Jack Black achieves next-level talk-show entrance with guitar solo fake-out

Jack Black is a one-man instant party, a walking entertainment machine. As lead singer of Tenacious D, the self-described "greatest band in the world," he has a versatile instrument capable of navigating both tender balladry and flights of hard-rock fancy. He’s also a magnetic actor and one of our funniest, jolliest humans—a master of absurd facial expressions and cartoonish physical comedy, always prioritizing laughter over vanity.

Oh, and he’s also the all-time king of late-night talk-show entrances, which he displayed—along with all of those other qualities—during a spot promoting A Minecraft Movie on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Whether or not you watch the interview itself, it’s worth soaking in his entire minute-and-a-half introduction, during which he mimes the iconic Slash guitar solo from Guns N’ Roses’ 1988 glam-metal classic "Sweet Child O’ Mine."

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After his welcome from Fallon, Black appears, mouth agape, behind the audience. For a few seconds, one might be tricked into thinking he’s actually playing that Flying V-shaped Minecraft guitar. But as he struts down the aisle to surprised applause, his mannerisms grow increasingly goofy and outrageous: "soloing" on the axe behind his head, snarling broadly, sticking out his tongue, finger-tapping the neck in places that make no sense. He eventually takes a break from the act, walking over to house band The Roots and the actual guitarist, "Captain" Kirk Douglas. (It should be noted that Douglas nails that solo, wah-wah accents and all.)

For most performers, that display would be enough. But not for Black. He walks over to Fallon’s desk, prop guitar still in hand, and embraces the host—revealing that his pants have fallen down. After they both sit, Fallon throws out some intense praise: "That’s how you make an entrance! You bring the heat! You bring the energy!" Black fires back, with perfect comedic timing, "I didn’t bring a belt!"

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While the Tenacious D star does, indeed, always bring the heat, he also brings continuity. While he didn’t mention it verbally, this Tonight Show bit feels like a direct sequel of his "guitar battle" with Conan O’Brien, staged in 2016 on the host’s eponymous TBS show. In this case, the action takes place during the interview itself, after the duo engage in some playful banter about who "rocks" hardest. They take turns playing modestly on their respective guitars: Black strumming some vigorous chords, O’Brien firing off some old-school blues-rock licks. Eventually the host starts playing with suspicious virtuosity, puzzling Black until he pulls back the stage curtain to reveal a ghost-shredder: Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.

Of course, the guitar fake-out wasn’t Black’s only noteworthy musical moment on Fallon’s Tonight Show. Back in 2018, the rock god gave a funky and fiery demonstration of the Sax-a-Boom, the saxophone-like toy instrument he frequently "plays" during Tenacious D concerts (This particular bit also features a faux-jam session with The Roots, but it’s hard to take your eyes off Black’s slippery dance moves). And while we're here, we'd be remiss not to mention the time he and Fallon recreated Extreme's 1991 ballad "More Than Words"—both the song and the video. Enjoy.

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