Actor Will Arnett appeared on Wednesday night’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for what has become a recurring and always welcome guest spot by the veteran funnyman.
Arnett’s pretaped segment featured “some new characters and their voices in this new animated voiceover demo,” according to his introduction. But it was really Arnett improv at its finest.
The highlight was a commentary on one of America’s oldest and most beloved institutions: the postal service.
For “Snail Mail Man,” Arnett changed things up and used his regular voice.
“He just kind of sounds like this — ‘I’m not that slow. I just kind of do my thing,’” Arnett said, setting up the bit. “But it’s not so much that he’s slow. It’s more that he’s just kind of boring.”
“Um, yeah. I deliver mail. And here’s why. Did you know the U.S. Postal Service was first formed in…” Arnett as Snail Mail Man says, before reappearing as an uninterested USPS customer who rudely interrupts.
“Hey man, we’re good. We just want to get our…”
But Snail Mail Man won’t be cut off.
“OK, but just let me finish my story,” Arnett as Snail Mail Man says. “So the U.S. Postal Service is an integral part of the community. Without a robust postal service, most of what we know as society would fall apart. Sure, you can rely on your emails and your digital formats. But the real backbone to …”
Arnett’s USPS customer again attempts to interrupt, but Snail Mail Man keeps going.
“… to commerce — let me finish — is snail mail. And that’s why…”
“And he just hears doors slamming on him,” Arnett says, as he makes a repeated slamming motion with his hand.
Arnett then puts the cards on the table.
“Snail Mail Man, his catch phrase is,” he says, before the shot goes back to the voiceover animation of the Snail Mail Man, in no hurry, checking what’s in his hand.
“You’ve got … urrr, let me see. You’ve got mail.”
Watch all of “The Late Show” video featuring Arnett as animated voiceover characters below. The Snail Mail Man bit begins at 1:20.
.@arnettwill brings new characters to life in Cartoon Voiceover Improv! #LSSC pic.twitter.com/JZrkjbEEuF
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) June 16, 2021
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