguson had a hard time grasping the notion, but like any obliging cheeky monkey, did as he was told.
"Keep going, keep going what? Keep going?! We'll be right back, everybody."
The power managed to come back for Ferguson's second interview, with Salman Rushdie (not even a force of nature would dare come between a man and his fatwa), but conked back out by the end of the show.
Not that that put a crimp in the enterprising (and flashlight-possessing) host's late-night denouement...
success!