Boulder's finest, Warren Hammond, blows it on Letterman

By Nick Lucchesi Fri., Nov. 25 2011 at 12:44 PM

Categories: Film and TV, Performance, Popular Culture

Warren Hammond goes up his nose.

It's a non-holiday holiday today, and as such we thought we'd shine a light on the Papa John's delivery driver and glow-dart blower Warren Hammond of Boulder.

Hammond, umm, blew it, on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this month. Watch the video below to see what we mean.

Becky Toma, of Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret (where Hammond is a performer) shared the news and presents Hammond's account of his November 9 appearance on the Stupid Human Tricks segment, which Letterman said was the "dumbest thing he'd ever seen in his whole life." Given the history of his guests' behavior, that's some high praise for Hammond.

On a side note, why was Letterman in Durango recently?

Here's Hammond's recollection of the segment:

I e-mailed them about a year ago with a few different trick ideas for the Stupid Human Trick segment. After a month or two they e-mailed back and asked for video which I then sent. Didn't hear anything until mid-May of 2011 when I got a call from Ryan at the Late Show.
They wanted me to do my nose dart (at that time I was firing a dart out of my nose into a grapefruit) and wanted to fly me out for it the following week! When they do the segment, they always fly out more acts than they can air, so I was competing with five other tricks. I didn't make it through the first time, so I asked why.

They told me the main problem was that the cameras couldn't pick up the dart while it was flying through the air. They also said the grapefruit was okay, but that maybe there was something bigger and better that I could hit with the dart.

I redesigned my blowgun, made new darts with LED's and switched from a grapefruit to a balloon. I sent them a video of this, and last Tuesday got a call asking if I could fly out Wednesday morning! This time when I auditioned it all went beautifully. The dart showed up great and the balloon was perfect for an ending, so this time I made the cut and got on air!

It was a great experience! David Letterman was easy and fun to be on stage with. It was interesting because you only meet him when you're on stage. He wants to have a genuine reaction to meeting you and seeing your trick.

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