Late-night talk show for Sioux Falls takes the stage this week

The hosts are set.

The band is ready.

And guests are booked.

And Thursday night, Sioux Falls’ own version of a late-night talk show will take the stage at the Washington Pavilion.

“Late Night Boomin” is the brainchild of Jack Unruh, who started the show in 2019 as a freshman at the University of Sioux Falls.

“I was really into Jimmy Fallon,” he said, which got him thinking: “What if we did our own late show?”

So he pulled together some friends, got permission to hold the debut live show on the USF campus and convinced former local meteorologist Shawn Cable to be his first guest.

“It was really fun,” he said.

A second episode followed, and then he got the idea of trying to partner with a local television station to air the show.

“And that’s when corona happened,” Unruh said.

The Tea native shifted gears and went into an online film program, where he was paired with a mentor who taught him production techniques. He also had the chance to pitch a script.

It was successful, and he plans to make an action comedy here this summer based around his childhood of growing up making YouTube videos “and causing a ruckus with the cameras.”

Until then, though, he was looking for something to do in between working in property management part time and decided to bring back his late show idea.

“We ended up being blessed with the opportunity to have it at the Washington Pavilion for our first episodes, and we got some really cool guests,” he said.

Those include former Minnesota Twins standout Al Newman and several pitchers from the Sioux Falls Little League World Series team.

“With them, we’re going to have three pitchers on to play a game with us onstage,” Unruh said.

The band will include well-known local names Chuck Case on drums, Reuben Rodriguez playing the bass, Joe Hurley on the keys, Jesse Christen on the guitar and Marty Sarlette with the saxophone.

“Chuck Case used to go to our church, and I’m friends with him on Facebook, so I was like, ‘Let me call up Chuck,’ and he was totally interested,” Unruh said. “He has assembled this stacked cast of musicians.”

Doors will open at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Belbas Theater, with the show starting about 15 minutes later. It lasts about an hour and is recorded. Clips will begin being uploaded in the coming days, and eventually the full episode will follow.

Unruh and co-host comedian Zach Dresch will kick off the show with a monologue based on that episode’s content.

“We’re going to do nothing to do with politics or anything like that because we want everyone to enjoy the show,” Unruh said. “We’ll do a monologue; we’ll play games onstage. And then, we’ll show videos, and the band will perform, and Al will come out and do an interview. There are a lot of cool things I think are going to happen.”

As for where “Late Night Boomin” could go from here, the hope is for a season that would be recorded over 10 to 15 weeks starting this year and airing in the first quarter. There are talks happening with a local television station, or it could be online-only, Unruh said. Future recording dates haven’t been set, but the plan is to stick with Thursday nights.

“I just have fun doing it,” he said. “The whole point is to be an uplifting thing and really showcase our community and the people around here.”

To follow the show on YouTube, click here, or look for it on Facebook or Instagram.