When Ryan Gosling appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night, both the Blade Runner 2049 star and and Jimmy were in a more serious mood because of the tragic mass shooting that took the lives of more than 50 people during a country music concert in Las Vegas.
However, the two used the moment to reminisce about the good times that they’ve both had in the city. Kimmel had grown up in the city and shared anecdotes about seeing luminaries like Liberace and Sammy Davis Jr. while having what he considered to be an average childhood.
“I never realized it was interesting place to be from until I moved away from there and people kept saying, ‘Wow, what an interesting place to be from!'” Kimmel said. “For us, it was just where we were from. I played little league, and I played clarinet in the band…I saw Liberace buying meat the Mayfair market. That was pretty great. It was the middle of the night. He was wearing a hair net, and he was looking at the cuts of beef. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s Liberace!’ I saw Sammy Davis Jr. shopping for clothes in the boys section at Saks Fifth Avenue.”
Gosling had a touching story about a good night in Las Vegas as well, catching a show featuring Don Rickles, with a friend who was just a little too eager.
“We were very, very high up, and I was with a friend,” Gosling said. “He was so desperate to make contact that, in a quiet point in the show, he just yelled ‘Rickles!’ Don stopped, and he looked up. I forget what he said, but it was wildly insulting. He had that amazing ability to make you feel like you just experience some magic trick by him insulting you.”
Watch the full clip below.
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com