Bill Murray is an all-time great late-night talk show guest. He might be even better from home.
On Wednesday, the comedy legend joined Jimmy Kimmel from the bathtub at his house in Charleston, South Carolina. The host was delighted from the jump.
“If there’s anyone who can shake us out of this pandemic doldrum, it is my guest tonight,” Kimmel said before revealing a fully-clothed Murray, who said he was doing “pretty well” but going through a “funny moment” right now.
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“I’m drawing my tub now, and I’m having a little difficulty because getting the right temperature is always a problem for me,” he said as the bath slowly started to fill up. “For the purposes of today, it’s kind of a celebration, because I haven’t seen you in a while, I thought a bubble bath would be appropriate. But you know how it is with bubbles, you can’t snap your fingers and make them. They just come when they come.”
“This is genius, really,” Kimmel told him, “because they do say soap and water are the best things to protect you from the virus, and you’re right in it.” The host then asked Murray what the mood is like these days in his hometown.
“They’ve opened the world sort of. It’s reopened a little bit,” Murray said. “I’ve still been wearing a mask when I go out,” he added, putting one on to demonstrate. “And most young people do not wear masks at all. They don’t. The only people I see are people that haven’t put on their makeup yet, those kind of people. But I like it.”
“I think anyone that is not wearing a mask, you could argue, you’re being socially irresponsible, you’re risking your life and the lives of others,” he continued. “Eh, maybe, who cares? But you’re missing a real opportunity to say, ‘I’m on the side of law and order.’ Don’t you understand? If I weren’t on the side of law and order, I would have walked in with my guns drawn.”
After sharing some stories about his minor league baseball team and his time spent golfing with Michael Jordan on the set of Space Jam, Murray helped Kimmel by answering some quarantine questions from viewers.
To one woman who wanted to know how to keep from getting bored at home, he suggested looking for insect infestations. To another who wanted to know if he should let his father cut his hair, Murray was all for it. “I cut my own hair,” he said. “I do it myself. And it looks better than—well, I mean, it needs a little cleaning up, but basically, cutting your own hair feels really good.”
Murray ended the interview by pulling a full Champagne bottle out of his tub. “Look what I found!” he said. “I think I’m taking this bubble bath thing a little too far, don’t you?”
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