Madonna’s Tour Announcement Video Includes Every Name in Comedy Her Publicist Could Think Of
Remember “Truth or Dare?” It’s the game that everyone played in their tweens to entertain each other until more mature pastimes were available, yet, somehow, Madonna is still obsessed with the party game 32 years after the release of the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. This morning, the mononymous music superstar released an homage to her 1991 film which shows her playing a salacious round of the game with some of the biggest and most current names in comedy as a star-studded announcement for the upcoming “Celebration Tour.”
The video is a veritable “who’s who” of comedians that a 64-year-old celebrity’s PR representatives would want attached to their star’s name: A-listers like Jack Black, Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer made the cut (the latter of whom has previously toured with Madonna), along with some of the cutting-edge comics who capture an alternative zeitgeist — Eric André, Kate Berlant, Larry Owens, Bob the Drag Queen (who will be performing on this upcoming tour) and Megan Stalter also joined the Queen of Pop in her chaotic party game. Oh, also, Lil Wayne and Diplo were there, because this video is an insane, postmodern amalgamation of star power and depravity.
If you’ve ever wanted to watch Madonna make out with Jack Black and see Diplo dip his balls in a margarita, now is your chance.
Madonna described herself as “kind of a closeted comedian” when she made her stand-up debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon seven years ago. It wouldn’t be unlike the polymath to have her finger on the pulse of the comedy world’s innovative edge, but it’s still surprising to see names from the alternative comedy scene on Madonna’s manic guest list. We’d wager that the only other celebrity over 60 years old who is familiar with Stalter’s surrealist character comedy would be her Hacks co-star Jean Smart.
Even if we cynically assume that Stalter, Owens and Berlant were cast in order to help Madonna appeal to a younger audience that was barely out of kindergarten when Tina Fey accused the pop superstar of “clinging to youth with her Gollum arms,” publicity stunts like that raise the profiles of everyone involved — and anything that helps out uniquely talented comedians is a force for good in our hellish modern media landscape.
If only Madonna had made this announcement a couple years earlier — someone could have dared Judd Apatow to not make The Bubble.
