Inside Desus and Mero’s Wild Ride, From Twitter to Podcasts to Late-Night’s Hottest Show

The Bodega Boys talk leaving Viceland for Showtime, and why fans will see double this summer

Showtime’s Desus & Mero is not for background viewing. Viewers have to strain to listen, to make sure they’re not missing the latest throwaway joke or tangent from Desus Nice (Daniel Baker) and The Kid Mero (Joel Martinez), who host the premium-cable network’s first late-night talk show.

The duo keeps you on the edge of your seat, and that means everything in this high-stakes world of distracted viewers. It’s the same in real life: They finish each other’s sentences, jump in when one feels the other is rambling or quickly pick up on a riff, raising their voice to match the other’s enthusiasm.

Desus and Mero first crossed paths as teens in summer school in the Bronx (though they weren’t close then) and reconnected six years ago on Twitter, which they both used as an outlet to complain about their day jobs (a small-business reporter and junior high school paraprofessional, respectively).

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This story first appeared in the June 10, 2019, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.