Sweet Streams: ‘Desus & Mero’ Bring The Most Reliable Laughs In Late Night

When you’re in the mood for something nice, Sweet Streams is a column that explores the unique personal connections we have with pop culture. There are so many pleasant options to stream, and while we’ve all heard, “It’s so good!” this aims to explain the joyful and meaningful feelings certain TV shows, movies, and music can elicit.

I should’ve taken it as a bigger sign that, yes, there would be humor throughout the Trump presidency, even though it didn’t feel like it at the start. When many of us were shellshocked in November 2016 at the situation we’d be facing for the next four years, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, then hosts on Viceland before moving their show to Showtime in 2019, gave a take that I’ve referenced frequently since then. In late November 2016, when Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see the Broadway musical Hamilton, many dissected the message the actors spoke to him from the stage. That was not the case on Desus & Mero. Instead, Desus quipped of the interaction that found Pence himself under the bright lights at that moment, “Good thing he didn’t bring a side chick,” a comment that wasn’t made to be particularly shocking or notable, but simply one joke of many during the segment. But no other late night host could or would make that joke, and that’s when I knew there was something special about these two.

Desus & Mero has become part of my everyday routine over the past four years, in a way that I didn’t fully grasp until I sat down to write this. Showtime wisely understood what worked about their show during its run at Viceland — precisely how online these guys are: their perceptive tweets, their prolific podcast, and now, the handful of YouTube clips produced from each half-hour episode of the show, which airs Sunday and Thursday nights at 11 pm on Showtime, and is then available on demand. I watch the clips in the morning when I eat my breakfast as a way to start the day with some humor — and there is always humor. There is no other late night show that is guaranteed to make me laugh the way this one does. Maybe others do better sketches or more in-depth, researched political pieces, but none deliver the consistent LOLs the way these guys do.

Part of that may be due to the fact that both Desus and Mero are children of immigrant parents and with that upbringing seems to come an ease about the way they approach any topic from celebrity gossip to world news; an assuredness that everything will be fine, we’ll figure out a way to get through this, and that way is likely through humor. A “we’ve made it through tougher shit” mentality. They do not take themselves or anything too seriously, and while that might not be explicitly stated in each segment they produce, the vibe is there (and again, a necessary vibe to feel at the start of the day). It’s there in the way they have covered politics for the last four years, and it will be there for the next four years too. While most of their contemporaries (and me) were pulling their hair out about what was happening in the White House, Desus and Mero were always able to find something that felt cathartic to laugh about. They were always able to acknowledge that this shit is certainly crazy, but if there’s any way to have fun with it, let’s do that. They also didn’t make politics the sole focus of their show, but were able to emphasize its importance when it came to current events, especially in 2020, making sure viewers were informed on the topics that mattered most to them, and also ready to vote. When we talk about needing diversity everywhere, including in the late night space, Desus & Mero is Exhibit A. It’s not just about skin color, it’s about background, perspective, culture, and just plain referencing funny things they see on their Twitter feeds that the rest of us might be missing, all for very earned laughs.

That’s also why their interview with President Obama in December was so, so satisfying, and what felt like a real full-circle moment. The preview they released of it made me smile so much I watched it several times. Trading Knicks jokes and ribbing each other — again, two kids from the Bronx joking with a former President!, felt really special. Over Christmas I rewatched this segment with my parents. I wanted them to see what a Presidential interview could look like these days: there are still important lessons and takeaways, but there can also be fun and a lightheartedness. A conversation can be smart and silly at the same time — those are often the best ones, and that is often the case on this show. Desus and Mero have exhibited this behavior before with other politicians, especially those that will continue to inspire and impact us for years to come, including AOC and Stacey Abrams, who returns as their first guest of Season 3 this weekend. Plus, these guests are able to get their important and informed message across, while also letting their guard down. They know this interview won’t feature “gotcha” questions, but will be a good time.

It’s refreshing that Desus and Mero have never been predictable, and that’s precisely how many of the laughs are achieved. I love that everyone is fair game, that even their favorite artists and actors aren’t exempt from getting dunked on, and that the best moments between these two is when they make each other laugh. And not just TV laugh, really laugh. I avoided a lot of political humor over the last four years because it was hard to find so much of it actually funny. But there was a reassurance that if something happening in politics was ridiculous enough, Desus & Mero would not only mention it, they would help us see the humor in it — and sometimes even a tiny bit of hope! Because the humor was there — it’s just that not everyone was as good at shining such a bright light on it, just like that one on Pence in the aisle at Hamilton, the way Desus and Mero do.

Stream Desus & Mero on Showtime