When Paul Scheer Totally Bombed at the ESPYs

When comedians like Nikki Glaser or Ricky Gervais killed it at awards shows, their riotous performances took their careers to a whole other level. But what happens when an awards show gag goes sideways? Paul Scheer knows all too well after his debacle at the 2011 ESPYs.

To understand his humiliation, Scheer told Conan O’Brien, he needs to provide some context. The ESPYs that year happened in the wake of riots that broke out in Vancouver after the hometown Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. A picture taken after riot police raided the scene went viral. The dramatic and romantic photo presented a man cradling a woman in the street as violence erupted around them. 

ESPYs host Seth Meyers believed the image was so memorable that he greenlit a bit in which he’d introduce all the famous people in the crowd. “There’s Gronk, there’s this guy, and oh, we have the kissing couple from the riot.” Scheer would play one half of the kissing couple, with comedian Lennon Parham on the receiving end of his smooch. Hilarious, right?

Only if the audience remembered the kissing couple. 

“As I explained that bit to you years later,” Scheer told the blank-faced Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast crew, “that's how familiar the audience was with this bit.”

Meyers did the gag as planned, introducing famous athletes as Scheer and Parham start kissing. “Crickets,” said Scheer, the indignity still etched on his face. The audience “didn't know the reference at all. (ESPYs producers) didn't show an image. They didn't do anything.”

To make matters worse, Scheer and Parham were surrounded by celebrities like Brooklyn Decker, Jonah Hill, and soon-to-be Los Angeles Laker Dwight Howard. “We're just making out, dead silence.”

Well, at least it was over, right? In Scheer’s dreams. The bit was scheduled to happen three times throughout the show. Scheer figured they’d lose the gag after it bombed the first time. 

“No, they didn't cut the bit,” he said. “And every single time, it died. The second time, it was like, ‘They're doing this again? We didn't like this!” 

When the bit was repeated a third time, Scheer says, the audience got outright angry. “I will never forget this moment. We worked our way from the seats all the way to the stage. It was the final act of the show. Seth is killing it. Everything is working except for this bit.” Scheer glanced at his phone, read a few real-time tweets about how the kissing bit sucked, then performed it a final time. Once again, no one laughed. 

But of course, insult needed to be added to injury. As Scheer left the stage, he was greeted by a denim-clad Jay Leno. “Eh, didn’t work,” Leno offered.

“I know it didn't work, but to be told by Jay was a mortifying experience,” Scheer confessed. “I never walked with my head so low.”