The three female Oscars hosts have just three weeks left to finetune their routines and delivery, with one host teasing that the audience is in for a wild night.
On March 8, the first TV promo for the Oscars dropped, with co-host comedian and Trainwreck star Amy Schumer, 40, saying “I’m going to get myself in some trouble as per the [usual]”.
Schumer is set to co-host the 94th annual Academy Awards with US comic actors Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, making the 2022 event the first to have a host in three years.
Speaking to entertainment news program ExtraTV to promote her new streaming series Life & Beth, Schumer casually let slip – half-jokingly – that she was going to “burn all bridges”.
“Wanda, Regina are hilarious. And we’re having a blast preparing.
“And I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know who made the decision to let me personally be a host, but it’s not a good one … because it’ll burn all bridges.
“I’ll burn every bridge.”
When Hall was asked on the red carpet at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards this week whether “you ladies will be singing, doing skits”, she replied, laughing: “We’re not singing”.
“It’s all coming together.” That’s all she’d say.
Their comments come as their first skit together was released, showing the three women sitting around a kitchen with giant glasses of red wine, trying to remember who hosted the past three years.
No one.
Schumer’s prediction may come true if audience reaction to her occasional hosting duties on Saturday Night Live is anything to go by.
Known for her stand-up comedy monologues – where she would often drink from a bottle of wine – she opened her 2018 SNL hosting gig talking about getting proposed to, being a bridesmaid six times, menopause, her ageing cleavage, masturbation and the specific way women ask for a tampon.
This may, or may not, translate into humour for an Oscars audience.
“The audience was so confused on when to laugh that they started laughing during the joke setup,” wrote one non-fan of the SNL monologue.
“Since humans have a habit of laughing in serious situations, a funeral is literally more likely to make you laugh than Amy Schumer,” said another.
On the other hand, her timing is always perfect. She’s flawless and honest in her storytelling and she knows how to speak to the females in the room.
Her 2019 Live at the Apollo was one such occasion, but social media was again divided over her “cringeworthy” jokes.
At one point she asks – and keep in mind the Oscars are being held at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Centre in Los Angeles – “I just went to LA. Has anyone had their self-esteem lowered?
“Wow, that place will ruin your life”.
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres interviewed Schumer in front of a studio audience in 2015, asking why she doesn’t move to LA (amid Schumer talking about wanting to be sexually harassed in her 30s, having a double chin, a UTI and “pounding” red wine).
Ellen was in hysterics. She loved every second of the segment.
Schumer: “I just don’t fit in here. Just straight up my body type. Like, in LA my arms register as legs.”
So much to look forward to on Oscars night.
At least it’s scripted and there’s an abundance of auto-cues.
Gervais would host Oscars for free
Schumer’s “burn all bridges” reveal comes as Ricky Gervais (The Office, Afterlife), who hosted the Golden Globes five times, says he’ll never get asked to host the Oscars because they’d check in on his rehearsals and screen his jokes.
His Globes schtick, especially in his last year hosting in 2020, while really, really funny, was about berating the audience (calling them perverts), making fun of the “racist” Hollywood Foreign Press, acknowledging talented people making pedophile movies, and suggesting the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein was a friend of many in the audience.
He told ABC’s The View in January that he would host the Oscars “for free” if the Academy let him say whatever he wanted without rehearsing.
“Well, I might be allowed to host it if I did what I was told,” Gervais said.
“But there’s the rub.
“You know, the great thing about the Globes was they said I could write my own jokes, say what I want, and not rehearse.
“And that is just too good for a comedian to turn down. I don’t think the Oscars ever would allow me that freedom. And rightly so! I think they’d be mad!
“If they did, I’d do it!” Gervais quickly added. “If they said that, I’d definitely do it. I’d do it for free if they said I could do that.”
However, the Academy has all faith in its first-time Oscar hosts.
The show’s producer, Will Packer, said they’ve lined up “three of the most dynamic, hilarious women with very different comedic styles”.
“I know the fun Regina, Amy and Wanda will be having will translate to our audience as well.
“Many surprises in store! Expect the unexpected!”
Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment president Craig Erwich was equally as confident they will pull it off.
“Regina, Amy and Wanda are comedy powerhouses who will make history as the first female trio to host the biggest night in entertainment, and we’re thrilled to have them at the helm to deliver an incredible show full of unforgettable moments and laughter,” he said.
Mr Packer added: “This year’s show is all about uniting movie lovers.”
And Schumer will do just that, right after she’s binge-watched this year’s films: “Better go watch some movies,” she said during an appearance on Good Morning America just after she was announced as co-host.
