Comedian Jimmy Fallon: Abortion Can Be ‘Lighthearted,’ ‘Funny’

‘Obvious Child’ Star Jenny Slate and Jimmy Fallon joke on 'The Tonight Show.’

Comedians can find the humor in anything, right? Or so Jimmy Fallon seems to think. 

Comedian Jimmy Fallon invited the “very talented actress” Jenny Slate (“SNL,” “Parks and Recreation”) on “The Tonight Show” August 1. During her appearance, Fallon applauded Slate’s recent role in the media-dubbed “abortion romantic comedy,” “Obvious Child.” Fallon explained, “It’s getting great reviews because it's a serious issue, but you make it lighthearted, you make it funny.” “Good for you,” he added. Continued after video.

Besides Fallon’s “funny” and “lighthearted” adjectives, Slate used “funny and sweet” in regards to “Obvious Child,” a film centered on a “regrets-free abortion.” She stressed:

“It's a romantic comedy, but it has a modern story. It's about a comedian in Brooklyn who gets dumped and fired and then gets drunk and then gets pregnant. And – just normal stuff. And then – and has a regret-free abortion. And it’s just about a modern woman making decisions and it's very funny and sweet.” 

Bursting with compliments that evening, Fallon encouraged Slate: “you’re killing it, you’re doing great” and “people know about [the film].”

Highlighting the “great reviews” once again, Fallon praised, “It's got like 87% on rotten tomatoes, which, I don't know if you know what that means, but that's good.” “It's a lot of tomatoes,” Slate agreed. Fallon continued, “It’s not 87% rotten. It's 87% healthy” or, “Ripe tomatoes.”

He concluded the joke with, “You’ve got some great tomatoes, Jenny.”

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.