Melissa McCarthy’s latest comedy flick, The Boss, is at the box office, so she’s out doing promotional appearances. Fortunately for us all, that brought her to The Tonight Show, where host Jimmy Fallon challenged her to one of his popular lip sync battles. Not only did she compete, her performance was brilliant.
Fallon was no slouch, of course. He kicked things off with an amusing rendition of folk singer Melanie’s 1971 hit, Brand New Key. (If that doesn’t sound familiar, the lyrics “I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates” may ring a bell.) The comedian used the lyrics to his advantage, perfectly portraying a novice skater attempting to show new skates off without falling.
McCarthy herself was cracking up, but that didn’t stop her from coming out strong when it was her turn. Her first number was DMX’s X Gon’ Give It To Ya, and it was like she was a contestant on America’s Best Dance Crew. The performance was high-intensity, and she totally sold it. Fallon was literally speechless by the end.
The host still had a chance to be crowned winner after, and he did an admirable job of writhing on the floor and snuggling up to a pillow for Zayn’s Pillowtalk. It all slipped away, though, from the moment McCarthy put on a pair of protective goggles. “Don’t worry about it,” she told Fallon as he looked on in confusion.
The goggles, it turned out, were to protect her from a prop-heavy performance of Colors of the Wind from Disney’s Pocahontas. McCarthy lip synced the song as all sorts of props flew through the air. It didn’t matter what she was (literally) hit with — leaves, water, feathers, stuffed animals, or even what looked like an actual glitter bomb — she didn’t break character.
This should be a lesson to Fallon: Anytime a contestant puts on protective goggles, they’ve got an ace up their sleeve.
