Trump Welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to White House | with John Cusack, Cara Delevingne, Chef Daniel Humm | Wednesday, September 23

0:05From Video 6P and Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City, it's The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.

0:15And I join Jimmy and his guests, John Cusack, Cara Delevingne, Jeff Daniel Hu, and featuring the legendary Ruth Cruz. Two, three, four, five! And now, here he is, Jimmy Fallon!

0:59Whoa! That's a great call. Mwah! I love you. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself. Welcome, everybody. Welcome, welcome, welcome to The Tonight Show. This is it. This is the show. This is the one to be out. Well, guys, today, President Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington for a two-day state visit. I'm not saying Trump is sucking up to him, but it's now called the Xi Kennedy Center. Oh. But I'm happy to report that both leaders have reached a big agreement. They decided to go as Taylor and Travis for their couple's Halloween costume. So that's a big deal. President Xi hasn't been to America in 10 years.

1:39He showed up today and was like, is it just me or there used to be more White House? No. I feel like there's more. Right, Fletcher Pool is green. I remember that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Earlier today, Xi Jinping arrived in Washington, and in a break from tradition, Trump actually picked him up from the airport. Ooh, that's true. Yeah, Trump did an airport pickup. Well, guys, here in New York City, the U.N. General Assembly is in session, and today the president of Iran delivered an address. Yeah, Iran's president responded to Trump's threats by saying we will never bow our head or bend at the knee.

2:14Trump was like, and I'll never do that because it's physically impossible. I can't... Yeah, guys, here in New York, The U.N. General Assembly is in full swing, and there have been a lot of big speeches from world leaders. Of course, a lot of them speak in foreign languages, but luckily, we were able to get the speeches translated. Watch this. I need to inform the entire world about an urgent matter. Taylor Swift has four new songs dropping on Friday. T-Tay on Friday Day, so cray-cray. All in favor of replacing the U.N. Charter with the U.N. Charter, Taylor's version? Did you see her with Tom Cruise at the Chiefs game?

2:55That was lo-kenuinly goaded. On God. If anyone wants to make a friendship bracelet, there are beads in the back. Just to mess with Trump, we're giving Taylor the Nobel Peace Prize. Amazing that we got that translated. Yeah, this whole week, U.N. delegates have been here in New York City to attend the General Assembly. Here now to give us a report on all of yesterday's events is our U.N. correspondent, Josh Stebbins. Josh? Hello, Jimmy. I'm sorry. Hang on. You're not Josh Stebbins. You're our red carpet award show correspondent, Dale Larson. That's right, Jimmy. Josh had an issue at home, so he asked me to cover the event.

3:40And let me tell you, it was a night to remember. Because of a delegate's speech? Because of the stars who showed up. It was a who's who of A-list delegates. I'm talking bouton siring top gay, Morocco's nausea burrito, and I know what you're wondering, Jimmy. Really? Because I don't. Did Croatia's Andrzej Plenković grace us with his presence? You better believe it. And he did not disappoint. It was peak Plenković. You would have loved it. I don't know if that's true. Can we get back on track here? You bet. Let's talk delegates' fashion choices. No, no, no, that's not what I meant. Belgium's Maxine Prevot looked absolutely radiant in a gorgeous pantsuit that said, I'm here for business, but I'm gonna look good doing it.

4:32Isn't that just classic Prevot? Yeah, sure. But the hot goss is all about the beef between Trinidad and Tobago's Jamla Persan Besesser and... Say it with me...

4:52Switzerland's Guy Parmella! Yeah, do they have some type of feud or something? Um, is Tanzania's Dio Grecius and Ajembe always the life of the party? What? Yes! The answer is yes, they have a feud. I mean, it went from general assembly to general hostility.

5:14Now, I've got to give credit on that word, You know how funny he is. No, I don't. Look, can you just tell me what it's like inside the United Nations? Oh, I wasn't let in. Yeah, Josh forgot to give me his press pass, but let's talk Vietnam's Tolum's new hairstyle. It's giving early Justin Bieber a knot in a good way. All right, thank you. Dale Larson, everybody, our red carpet correspondent. I don't know he's... Not good. He'll be nothing. You guys hear about this? According to a bombshell new report, the FBI had enough evidence to investigate Republican Senator Susan Collins and other powerful politicians for criminal bribery.

5:56But the investigation was dropped when Trump was re-elected. So here to respond is Senator Susan Collins. Hi, Jimmy. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So these are very serious allegations here. They certainly are. And I, for one, am very concerned about what this says about the integrity of Susan Collins. But you're Susan Collins. I know. And that's what's so concerning. So are the allegations true? Well, they're concerning, Jimmy. And I, for one, am very concerned about how concerning my concerns are. But after a lot of thought, I have made the difficult decision to continue supporting me. Look, I feel like you're just doing the Susan Collins thing Really?

6:45What's that? It's when you say you're concerned about something obviously bad But then you decide to support it anyway Well, if that's true, it's very concerning, Jimmy But after a lot of thought, I have made the difficult decision to continue supporting it Stop saying that There's a lot of evidence in this article The CEO of a government defense contractor says he met with the head of one of your super PACs who asked for an illegal campaign donation in exchange for millions of dollars in government contracts. Wow. That is very concerning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but then the contractor told your super PAC that he was donating$150 ,000 through a fake LLC because they're super vague and very difficult to get any background info on.

7:25That is even more concerning. I know, but then two months later, he met with your office and told his company that you committed to giving them$32 million in federal funding. I don't want to sound like Chandler Bing here, but could I be any more concerned? I don't care if you're concerned. Just answer the question, did you accept bribes? Well, that's a very concerning question, Jimmy. But after a lot of thought, here's what I'll say. For$150 ,000, I'll answer any question you want. All right, thank you. Senator Susan Collins, everyone. I'm concerned about you, Jimmy.

8:05Well, listen to this. I read that Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to ban people from developing artificial superintelligence. Keep in mind, Bernie introduced the same bill when they invented the light bulb.

8:20Well, some entertainment news. Last night, there was a new episode of The Real Housewives of New York, and it got pretty heated. I mean, there was a lot of drama between Aaron and Jaisal. Now, if you missed it, don't worry, because here to reenact that scene with actual lines from the show are The Roots' own Tariq and Questlove.

8:43Thanks, Jimmy. Tonight, I'll be playing the role of Aaron, a realtor who's being confronted by Jaisal about accusing her of being rude. And I'll be playing Jaisal, fashion publicist who's confronting Aaron about her accusing me of being rude. Gotcha. All right. Whenever you're ready.

9:05I guess I just, like, wanted to connect with you because I just saw Dr. Belkin the other day and I asked him about what he told you. He told me that, point blank, you don't treat people nicely unless you think they have something to offer you. I'm sorry to say, but you are a little bit of a clout chaser, Jessel. I think you know it. Just own it. Oh my god. Well, you treat people like they're beneath you. I never. You twist it and manipulate it. I twist it? It's literally your middle name. Twist manipulator. I think you're talking about yourself. You project so much, you should actually work in a theater.

9:49Projection screens. I should. You're right. I actually should. You have this, like, mastermind-like scheme where you're like a one-man Ponzi scheme. Oh, now a man? Yeah, a one-man posse scheme. What does that even mean? It means you're going around on a smear campaign about me. Like, have you ever Googled yourself recently, babe? Oh, you don't have anything on Google about yourself that's embarrassing? No, not really. Oh, well, maybe it's just not out yet, just so. See, this is what you do. You deflect. You're a bootleg Houdini. Houdini was a great magician. Oh, no, no, no, no. I called you a bootleg Houdini.

10:31I didn't call you Houdini. What does that even mean? What are you even talking about? It means you effing create out of nothing. Jessel, I'm telling you how I feel. Please, girl, you are so delusional. You think you're Zendaya when you're effing Blossom. Oh, another Zinger. Are we done? Yeah, yeah. So lovely seeing you. Bye. Wow. That's how you do it. Quest and Tariq, everybody. Quest and Tariq. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, no. That's good. Very nice. That's good. Very good. That's nice. Thank you. No, that's good. Thank you very much. They stopped talking. Oh, shit. No, it's tough.

11:26Milking. For your Emmy right there. That's the Emmy. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, give them the Emmy. Finally, KFC just released a new cereal that tastes like fried chicken. Oh. And they recommended topping it with gravy instead of milk. Take a look. Oh. They even have a good slogan for it. Make your arteries snap, crackle, and pop. There you go, man. Great show. Give it up for The Roots, everybody!

11:55Oh, my goodness. Thanks, Brett. Welcome to the show, everybody. Be sure to tune in this Sunday night, by the way. You have an all-new Tonight Show airing after Sunday Night Football. That's right. It's a big show. Sylvester Stallone will be here. Oh! Luke Bryan will be on to talk and perform. We have lots of fun stuff planned, including the premiere of season two of our micro drama Who Billionaire? Me Billionaire. It's all happening this Sunday night after the game. It's going to be great. But first... What a show we have for you tonight. He's a talented actor who has written a new graphic novel called Momo.

12:38It's out September 29th. John Cusack is here tonight! Come on! My face! Come on. It's fantastic. I love John Cusack. He's great in every single thing that he's in. He's one of the... pound for pound, one of the greatest actors, one of the best dudes to ever do it, and the coolest guy ever. And this thing is fantastic. Momo's out. Come on. John Cusack. She stars in the new movie Club Kid and her debut album, Not Normal, is dropping Friday. Cara Delevingne is here! Whoo! Ooh. Cara! You're wrecking. Ooh. Cara, the best. Also, he is the owner and executive chef of the three Michelin-star restaurant 11 Madison Park.

13:25He now has a premium meal kit out called Riff, which you can find at Target and eatriff.com. Chef Daniel Hoom is here tonight. It's great. Stick around. We'll be right back with John Cusack. Come on back!

13:54Our first guest is a talented actor and writer who has written this new graphic novel, Momo, which comes out Tuesday, September 29th, in both hardcover and paperback. Please welcome John Cusack!

14:15Oh, God! Ah, you're the best. John Cusack, the crowd is on their feet. They love you. We love you. Welcome back to the show, buddy. Thanks for having me. Thank you for coming. Thank you for saying so many nice things about me. I love you, buddy. What are you talking about? You're one of my all-time faves. I've never seen you miss, dude. Well, I've missed. No, no. I think that Questlove, that reenactment, was, I think, some of the best. acting? Finest acting I've seen. Oh, my God. This is coming from the one John Cusack. Both of you. Yeah. We appreciate the compliments here. I know that you are very Chicago.

14:51When I think of you, I think of Chicago. And I saw you. You were at the Cubs game. You recently got headlines because you're at Wrigley Field, which is one of the greatest... Do you call it a stadium? A park? A shrine. A shrine. Thank you. And you made the theater pit? We talked about this. Yes, we did this, yeah, but a very cool thing happened to you. Watch this. Take a look. Delivers to Jelic. And that's scooped in the air. Foul. Nice grab. Oh, John Cusack. Yeah, good boy, John. Way to go. What are you talking about? You just caught barehanded catch a foul ball? It's true. Yes. I did catch it.

15:31Wow. One-handed. Wow. And one-handed catch a legendary. on camera? Yes, sir. The story's going to keep getting bigger and bigger because I did catch it one-handed, but if you look closely, you'll see that I looked away as I caught it. Oh. And I was holding a phone, a drink, and a baby. Oh, my God. That's amazing. The story will not stop growing. I thought it was so cool. Have you ever caught a foul ball? No. I mean, I was glad that when my number was called, I got it. You had to do it. I mean, I had to go for it. you just had the instinct to just grab onto it? Yeah. And then you just flipped it back to the crowd like you're cool, like you knew how to do it.

16:12And then they gave you a shout-out, by the way, in the booth. I don't know if you heard this. They did. They did. It was very nice because the baseball guys are very cool. John Chiaube and J.D. And he said, well, out of a way, John. He said, well, you played Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out, so he ought to be able to make a play. And I was like, I got street cred. Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out. I love that call. He did that. I was very grateful to them. I was showing my daughter's Stand By Me the other day, and I realized you're in Stand By Me. True. You do a cameo in Stand By Me, and I go, oh, of course, I totally remember this.

16:46That's one of my favorites. But Rob Reiner put you in one of your first films, The Sure Thing. True. And he sadly passed away this year, and we miss Rob Reiner. What do you remember about working with Rob? Oh, he was such a lovely man, such a great friend to actors, and just more of the all-time mensch of all times. He would just take care of everybody. So I was 16 when I did that movie, and so I didn't know what the hell was going on, and he just kind of took care of me. Even after the film, he said, are you coming out to L.A.? Are you coming to stay at my house? And it's not... I'm not... He's that way with so many people.

17:27He was such a great guy. And just giving back to actors, yeah. And teaching you how to do it. and, you know, he was a great craftsman. Do you ever, like, who stopped by the house? I mean, because these friends are everybody. Oh, well, when I was staying at his house, it was like, I saw Richard Dreyfuss and one of my favorites of all time, which is Albert Brooks. Like, real life is just one of the greatest things ever. Was Albert so funny? I was totally intimidated. I just sort of, like, stood there like a 16-year-old. I would have, too. You ever hear that story about Albert Brooks? I think Rob Reiner, they were at a party at Penny Marshall's, maybe, and Albert Brooks tells a joke.

18:02He's leaving the party. He tells a joke and he leaves. And about 30 minutes later, Rob leaves the party and Albert Brooks is in the driveway hiding behind the car. And Rob goes, Albert, what are you doing here? You left a half hour ago. He goes, yeah, no, but I had a big laugh. I left my keys in the kitchen. I can't go back in. You got to go back in to get my keys. He wouldn't go back in. He goes, I left on such a high note. I can't go back in and go, I forgot my keys. Thank God she came out. That's how much he loves comedy. I love that story because it's so real. Rob told me a story. He was on a boat with him, and he was so insane that he got into, like, the little dinghy with the megahorn and was just doing circles, just screaming into the megahorn.

18:42You swear as it's true. Of course it's true. I want it to be true. Yeah, it has to be. Before we get into the new book, I wanted to mention your work with Freedom of the Press Foundation. You're involved with this, and you have a new prize called the Penlight Prize. Yes. Can you tell me about this? Indeed I can. I will endeavor to be brief. But we started this First Amendment organization protecting... You know, First Amendment covers a lot of ground. It covers freedom of speech and freedom of press and the right to assemble and all that. I think everybody knows that a free press is kind of vital to democracy, right?

19:17Don't you think? Of course.

19:23So it's a good thing if journalists and, you know, Papers dig into what the powerful and the government's doing in your name and as they say News is something that they don't want you to print and all the rest is public relations So you got to print stuff that make powerful people angry and that's that's the way democracies work So we have announced we do lots of great stuff and if you check out the org you can join There's webinars and seminars and you can join in but we're doing this award based on Freedom of Information Act reporting, which is kind of the toughest reporting to do. We have to go get government records and do that, so we're giving a monetary prize and trying to highlight that.

20:09Fantastic. Freedom of Press is being attacked and we are fighting back in all the ways that are attacking. Thank you for doing that work. Keep up the great work. Gracias. We need our journalists out there. Let's talk about this graphic novel. It's called Momo. It is terrific. It's just nonstop. It's fascinating. And it's... I don't know how to describe it, really. It's almost like a buddy comedy, almost, but you have to get... You have to find Jackie Gleason. Yes. Well, it's kind of a crime story that turns into a buddy comedy that turns into a road trip movie that turns into sort of a metaphysical screwball.

20:55and then there's sci-fi, and then it ends up that these two criminals have to get an artifact for Jackie Gleason, and it's connected to a little story about Jackie Gleason and Richard Nixon going to the Homestead Air Force Base, which is a very, very true story, incredibly true. 1970? Yes, you can look it up online, and Jackie Gleason, another guy in a redacted, they went to the Homestead Air Force Base to go see Alien Heads. It's a true story. No, I mean, seriously, this is crazy. But it's like, wait, what? Yeah, you can look it up. You take that story, and that inspired you to do a graphic novel?

21:33Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I don't see why. I think it's fantastic. I think it could be a movie. I love this. Well, you know, writing these was really fun, because, you know, I've written movies, and this is pretty much the closest thing to a movie you can do. You think of the first scene and, you know, the characters, and you write all the dialogue. And I had a blast doing it. And it's a wonderful artist, Ignacio Noé. Ignacio Noe is a fantastic job. It's great. It's a lot of fun. It's funny. It's fun. It's a great ride. I love it. I love when someone does something different and fresh, and you always do something different and fresh.

22:08I love you, bud. John Cusack. Thank you, brother. Come on. John Cusack. Momo comes out September 29th. We're talking to Tara Delevingne when we come back. Stick around, everybody.

22:25It's going to fly. I'm sad, then. The rock's a glass. Big girl, they're my mom. Our next guest is a talented performer. You can see her in the new movie Club Kid, and her debut album, Not Normal, is available on Friday. Everyone, please welcome Cara Delevingne!

22:51Cara Delevingne!

22:56Cara! Hi. Cara, welcome back. You're one of my favorite people. I'm so happy you're here. You say that to all the people. Well, really, just tonight I do, because I do love everybody on the show. Everyone tonight. Yeah, John Cusack. But not the other nights. No, I hate everyone else. Yeah, are you kidding me? I don't like anyone else. But you are always fun. Every time you come on the show, you do something. We do fun stuff, I think. You played a guitar behind your head once. I did. I did. Yeah, we sang together. We've done bits. We have. You had a crazy year, though. So you just went to Cannes in May.

23:26Then you started a tour before you released the album, which I want to get into. By the way, the movie's called Club Kid. Yes. And it's 100 % fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, by the way. Yeah, it is. Fresh. 100 % fresh. It is so fresh. So, so fresh. Club Kid. Yeah. How do you get involved with Club Kid? What is that? And what is it about? I mean, Jordan Firstman, he... I guess we'd been around each other at parties, and he said, listen, I'll send you a script. And I don't know, people a lot in Hollywood say that and you're like, yeah, sure. I'll check my inbox and nothing ever comes. He did, he sent me a script and I was blown away.

24:04You know, I think like a lot of people, I'm easily distracted, but I read it through once and I read it again because I was like, wow. And it was just something I'd never really seen before, the concept, what they were talking about and how it was done. And yeah, I said yes immediately. And he's just incredible. I mean, I don't know if you know Jordan. You know he's, like, very funny. But I didn't know that someone could get so much depth in a movie about, you know, queer club culture. But then also about family and about loss and grief and despair. But also with so much humor. I mean, it's really...

24:38I don't generally say that I love movies that I'm in. But I do love this one. Yeah, that's good. It comes out November 6th. Congratulations on all that stuff. And let's talk about your album. You have an album, Cara, coming out this Friday. Are you kidding me? Not normal. It's coming out Friday. I love this vinyl, this blue vinyl. I don't know if you can see that it's blue, but it's beautiful. Blue, like a lot of the songs. Yes. Quite sad, but not really. How long have you been making music? Did I ask you this question before? Making music? I guess I started when I was a kid. I started playing instruments very young.

25:16I started playing the drums. I don't know, at about seven, guitar, right after that. I just, I started writing music because I didn't know who else to talk to. So music and poetry was a way of exercising, expressing those feelings that were just like spilling over. Have you ever thought about releasing it? Well, now. No, I mean, now it's happening. Not then. I mean, I went to an amazingly musical school and I was just not, that's not how I played music by myself in a bathroom hoping no one would hear me the idea of singing songs like that in front of people was like absolutely horrendous because I think I was so used to putting on a front of everything being okay and yeah I you know I could walk on a catwalk and and play a part on on a screen or on stage but doing it myself was really scary so I always wanted to do it I just didn't think I could That's right, you were in the West End.

26:14Yeah. Did a big musical there. Yeah. But now you go, now's the time, this is the time to do it and put it out. Yeah, because I think I, you know, when I got sober, I suddenly, like, so much of the things that were coming up, I was like, this is the time. I can finally say I love myself. I believe in myself. I think people could relate to this, even if one person it helps. Like, that's all I make stuff for. That's the only reason why I do this. He could change one life. Yeah, if one person goes, oh, my God, I'm not alone, or I felt that way, or... You know, one of the songs on there is called The Mask, and a girl came up to me at one of the shows and was, like, crying, and she was like, thank you so much, I'm autistic, and that song meant so much to me.

26:58And I was like, I didn't know that that would mean something to someone in that way, so I would... Yeah, that's everything. That is everything. Congratulations on this. Thank you. I'm so proud of it. I'm so, so proud. Did you get nervous when you were doing it in front of people when you first... Because the album's not out yet, so you're doing brand new songs for someone who's never heard any of your songs. Yeah, I mean, playing... It's a gutsy thing to do. Yeah, I played the shows to a crowd. It's like, imagine a nightmare, right, when you're, like, doing a lecture and no words are coming out.

27:24Or, like, I don't know, when people have those anxiety dreams or you go to work and you're naked. Playing music to people that no one knows the words to is pretty scary. I mean, I guess that's what it was like on the West End. No one's, like, singing back at you. That kind of thing, when you're in a crowd and everyone's singing at the artist, I didn't have that. But that was kind of like a really good initiation. But then I saw somewhere that, I don't know if it's true, but that Paul McCartney came to see you in London or something. I was like... Oh, Paul. Yeah, yeah. Ah, he's so funny. He's cool, I guess.

27:54He came. He... Someone told me. They were like, I don't know if I should tell you this. I was like, you know, you have to tell me. It's like when someone says, I've got a secret, but I can't say it. I'm like, that's dumb. Tell you after the show. No, they told me. I was, you know, mortified. Scared. So scared. But he's cool. Mortified's the wrong word. I was absolutely terrified. But he's just, he loves music and he loves to just go to places and dance. And I mean, what a dream. And support new artists. Support new artists. Here's the one and only Stevie Nicks talking to you. Gosh, we love Stevie Nicks.

28:27Now talk about intimidating. She was asking me what I'd eaten for breakfast. She was really... No, she was not. She was like, is it Frosted Flakes? What was it? Yeah. What was she just talking? Give me advice. And she's just cool. That was at the LA show. She came, I thought I saw her in the crowd, and then I felt like I performed the whole thing to her, but she... I sat down with her. I don't know. I get very nervous. I'm not sure what I said. I think I blacked out. But she was crying. She cried. And she gave me this ring off her finger. This one. I'm wearing conveniently on this middle finger, so I'm not going to point the middle finger.

29:00Yeah, different... That's it. But she gave me this ring, and she said she bought it when she was on tour way back when, and that she felt the pain in my music and that she really, like, related to it and heard it. Gosh. I know. That's fantastic. That was a really crazy, crazy moment I could, yeah. I think I'm done now. That's it. No! Isn't that good? Just the beginning, Beth. I'm not, but that's the kind of thing that, yeah. You pinch yourself. Yeah, crazy, crazy. The song you're doing, speaking of crazy, is called Crazy Baby. Yeah. And you said it's the most pop-sounding song on the album, but what's the story behind it?

29:33Yeah, it's the most pop-leaning. Everything else feels very experimental and kind of all over the place. It's fantastic. Like me. But Crazy Baby is, yeah, it's a song that I wrote about my partner. And I'm not great at writing happy, upbeat songs, unfortunately. It's just not usually the thing I write about. I write if I'm sad or angry. But, yeah, I wanted to challenge myself. And it wasn't challenging at all because my partner changed my life and I love her so much. but we're both British and she hates grand gestures, so this is the worst thing I could possibly say. Yeah, that's just it. Do not write a song about me.

30:11Yeah, it's kind of the funniest thing in the world. But, you know, we all love to embarrass our partners. It's kind of like, you get a kick out of it a little bit. Yeah, of course. She really doesn't like grand gestures. But, yeah, it's funny because the song is basically apologizing for writing the song. That's the idea of the song here of saying, I'm sorry I'm writing a love song to you, but I love you. Because we met at school. We went to school together, so it's really, really cool. Come on. She's been the most supportive person. and I wouldn't be here doing this without her love and support.

30:36Oh, no, don't make me cry. I won't. All right. Yay! Cara Delevingne, everybody! Not Norma! It's our time. We'll be right back, everybody. Wow! Wow! That's how you do it right there. Well, you're in the zone. You're zen! Zen!

31:03Our next guest is the owner and executive chef of New York City's three Michelin star restaurant, Eleven Madison Park. Now he's created a new premium meal kit called Riff, which is available at Target and eatriff.com. Please welcome chef Daniel Hoom.

31:29Chef! Hi. Welcome back to the show. Happy belated birthday. Thank you so much. 50. It's a big deal. Can you believe it? Did you have a rager? Did you have a big party? You know, I felt so much anxiety about having a party. And in the end, I had a super lovely meal. One of my best friends, a couple, they're from Budapest, and they cooked some Hungarian goulash at their home from their mother's recipe, and it was just, like, so soulful and so quiet. My wife told me in my cart to me that was very sweet. She said, our whole life is a party. And so it was beautiful. Yeah, that's so you. You love food so much.

32:11Come on, bud. I have to also say you're about to open up a new restaurant called Whom. Yes. Yes. H-U-M-M, which, wow, great name. How did you come up with that? In my case, it's either the address or the name. Keep it simple, man. Yeah, congratulations on that. We're very excited. It's in the West Village reopening next month. And there's no place like home. Yeah, that's pretty good. Not bad. That's not bad. I want to talk about this, because this is... You're always doing something fun. And this is a new thing. It's called Riff. Now, these are individual meal kits that take less than 20 minutes to make.

32:49Yeah. And it feels like you're having dinner in a fancy restaurant. What made you want to do this? Well, even for me as a chef, believe it or not, but I'm often at home on my days off, and I'm like, damn, what's for dinner? Yes. I don't have time. You don't have four hours to prep it like a, yeah. I can only imagine what this question means to you, for example. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, yeah. I'm adventurous. So I made this for you. For me, thank you. I figured that. But it's, um, no, it celebrates the joy of cooking. I feel like even if you don't have a lot of time, we should still cook in a pot.

33:32There's a smell in a house that's nice. You sit at the table, you have a nice meal. The whole family can do it, sit around. 15 minutes. Do you have to be a chef to cook one of these? You don't have to be a chef. Like, this should be as easy as, like, brushing your teeth. I'm good at that. Yeah, yeah. How did you come up with the flavors here? You have creamy Parmesan, you have sesame ginger noodles. Yum. You should think of Raifa as, like, your best friend in the kitchen and the flavors are, you know, there's something for everyone. You know, one night you might feel like mac and cheese, but then there's the spicy rigatoni, there's some ginger scallion noodles.

34:13You have the pasta in the bag. This is bronze cut organic pasta. We're very proud of that. There is a seasoning pack where after cooking the pasta, you make the sauce and then each of the boxes has a signature crunchy topping. A crunchy topping. Because texture is important, and that gives you... So you put that on at the end, and that makes it gourmet. But then the riffing part... Yeah. By the way, great logo. Thank you. Fantastic. Well done logo. I thought it's so cool. I think cooking should be spontaneous. On the side, we give certain suggestions of some vegetables you can add. But, you know, sometimes you have some basil in your fridge.

34:51Sometimes you have some cabbage. Sometimes you have some cherry tomatoes. So you can kind of put your own riff on it. Yeah, so anyone can say whatever you want to extra add into it makes you riff on it. Well, I thought we always do something fun when you come on the show, and I thought that you and I could do a Tonight Show riff off, okay? So we're going to both garnish the same dish, and Questlove will judge which one tastes better at the end. Does that sound good? Yes. All right. That's so funny.

35:20All right. So this is... This is pasta made from riff. Can we have some rigatoni music? Yeah, that is rigatoni music. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Riff spicy tomato rigatoni in front of us. We'll have 20 seconds to add whatever ingredients we want on our plate. Then, Questlove, we'll taste each one and decide on a winner. We've been in this position before on this show. We have many at times, yeah. Quest, I want to make this fair. So, if you don't mind, please put on the Dome of Silence. Again. It looks very... Do you want me to hold your glasses? You got it? So this will cover your ears and eyes so that you don't see or hear anything.

36:04And I will tap. No, no, don't walk away. I will tap you. I'll tap you when we're ready. I'll tap you when we're ready. I got you. I got you. All right, here we go. We have 20 seconds. This is spicy tomato rigatone. Yeah. 20 seconds to add whatever you want to this. So this is straight out of the box. By the way, every meal could... It could look like this. Delicious straight out of the box. It could look just like this. You don't need to add anything. No. All right, but we have... What do we have here? We have parsley. Sour cream. This is the crunchy topping that comes in the box. We have taki dust.

36:33This is chicken. Chili flakes. We have some sprinkles for you. You might like that. Yeah, right. All right, this is marscapone. All right, here we go. All right, we have 20 seconds on the clock. Ready? New mark, get set, go. Let's go. I'm going to put a little marscapone. Some basil. Will it melt? Signature crunchy topping. A little lemon. I'm gonna make, like, more creamy, putting that in there. I'm gonna put some basil in there. Maybe a little Parmesan. Wait, that's what I was thinking about. Alright, gosh!

37:13Alright. Okay. Alright, yeah. Questlove, please remove the Dome of Silen. Sorry, it is time, yeah. Okay. Wait, can you help me? Yep. Thanks. Shhh! All right, here we go. Now, you have dish one and dish two. Please taste whenever you're ready. No pressure on me, right? No, not at all. They look pretty identical. They do, actually, but one will probably taste better The interesting thing is, if you win, that's, of course, your Michelin star chef. You still won. You win. But if you lose, you still win. You still win. Because I don't know how to do this. It's the point of using riff. You need riff.

38:04Yeah. Okay. Are these the same... Yes, spicy rigatoni. Okay. Oh. Oh.

38:20Hey, come on, man. Christmas bonus is coming up, you know what I'm talking about? Wait, I... That more, Mr. Scrooge? Yeah. Uh-uh. That doesn't mean it's clearly a difference. Well, there really is a real difference, you know? Let me try again. Yeah, I think you should try it one more time and really figure it out. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. And then that is, yeah, anyone's how you can do it. Do it. Oh, it's fine.

38:54All right, the reigning champ right there, Daniel Hoom, the first ever international rip-off. Chef Daniel Hoom, the best RIP meal kits are available now at Target and eatrip.com. Stick around, everybody. It's the best. Always. Always.

39:20My name is John Cusack, Chef Daniel Hoon, and Carl Damien, everybody! And the Roots right there from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Good night, everybody. Thank you. Get it going! Get it, get it, get it going! Get it, get it, get it going! Get it to it! Get it!

39:49Get into it And get your pretty bad Get out of it Hold on That's it Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. Right over there.

40:26Yeah. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.

40:33What's up?

40:42Keep it in place.

40:52Get it back. Get it back. Get it back. And do it. Do it.

41:04Do it.

41:13Thanks for listening to The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes weekday mornings wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights on NBC and streaming on Peacock.