--- title: Watch Tom Hanks Show David Letterman How to Use a Selfie Stick description: Tom Hanks goes full tourist on the "Late Show" canonical: https://time.com/3884643/watch-tom-hanks-david-letterman-selfie-stick/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-19T11:46:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:00.612Z og:title: Watch Tom Hanks Show David Letterman How to Use a Selfie Stick og:description: Tom Hanks goes full tourist on the 'Late Show' og:url: https://time.com/3884643/watch-tom-hanks-david-letterman-selfie-stick/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb036b02621421d8/69884dd5f887dc15d3e90339/letterman_hanks_screenshot.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1237 og:image:height: 696 og:image:alt: Letterman_Hanks_Screenshot og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Tom Hanks Show David Letterman How to Use a Selfie Stick twitter:description: Tom Hanks goes full tourist on the 'Late Show' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb036b02621421d8/69884dd5f887dc15d3e90339/letterman_hanks_screenshot.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Tom Hanks Teach David Letterman How to Use a Selfie Stick > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ad9f60b9-723a-4ebd-896a-0bdde6d50ac3&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Late-Night Highlight: Tom Hanks Teaches David Letterman How To Use A Selfie Stick [Watch (HLS stream): Late-Night Highlight: Tom Hanks Teaches David Letterman How To Use A Selfie Stick](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TGxxaotf.m3u8) (1:12)  _Published 2015-05-19. On the 'Late Show,' Tom Hanks said his final goodbye to David Letterman by introducing him to the selfie stick._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 11:46 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 11:46 AM UTC Tom Hanks stopped by the _Late Show_ with David Letterman on Monday night and did something you’d expect from a tourist or a Kardashian. He took a selfie using a selfie stick. “Rita announced when these first came out that we would never ever have a selfie stick in the house,” Hanks said of his wife, actress Rita Wilson. “But they sell these selfies all over Florence, which was the birthplace of the Renaissance.” Hanks suggested Letterman, whose last show airs on May 20, purchase a selfie stick for his retirement vacation. “When you, in a couple weeks, head down to — I’m just going to guess what you’re going to be up to — Space Camp, take one of these bad boys with you.” Letterman, though initially apprehensive about the contraption, was impressed by the end result. “It’s almost as if someone else has taken the picture for you,” he said. ## Transcript On the Late Show Monday night. Tom Hanks said his final goodbye to David Letterman by introducing him to the single greatest tool since the invention of the wheel. The selfie stick. Can I get a selfie? Yeah. No. And look. I'm going to press this button. There we are Dave. Now can I give you [ APPLAUSE ] We get it up above the chin, above the chin. Dave looked pretty perplexed by the contraption at first. Wait a minute, what is this? Rita announced when they first came out. But after Tom insisted they're being sold all over Florence You know, the birthplace of the Renaissance, he convinced the late night host they must be pretty legit. And we gotta say, the final selfie product looked pretty darn great. But half the fun was watching Tom trying to teach Dave his selfie Selfie stick ways. As a runner for Vulture noted, the best part is, it's not just any selfie, it's a self- stick- facilitated selfie. The even better- than- that part is that Dave thinks the stick sans phone is putter and Hanks almost breaks it. Hanks almost breaks it. And Entertainment Weekly admitted, even though the bit was pretty cheesy, it did give the host and his audience quite a few laughs. Well, it's good Tom managed to get some photos because there's not much time left to snag them with good old Dave. 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