His old Mill Basin neighborhood in Brooklyn hasn’t changed much since he left at age nine — but Jimmy Kimmel says some important landmarks are gone.
“Once, there was an empty lot where we used to scavenge for Playboy magazines,” says the host of ABC’s “J
immy Kimmel Live.”
“Now it’s a medical building.”
Kimmel returns to his home borough for a week of shows starting tonight, originating from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (The show has backup generators that will allow them to film in case of a power loss due to Hurricane Sandy.)
In recent weeks, Kimmmel’s flown here from LA to tape bits for the show, including having dinner in the house he grew up in with the people who live there now.
“It was really odd,” he says. “More than anything, it’s surprising how much smaller everything is than you thought. My backyard is tiny. When I was a kid, it was huge.”
Of course, the changes in Kimmel’s home borough extend far beyond Kimmel’s growth. Back in the pre-hipster ’70s, Brooklyn had more of an old world feel, and Kimmel has great memories of playing stickball on its streets. The borough’s changes gave him lots of ammo for bits.
“There will definitely be a hipster factor in the show,” he says. “We’re planning to do a bit called ‘Hipster or Hasidic,’ where people have to guess, based on a very close-up shot of people on the street, whether they’re hipster, or Hasidic.”
The impressive guest list for the week includes Stephen Colbert, Chris Rock, Alicia Keys and more — but none as thrilling to Kimmel than his competitor and childhood idol, David Letterman.
“To be honest, I’m excited about coming to Brooklyn, but I’m most excited about talking to him,” says Kimmel. “It’s a very, very big deal for me to have him on my show.”
While Kimmel is no stranger to big interviews — last week alone, he spoke to both Axl Rose and Michelle Obama — none loom as large for him as the longtime king of late night.
“I interviewed Michelle Obama last night, and I think you can multiply that [in terms of nervousness] by about thirty for Dave,” he says. “He doesn’t do a lot of this kind of stuff unless Regis is around. Maybe he’s confusing me with Regis.”
In the end, Kimmel is looking forward to doing a show that conveys the true essence of his home borough. “This will be a bigger version of my show, set in Brooklyn instead of Hollywood,” he says. “We’re gonna give it as much Brooklyn flavor as possible.”