Desus & Mero shake up the late night talk show universe

Daniel Baker and Joel Martinez may be hosts of a late night TV talk show that attracts A-list celebrities but they don't feel like they're competing with the likes of Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert.

The comedians, who go by Desus Nice & The Kid Mero, got their break in podcasts and they fill their Showtime slot with conversation, jokes, viral clips, celebrity slip-ups and offbeat local news stories. They call it "a hodgepodge of the full day's topics." It's spontaneous and less gimmicky than their higher-profile rivals.

"Other guys_shout out to them_but they have a formula," said Mero, the stage name of Martinez. "That's not what we wanted to do. We wanted to come and do something totally different. And even the term 'late-night show'_it applies to our show because it comes on late at night, but it's not your typical late-night show."

This March 19, 2019 photo shows Daniel Baker, better known as Desus Nice, left, and Joel Martinez, also known as The Kid Mero, during a portrait session in New York. The pair host the late night series "Desus & Mero," on Showtime. (Photo by Brian AchInvisionAP)

Fans will get a chance to see them up close in person this summer when they hit the road, visiting cities like Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and more. Tickets are currently on sale .

"The show is a live version of the podcast," said Desus. "At the beginning of the day, it started with our podcast and at the end of the day, it's going to be our podcast."

They're doing what they want on their own terms, the same traits that caught the eyes of Complex Media, which noticed their hysterical Twitter interaction and paired them up for a podcast that quickly turned to video.

This March 19, 2019 photo shows Daniel Baker, better known as Desus Nice, left, and Joel Martinez, also known as The Kid Mero, during a portrait session in New York. The pair host the late night series "Desus & Mero," on Showtime. (Photo by Brian AchInvisionAP)

That led to their popular show on Viceland, and now Baker and Martinez host "Desus & Mero on Showtime ," the premium network's first late-night show.

"We're not a bunch of pundits breaking stuff down. We're just like, 'This is weird. This is weird. This is not how America works. But wow! What's going on?'" said Desus, the stage name of Baker.

Part of the charm of Desus & Mero is that they don't hide their New York-ness. Most on-air talent eliminates clothing, accents or vernacular that could alienate different parts of the country. But Desus and Mero not only embrace it, but turn the dial up.

This March 19, 2019 photo shows Daniel Baker, better known as Desus Nice, left, and Joel Martinez, also known as The Kid Mero, during a portrait session in New York. The pair host the late night series "Desus & Mero," on Showtime. (Photo by Brian AchInvisionAP)

"When the revolution comes, we going to kill all the rich people and eat them," Desus joked to an audience recently. "We're not rich, though. We from the Bronx. Being rich in the Bronx is like, what, 40 thou?"

Although they might be newcomers to late-night, they haven't shied from the action. While they shoot the breeze with everyone from actors to directors to recording artists, they've hit a sweet spot with politics.

They've toasted Kirsten Gillibrand at a bar, drank malt liquor in the park from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags with Pete Buttigieg and visited fellow Bronx resident Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her Washington, D.C. office_she was their first Showtime guest. (To remind her of the Bronx, they presented her with a Puerto Rican flag, a Fat Joe VHS tape and a Cardi B Fathead.)

"It's like the opposite of what everybody else is trying to do. Not that it's a goal that we set and said we're going to be different just for the sake of being different, but it's just that we're different," said Mero. "We're not going to ask the same questions that the suit-and-tie guy on Fox News or MSNBC are going to ask."

Also known as The Bodega Boys, the New York duo were influenced by the "looseness" of "The Arsenio Hall Show" in the '90s, the music segments of Dave Chappelle's "Chappelle's Show" and elements of "The Eric Andre Show."

"We definitely stand out, not only because we look different," Desus remarked, referring to their place as the only people of color currently hosting a late-night show. "We might be a little grittier, a little edgier than the other shows, but they're not really our competition."

What also makes their show unique is its writers room, which features Ziwe Fumudoh and Heben Nigatu_two black women.

"Getting people that get you and come from your world is super-important, especially for us, just coming up and being now on the platform that we are now," said Mero.

"You have women of color in the writer's room because that's a viewpoint that might not be represented at all in late-night," continued Desus.

"So you get the full 360-view on things that wouldn't even be on your radar. They'll bring it to us like, 'Did you see this?' And I'm like, 'Oh wow, this would never make it to my Twitter feed.' But then we could put it on the show and everyone is like, 'Oh wow, I didn't even know about this.'"

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Predator with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.

A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)