David Letterman Digs Drums

"Are those your drums?" Here's something fun -- a supercut created by comedian Dave Shumka showing how much David Letterman digs drums. He repeatedly asks drummers on his show -- right after they finish a song -- "Are those your drums, or are they rentals?" Later in the video, it gets into other instruments that he seems to enjoy (and perhaps wants to purchase), explores distinctions between horns and percussion instruments, and other such nonsense.

For context: when a band does a one-shot performance that's not on their tour route (like a TV appearance in New York) it's pretty common to rent large equipment like drums and amplifiers locally rather than try to ship it all in. Obviously most musicians would like to use their own stuff, but sometimes you've gotta rent. Most of the drummers in this video brought their own drums, and Dave likes 'em.

While you're enjoying the 2.5 minutes of silliness, a side game is trying to recognize the bands as Dave quizzes them. One of my favorites is when he asks Leslie Feist about a saxophone.

Shumka wrote a bit more about the process of investigating Letterman's rented-or-owned-drum obsession:

During our research, we learned a few things: • David Letterman is pretty much the most charming man in the world. • Lots of drummers rent their drums to appear on The Late Show. • Singers tend to look uncomfortable when attention is being paid to a drummer. • Not surprisingly, Letterman himself plays drums.

And yeah, Dave is a drummer:

(Via Dave Shumka, a most excellent Canadian comedian.)