“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” fake news alert crew pushed the comedic envelope Thursday night yet again with a segment about the catastrophic Ohio train derailment, highlighting the fact everything going down in East Palestine might not be as it seems.
In the bit, a fake news segment kicks off by showing video of the controlled burn performed by officials after the derailment, a move that resulted in the massive plume of chemical smoke that has many local residents worried about whether their air is safe to breathe and water is OK to drink.
An anchor who sounds a lot like CNN’s Don Lemon then poses the material question in an ad-libbed voiceover as video rolls of local officials working at the derailment site: “Is it safe to live in our very own homes? Is it safe for us to drink our water?”
State and federal officials packed into a kitchen at what is presumed to be a local East Palestine home are then shown doing just that — “from the tap to stress the water is safe” — in a media photo opp before the fake news alert high jinks kick off in earnest.
“But not everyone in East Palestine, Ohio, is convinced,” an ominous narrator chimes in, reading a white-on-black text panel.
Indeed, the shot then cuts to an exterior of a local comedy club, The Giggle Hut, before going inside to the stage, on which a ventriloquist is hard at work with a dummy named Ricky, decked out in a top hat and tuxedo.
“Ricky and I like to start out with a little song,” the ventriloquist says. “Why don’t you drink this water while I sing?”
But Ricky is no dummy.
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to drink the water while I sing?” he replies.
The ventriloquist eventually forces the water down and, well, it doesn’t end well.
Ricky’s head combusts.
Watch the full “Late Show” segment below.