Bono And The Edge Aim Jay Leno Joke At David Letterman As Trio Unveil New Documentary About Their Musical Adventures In Dublin
09.03.2023 - 18:23
/ deadline.com
The jokes were zipping as David Letterman got together on stage in Los Angeles Wednesday night with two of his favorite musicians – U2’s Bono and The Edge – for the world premiere of the Disney+ documentary Bono and The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman. But it was The Edge who landed the first barb.
At the Q&A for the film, which revolves around Bono and Edge working on reimagined versions of U2’s canon in Dublin, with Letterman as their white-bearded interlocutor, Edge was asked why he and his bandmate thought to bring Letterman along on their cinematic journey.
“Well, being honest, the first idea was Jay Leno,” he cracked. More earnestly, he added, “We’re huge fans, have been for a long time. We’ve known Dave for many years and he was foolish enough once to invite us to play for entire week on The Late Show. It was very brave of him.”
Bono added that Letterman helped fill the void left U2’s Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., who didn’t take an active role in the documentary. “If your two good-looking members have gone AWOL,” he said, “we needed to bring in some really great storytellers. So here we have two great storytellers.”
One of those storytellers, he clearly meant, is Letterman. And in the film the former late night host visits the Irish capital for the first time, engaging in amusing encounters with locals before settling into his role as interviewer of Bono and Edge. The other storyteller referred to by Bono was either The Edge himself or Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville, who directed the documentary. Letterman appeared moved by what he saw on screen at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A.
“I’ve been in television and this sort of thing since I was 18. And at this stage of my life to have