Jimmy Kimmel Returns to Brooklyn

By LAUREN KASZUBA
Co-Arts Editor

Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” is taking his show home…temporarily.

The Emmy-nominated show, which usually broadcasts from Disney’s El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, will make it’s fourth return to Brooklyn starting Monday, Oct. 15. It will be broadcast from the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House for one week (five shows total).

Planning for these annual shows across the country takes months. Kimmel is said to take trips in advance to film segments for the shows across the city.

In a recent trip to Brooklyn for filming, Kimmel expressed his joy about being back. “The energy that we get from the audience makes it much more fun than doing the show in LA,” he said.

He didn’t forget to mention how his relatives, who still live in Brooklyn, never lose excitement when they seem him on TV. “They get such a kick out of this,” he said. “I mean, we never imagined. I never imagined I’d be on television. We didn’t even have a television at my house in Brooklyn for two and a half years. It broke, and we didn’t have the money to get it fixed or get a new one.”

His show’s most recent trip to Brooklyn in the fall of 2017 was right around the time “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would start to become political. It all began when Kimmel weighed in on the nation’s healthcare debate after the birth of his son Billy, who was born with a heart defect. In some of his monologues, he even took on some US Senators, getting emotional. Since then, his show has created quite a bit of buzz. There is no doubt that Kimmel’s Brooklyn run will be popular among his usual audience.

Guests for the week include John Krasinski, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mike Birbiglia, Cardi B, an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Musical guests include St. Vincent, Wu Tang Clan, Bebe Rexha, and others.

The show is always filmed in front of a live studio audience. Tickets for the show, in general, are free – they must be requested ahead of time and are given out in a “lottery” fashion. Two tickets per person can be requested. While tickets are available for future Los Angeles tapings, tickets for the Brooklyn tapings appear to be already sold out.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” can be seen on ABC weeknights at 11:35 P.M. ET/10:35 CST.