As a late night host, James Corden is required to comment on all the biggest news happenings. But how does someone like Corden, who is perhaps the world’s biggest fan of divas, do a monologue after Beyonce’s Lemonade without letting it take over the whole segment?
The short answer? He doesn’t. Corden delivered the entire monologue in the style of Beyonce’s visual album and called it Lemonjames. James does it all from the tasteful interstitial titles to the television shots with tracking lines and even the image that first introduced us to the album, with Corden wearing the same braids as Bey.
And just like the Queen, Corden is troubled. He’s weary over having to write a monolouge every night and he’s worried that the audience – his personal Jay Z – will stray. Especially when “Jimmy with the good hair” is just a click away.
What makes the whole thing so impressive is the fact that Corden still manages to do a proper monologue in between all the bathtub shots and lingerie. He gets in jokes about a school that wants to change its name in honor of Donald Trump and a New England ice cream store opening in a building that was once a funeral parlor. All delivered in that steady monotone that opened the album. It’s well worth a watch. Check it out up top.
For more Bey-inspired bits, check out The Daily Show‘s take.