"There was a boy who lived on my block. He lived across the street and two houses over. He was a little over a year older than me. His name was Cleto, but we all called him junior. Eventually, we met and became friends. And not just regular friends. We became 24/7, 'Mom, please let me sleep over, please,' kind of friends. One summer, I slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row. My mother used to make me get down on my knees and beg to sleep at his house in front of him. And I would gladly do it, because we were never bored. We were always up to something."
"We would box for hours in his backyard, in his bedroom - we definitely gave each other many concussions. We would cut off each other's air supply and knock each other out for fun. We would stay up all night ordering pizzas to our neighbors' houses and make crank calls. We'd record them with a little microphone attached to a suction cup so we could listen back. We made a rap album like the Beastie Boys - except very bad. We made up mean songs about our neighbors and friends. He'd play piano, I would sing along. His parents had a Betamax"
Jimmy Kimmel replaced Tuesday night's show monologue with a 22-minute remembrance for his lifelong best friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, who died at 59. Kimmel immediately broke down in tears, describing the depth of their nearly lifelong friendship that began in Las Vegas. He recounted childhood memories of sleeping over, begging on his knees to stay, and constant mischievous adventures. Kimmel mixed humor into his grief, recalling boxing, concussions, prank calls, a terrible rap album, mean songs, and musical moments with Cleto on piano. The monologue balanced sadness and affectionate, funny memories.
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