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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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — At least 90 people were injured in Argentina's capital when a passenger train struck an empty boxcar on the tracks and derailed Friday, authorities said, a rare collision that fueled questions about basic safety.

The train was on its way from Buenos Aires to the northern suburbs when it derailed around 10:30 a.m. on a bridge in the trendy neighborhood of Palermo, safety officials said.

While it was not immediately clear why the idled boxcar had been on the bridge, Argentina's railway union said several meters (yards) of copper cable used to carry power along the tracks had been stolen from the railway, disabling the signaling system intended to prevent such accidents.

Union leaders fiercely opposed to libertarian President Javier Milei's economic austerity blamed the government for its failure to invest in public infrastructure.

“We have been demanding for 10 days that the stolen signaling cables be repaired," rail union leader Omar Maturano told the country's independent Radio Con Vos station. “The government said there was no money for spare parts.”

Prosecutors said they were investigating.

“There is not enough information about the mechanics of this accident,” Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Macri said from the crash site where he praised the swift evacuation of victims.

Dozens of injured were treated at the scene and 30 people taken to hospitals in moderate to serious condition, at least two by helicopter with chest trauma and broken bones.

Alberto Crescenti, director of the city's emergency service, said rescuers with police dogs had helped 90 people trapped in the derailed train, lowering some by rope from the highway overpass scattered with twisted metal and shattered glass.

Dazed passengers staggering out of the derailed boxcars told local media the train had stopped on the bridge for several minutes before starting up again and slamming violently into the other train, jolting passengers and veering off the rails in a jumble of sparks and smoke.

Officials at the Argentine rail authority, Trenes Argentinos, said service on the popular rail line had been suspended, complicating travel for many commuters.

The collision brought increased scrutiny to rail safety in Argentina, where a string of train crashes from 2012-2014 left over 50 people dead and hundreds injured. It emerged at the time that outdated infrastructure, delays and human error had left the railway system vulnerable to crashes, prompting the government to invest in new safety and braking systems.

With Argentina's economy spiraling and anti-government protests gripping the streets, the crash quickly spawned contradictory narratives, with both government officials and leftist union leaders using the incident to further their agendas.

“The rail company has been totally degraded because there's no budget," said Maturano, from the rail union.

President Milei reposted comments on social media blaming his left-leaning predecessors for neglecting public infrastructure and running up a massive budget deficit.

In the midst of Argentina's worst economic crisis in two decades, police have repeatedly reported would-be cable thieves being electrocuted in the act. Those who succeed wreak havoc on the rail system in stealing metal to sell to scrapyards, where local media says the going rate is about $7 a kilogram ($3.18 a pound).

The Argentine website Infobae in February called copper cable theft “a trendy crime for the crisis.”

Police tape off the site after a passenger train collision in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A paramedic transports an injured commuter after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Railway workers inspect a passenger train after it collided with another in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Franco Dergarabedian)

Railway workers inspect a passenger train after it collided with another in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A police officer talks to a commuter who was injured when two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A train wagon that collided with another stands on the rails in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Paramedics transport injured commuters after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)