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Tickle Fight

Craig Ferguson

Netflix · 2017 · 66 min

Craig Ferguson exchanges late-night routines for loose, personal storytelling.

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Craig Ferguson’s post-late-night stand-up is at its best when he leans into his natural role as a charming, slightly chaotic storyteller. He is a comic who would rather talk about his own absurdities than keep up with the daily news cycle. While the initial segment of the set attempts to grapple with the early Trump era, particularly how his old catchphrase, “It’s a great day for America,” became polarizing after the 2016 election, the show truly finds its rhythm when he pivots away from politics. Instead, he directs the era’s collective rage toward his own facial hair, noting that growing a beard was the only thing that ever provoked genuine hate mail during his decade on CBS. Filmed at the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre during Montreal’s 2017 Just For Laughs Festival, the 66-minute special captures Ferguson several years after his departure from late-night television. Now a clean-living vegan, he spends the hour joking about 1970s pornography, the high-tech terror of Japanese smart toilets, and his love of hating magicians. His choice of opener was a nod to his talk-show past: the performer who played the front half of Secretariat, the show’s pantomime horse, making his stand-up debut. Critics noted that while the initial political material felt a bit forced, the special shines once Ferguson relaxes into long-form anecdotes.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Japanese high-tech toilets

    Recounts a trip to Japan with his son testing modern bathroom features, describing a bidet dryer that felt like monks chanting directly into his anus.

  2. Late Late Show magician week and Vegas rescue

    Shares a Broadway Danny Rose-style anecdote about leaning on Italian-American connections in New York to bail an employee out of jail in Las Vegas.

  3. Donald Trump and Scottish slang

    Regrets leaving late-night television before Trump's candidacy and claims that in Scotland the name 'Trump' is slang for taking a shit.

  4. Viewer outrage over growing a beard

    Recalls how Late Late Show viewers never got upset over any monologue topic except when he attempted to grow facial hair, comparing it to his body hair resembling various mustache styles.

  5. Becoming vegan because of Netflix

    Jokes onstage about blaming Netflix for turning him vegan after watching a documentary on their platform, expecting the line to be edited out.

How it plays

Tone
Sly, mocking yet gentlemanly, irreverent, raunchy, witty, and self-deprecating.
On stage
Cheeky, casual, affable raconteur described as a genial aging punk or genial uncle sharing dirty jokes, using disarming wit and Scottish verbal specificity.
Pace
Roundabout and tangential, casually paced like a series of late-night monologues stitched together, sliding into sprawling long-form stories.
About
1970s porn, Japanese toilets and bathroom technology, Behind-the-scenes talk show hosting days, Donald Trump and political divisiveness, Facial hair and body hair, Sobriety and veganism

What the critics said

Generally positive; reviewers praised Ferguson's effortless charm, storytelling, and cheeky wit once transitioning into personal anecdotes, while noting the opening topical material on Trump felt comparatively weak and old-fashioned.

In the room: Warm and receptive, generating consistent chuckles, laughs, and smiles rather than roaring arena-style disruption.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, allmovie.com, comedydynamics.com, pastemagazine.com, decider.com, rottentomatoes.com, vulture.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Adjusting to life after late-night television, now sober, drug-free, and recently vegan; performing in the politically divided climate of 2017 shortly after Donald Trump's presidential election.

Details

Released
Taped
Ludger-Duvernay Theatre, Montreal
Runtime
66 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Jay Chapman
Topics
Before
Just Being Honest (2015)
After
Hobo Fabulous (2020)

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