Jimmy Kimmel Live from Austin during SXSW 2014

Jimmy Kimmel is eating up the Texas-sized crowds in Austin as deliciously as he is the barbecue in its capital city of Austin, where he kicked off a week of broadcasts Monday night taking ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on the road.

Kimmel-SXSW-burger-sign“We are here for the South by Southwest Festival. Which is three festivals, really. It’s music, technology and film, all back-to-back. It’s the world’s largest gathering of people wearing lanyards,” Kimmel said in his monologue Monday. “I love Austin. I really do. The people are friendly. The food is delicious. The cowboys here don’t wear UGGs like they do back in L.A. Here’s maybe the best thing about Austin: Everywhere you go, they offer you a beer — for free. I got offered beer in a clothing store. I had a beer in an antique store. A guy handed me a beer in a cab. So. The only place they don’t give beer away is in bars! There you have to pay for them. Not anywhere else. Austin isn’t so much a city as it is an enabler.”

Kimmel wasn’t joking.

Walking around downtown Austin, you’d even see signs outside restaurants and other establishments enticing Kimmel and his crew to come on in.

He then went on to rib Birds Barbershop, where the barbers give you a beer to drink while they cut your hair.

Roll the clip.

Kimmel then brought out “Big Bertha,” the University of Texas Longhorn Band’s drum. And used it for an extra-large rimshot on a joke about Austin traffic during SXSW.

As Kimmel joked about Justin Bieber’s surprise performance at an SXSW party on Sunday night, the crowd at the Long Center for the Performing Arts booed the Biebs. The packed crowd also didn’t much care to know that Texas Gov. Rick Perry would appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, booing and jeering his mere mention on Monday’s telecast. To which Kimmel quipped: “You know, our governor was Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

His first guest, Seth Rogen, already was in Austin to showcase the world premiere of his latest big-screen comedy, Neighbors, which screened Saturday night at SXSW. “I’ve been here since Friday and I’m so full of tequila and pork it’s really a problem,” Rogen said, noting that Kimmel had la Barbecue backstage, his show also acting as an enabler.

Kimmel and Rogen taped their own “True Detective 2” parody teaser while in Austin, even getting Michael Potts — who played Detective Maynard Gilbough in the original HBO series that concluded Sunday — as they discovered what someone had done to Austin’s frog mural. And also found solace in the lyrics of Cher and Cyndi Lauper.

But what about Guillermo?

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You’ll see more with Guillermo tonight or later this week, as The Comic’s Comic spotted him interviewing locals and visitors alike along 6th Street over the weekend.

You also can keep track of Kimmel and his crew this week via social media @JimmyKimmel and #KimmelinAustin

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Jimmy Kimmel Live’s guests in Austin:

Monday – Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg, Music from White Denim
Tuesday – Rosario Dawson, Gov. Rick Perry, Music from Aloe Blacc; Jimmie Vaughn sitting in with the house band
Wednesday – Robert Duvall, Rachael Ray, Music from Damon Albarn; Johnny Winter sitting in with the house band
Thursday – Lady Gaga, Darby Stanchfield, Music from the Preatures
Friday – Interview and music from Willie Nelson, Lil Wayne; Los Lonely Boys sitting in with the house band

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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