Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Arturo Holmes, Rich Polk/GG2025, Kevin Winter)
The road to awards-show glory is paved with strategic hobnobbing, endless press obligations, and a healthy supply of comedic monologues. Before award contenders find out whether they’ll be rewarded for their campaigning art, they must clear one final hurdle: sitting patiently through a host’s jokes while looming cameras threaten to cut to them at any time. Not all awards shows begin this way; some don’t even have hosts. But when they do, opening monologues can be the best or worst part of a given ceremony. They can set the tone for a delightful evening to come, cast a dark shadow over the proceedings, give birth to viral sound bites, spark…
