‘I Was Today Years Old’: Jimmy Fallon Asks His Fans To Share The Things They Recently Learned That Blew Their Minds (85 Tweets)

by admin March 23, 2023

Learning never stops. If you thought that school and college were going to be the end of your education, then you’ve got it wrong, Pandas. If we approach the world with humility and curiosity, we can deepen our knowledge about so many incredible things… and come across a bunch of random and hilarious facts, too!

Jimmy Fallon, the charismatic host of The Tonight Show, recently asked his fans to share the funny things that they recently learned that blew their mind. People loved the topic and the #IWasTodayYearsOld challenge went viral. We’ve compiled the very best and most hilarious facts they tweeted to brighten your mood. Check them out below and get ready for a good laugh.

Entertainment, pop culture, and lifestyle expert Mike Sington, a former senior executive at NBCUniversal, explained to Bored Panda what humor late-night TV shows tend to focus on. He also shed the spotlight on some of the main qualities that would help someone succeed as a member of Fallon's team. Read on and check out what Mike shared with us.

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Fallon and his team featured the very best comments on The Tonight Show. It’s a huge privilege to post something that’s so funny, the host of one of the most popular late-night TV shows in the world can’t help but mention it to his audience.

You’re making Fallon laugh. You’re making folks around the world giggle. And you've got something to mention to your friends the next time you get together. It’s a total win. Who says social media is a waste of time?

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Entertainment, pop culture, and lifestyle expert Mike, from LA, told Bored Panda that late night TV humor tends to be "more topical, irreverent, and edgier than other forms of comedy."

We were also very interested to get the expert's opinion on what qualities would help someone thrive if they were to work on Fallon's or another late-night TV show host's team. Hollywood's Ultimate Insider told us that these include creativity, flexibility, timing, writing skills, having a collaborative spirit and a good knowledge of current events, as well as the resilience to handle rejection.

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"Late night shows are always looking for fresh and unique ways to make people laugh. Being able to come up with new and inventive ideas for skits, segments, and jokes is a valuable skill. Late night shows are fast-paced and often require quick changes and adaptations. Being able to adapt to changes and think on your feet is important in this environment," entertainment expert Mike explained why creativity and flexibility are so valuable.

Having a good understanding of timing and solid writing skills will help you out in the industry, too. "Late night comedy relies heavily on timing and delivery. A good sense of timing can make the difference between a joke that lands and one that falls flat," he said, adding that strong writing skills help develop and deliver jokes and sketches. "Being able to write funny and engaging content that resonates with audiences is essential."

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Keeping up to date with current events helps here, as these shows rely heavily on pop culture references to make jokes and create content. "Being knowledgeable about what’s happening in the world and keeping up with the latest trends can help you succeed on a late night team," Mike said.

Meanwhile, these TV projects can't be tackled by any one person alone. It's always a team effort. So being able to work well with others, collaborate on ideas, and take feedback constructively are vital skills for success here.

Moreover, someone who thrives in the competitive and unpredictable late night TV industry is also going to be resilient. "Being able to handle rejection and setbacks with grace and resilience is an important quality to have," the expert told Bored Panda.

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There are four main things to keep in mind if you want to improve your chances to get noticed by Fallon’s team on social media whenever he runs these kinds of challenges. First of all, your fact or story has to be interesting. It can’t be something dull. Nor should you bend the truth just to grab others’ attention online.

Secondly, you need to find a way to make your story shine. Think about how you phrase everything and consider what some better alternative might look like. Your tweet has to be clear, concise, and have an immediate impact! You really can’t waffle on for too long. Nor should you cut out all the emotion from your tweet and leave it bland. Find a balance between being entertaining and informative.

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The third thing that helps you get spotted on Twitter by Fallon and his crew is being consistent with your posting. It’s highly likely that your tweet won’t get picked up the first time that you post it. (Though if you’re one of the lucky ones who did get featured on your first try—congrats!) However, if you keep taking part in his challenges and improving your writing, sooner or later, you’re likely to get featured on The Tonight Show. In short, keep at it!

And finally, keep in mind that going viral on social media has a lot to do with luck. Being persistent and consistent with your tweets helps, but there are many factors that you simply can’t control. There’s a note of randomness and good fortune here that you’ll never avoid. Remember that and it might help you avoid feeling frustrated or let down if Fallon doesn’t spot your awesome writing and hilarious story.

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So long as you have an open mind, a spark of curiosity, and a willingness to be humble when you have to, there’s no problem at all if you learn some fact or other thing ‘late.’ It’s impossible to know everything about everything. So we all end up with some knowledge gaps.

For instance, you might be a superstar at physics, math, and astronomy. But you might know embarrassingly little about biology or psychology. Our first instinct might be to hide the fact that we don’t know much about a particular subject. However, when we admit that we need to brush up on some information, that’s when we really become open to learning.

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It’s quite natural to care about your reputation. We’re social animals and it matters what others think of us. So, we tend to behave in a way that makes others respect and adore us. In that case, it’s obvious that we want to avoid embarrassing ourselves publicly. Say, by admitting that we might not know some basic information that pretty much everyone around us seems to know.

People spend a lot of time and energy trying to create an ‘ideal’ version of themselves that they present to others. However, chasing this ‘perfection’ has some downsides.

We might love others to think that we’re incredibly smart, graceful, strong, and wise, but it’s a very human thing to mess up. Everyone does it. Nobody’s perfect or immune to failure. So when someone finds out that we might not have known a basic fact—whether it’s something to do with science or history or is just a witty twist or observation—we feel embarrassed that how we’d like to be imagined doesn’t fit how others might see us.

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One of the worst things that you can do when you feel called out or you embarrass yourself is to try and pretend that nothing has happened or get overly defensive. Running away from these feelings can morph into shame. Meanwhile, getting angry also isn’t the way to go.

However, by embracing all of those uncomfortable feelings, you start becoming more resilient to any further embarrassment you might have to deal with in the future. What’s more, people tend to respect others who show signs of mild embarrassment and know how to laugh at their own mistakes. Whether they messed up big-time or just recently found out that there are folks out there who eat their cereal with orange juice!

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The Tonight Show wasn’t always hosted by Fallon. The show previously aired between 1957 and 1972, led by Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. After the show made a comeback on NBC in 2014, Fallon took the helm and is set to continue hosting it until at least 2026. Which means lots more awesome challenges to help us laugh the stress away.

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We’d love to read what recent mind-blowing and funny facts about the world you’ve learned recently, Pandas. So why not drop by the comment section to share your thoughts with all the other readers? Meanwhile, don’t forget to tell us what you think of The Tonight Show’s latest challenge!