| "Tyson shines on Jimmy Kimmel Show" By Scoop Malinowski Just one year ago Mike Tyson seemed like one of the most troubled men in America...biting, brawling and bemoaning his life on national TV interviews. What a difference a year makes! This past week Tyson served a hilarious stint as co-host with his pal Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. In less than a year Mike Tyson has amazingly transformed himself from public enemy number one into almost a loved and revered icon. Yes, he was that good on the show. Kimmel set the tone on the first night last Monday when he did a bit with index cards of people he wanted Mike to give a word or two about, how the former champ felt about that person. The first card was a photo of Robin Givens. Mike took the set-up in stride and the show got off to a roaring start. There were to be many, many more highlights to follow. Among the most enjoyable was the ten-minute tour Tyson gave to Kimmel's cousin inside his pigeon coops on the rooftop of his Brooklyn apartment. The structure holds over 1,100 pigeons. What was most interesting was seeing how gentle Tyson is with those birds. Brutal and violent are words often associated with Mike Tyson, but to watch him so soft and tender to those pigeons was unforgettable. This was a classic TV moment. Later, Mike walks inside one cage and bangs it hard. He then just stands there perfectly still as hundreds of the frantic pigeons screach and flail and flap by head. Another funny moment was when he and Kimmel were trash talking each other after sucking helium from balloons. Mike cracked up after Kimmel said, "You better not be talkin' bout my mother!" The topper for me was the night Mike Tyson sang. He was just as good as Larry Holmes or Joe Frazier. Tyson "sang" to the stunningly beautiful actress Ali Landry. Tyson serenaded her with his back to the audience, "...I'm crying for you baby..." Then he suddenly dropped to his knees and began singing much more passionately, although it sounded more like screaming than singing, "...Oooooh, baby baby baby..." I almost had a tear in my eye it was so damn funny." I mean these were incredible TV moments. Another bit was Mike trying to teach Kimmel how to box at a Hollywood gym. The bit didn't quite fly but Mike kept with it. For the most part, Mike sat there cool and comfortable with the other featured guests. He did seem a bit uncomfortable on the first night but he got accustomed to it. He asked questions of the guests such as Marlon Wayans, Wanda Sykes, Tommy Lasorda, etc. Tyson participated in his own style, giving out his random funny comments. To Lasorda he asked, "So are you like, I don't know, the god of the Dodgers? Can you ever be fired?" I think Tyson asked Sykes out for a date but she declined, saying here career was too busy right now. It was fun to watch everybody's reactions to being there so close with Mike Tyson too. Tyson really enjoyed sitting there with a man from Wisconsin who was claiming to have eaten 19,000 Big Macs. Tyson really was very amused at the guy but somewhat suspicious as he kidded with him if he had any proof like receipts. Then when a guest bored him, Tyson made little attempt to conceal it. Ben Stein wasn't much interesting to Tyson. That was intriguing in itself to watch, to see a celebrity be so real like that on national TV. This is rarely the norm in Tinseltown. Another moment I liked was when Mike brought out his baby one-year-old Miguel. Kimmel asked, "How long till he gets his gold teeth?" Tyson was amused at the question and quipped with a smile, "It's hereditary. They may grow in when he's 15." The fans laughed and cheered. There was plenty of laughing with and cheering for Mike Tyson last week. It's almost hard to believe, after all Tyson has been through. But the loss to Lennox Lewis seems to have relieved the man of the tremendous burden of having to be "Iron Mike Tyson, baddest man on the planet." The defeat last June in Memphis is starting to look like it was really a blessing in disguise. And a turning point in his life. After watching the shows, I think it's reasonable to believe that Mike Tyson can one day become a heroic and universally respected and revered Hall of Famer. Perhaps in ten or twenty years, at a major fight at Madison Square Garden, Tyson will be introduced to take a bow in the ring. I can envision a long and loud standing ovation greeting him. What I can't imagine is just what Mike Tyson's reaction would be. When Kimmel introduced Tyson on the Friday night finale, he said, "We learned Mike is full of surprises, has a good singing voice and this week has been maybe the best week of the show since we started." I scanned some of the forums for their opinion of Tyson's Kimmel appearances. "His personality on the show is great," said one entry. "Tyson is doing great on the show. It's a great show. He is great at it. |
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