-Our next guest is a very funny actor, comedian, and writer
whose work you've seen on "Detroiters," "Drunk History,"
and right here on "Late Night."
And because she's a writer here,
she wrote this next part and insisted I read it.
And now, the most beautiful comedian and writer
I've ever seen, a real live princess, Amber Ruffin.
-Seth?
-Oh, hi, Amber.
-Seth Meyers?
-Yes, yes, Amber.
-Well, I wasn't expecting a call from you.
I would have dressed up.
-Oh, Amber.
So that's just your lying around the house outfit?
-Yes, this is my lounge gown.
-[ Laughs ]
Now, Amber, you've been on the show many times on camera
over the course of our 1,000 shows.
This is the first time I've interviewed you, though.
Are you excited for this moment?
-Yes, it's everything I've ever dreamed of and more.
You in your weird attic.
Me in my hallway.
-[ Laughs ]
And you know who forced my hand was Anderson Cooper
because you were on Anderson Cooper's show last night.
And you were wonderful, and he's wonderful.
And I was thinking, "Well, now,
now I feel like I have to interview you."
-Yeah, he appreciates me, Seth.
-[ Laughs ]
I do -- I would like to --
I would like to show a clip of the end of the interview
where you didn't tell Anderson you loved him.
You said you "loved him, too." -Yeah.
-And it really made Anderson Cooper laugh.
-[ Laughs ]
-Well, Amber Ruffin, I'm glad -- I'm so glad you were on tonight
'cause I've been watching what you've been doing
and I just think it's really powerful and important.
So thank you.
-I love you, too, Anderson.
-[ Laughs ]
-Amber, we've known each other for a long time.
We met, because we both worked for a theater
in Amsterdam called Boom Chicago.
You were one of the first people we hired for this show.
But one of the things we found, I think, having you on camera
and the way you write, is that you can both talk about
serious things and connect with people in a way
that also brings them joy.
Did you -- When you first started doing stuff on camera,
is that something you knew about yourself?
-No. I thought I was just going to take this job,
keep my head down, and not get fired.
Then I found out that you guys really let people
do whatever they want, so I got to acting up.
-Well, you know, we've been really lucky
because we have a writing staff that, you know, has --
is diverse enough to talk about a lot of different things.
And things have happened,
particularly the events of this last month
where, you know, we called you up and said,
"Hey, do you want to have something ready for Monday?"
And it was your suggestion to come on and tell
your real-life experiences with police.
And initially, you were going to do it on Monday,
and then you also offered that you could tell
a different story every day.
What made you think that that
would be the most powerful way to address it?
-You know, when it started, I started writing, you know,
bits about the protest, and then that felt weird and dumb.
But it just became such an opportunity, you know?
I was like, "Oh, we write jokes about stuff all the time,
but this is an opportunity
to really let people know some [bleep]."
Some stuff.
[Bleep]
So I thought, "Oh, let me just tell a real story,
recount an actual story," and then you guys said, "Great.
We'll put it at the top of the show."
And then the movement really took off.
And I was like, "Oh, you know,
every day still feels like yesterday."
You know what I mean? -Yes.
-It felt that exact same way for a really long time.
And so I thought, "Well, we -- I've got stories for days.
-And we should point out that you did four,
and you're not out.
-I'm not out of police stories.
They don't like me.
-And hearing it from someone like you,
especially someone who has established yourself
as a person, who when people see you, they think,
"Well, no one would ever have a problem with Amber."
-Yeah, people think when police violence happens, they think,
"Oh, well, what did that person say?
What did that person do?"
And that gave me a real superpower here because,
you know, if you watch the show, maybe you've seen me enough
to come to the conclusion that I'm a regular dude.
I'm not running around yelling at people, demanding [bleep].
I'm just hanging out and giggling, and that happened.
You know? I mean, can you imagine
if I wanted them to recognize an ounce of my rights?
You know, which I would have been able to do.
But I didn't say [bleep].
I complied completely and that's what happened.
Man, it's crazy out there, Seth.
-It's crazy.
It was awesome to watch them and we were so lucky to have you
tell us -- I don't know, share that with us.
And I want to thank you.