Steve Harvey’s Top 3 Tips for ‘Showtime at the Apollo’ Amateurs

Yahoo TV Staff

If you’re going to make it through a performance at the world’s most high-profile talent show — aka the legendary Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y. — you had best be ready. And who better to give the contestants tips than superhost Steve Harvey, who returns to the stage tonight in Fox’s Showtime at the Apollo two-hour special? Harvey, who hosted Showtime at the Apollo from 1993-2000, sat down with Yahoo TV to offer some do-or-die advice for contestants who want to avoid getting booed off the stage.

Comedians, say Harvey, need to start with their best joke first, because “you may not get to your big close.” Singers, meanwhile, need to be ready to saaaang, or risk getting a visit from the Sandman — who wears a variety of different costumes in Fox tonight’s special.

Photo: Fox
Photo: Fox

And whatever you do, rub the log before you come out onstage, or risk the audience’s wrath. “You don’t rub that log,” cautions Harvey, “you’re gone.”

In addition to the amateur acts, Fox’s Apollo special will feature appearances by Tracy Morgan, Bell Biv DeVoe, and En Vogue.

Showtime at the Apollo airs Monday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. on Fox.