Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez does Dildo — reluctantly
Spent Tuesday campaigning for comedian's mayoral bid, hopes to fish Wednesday
Shaking hands, cuddling for photos and smiling for selfies had Jimmy Kimmel's man on the ground, Guillermo Rodriguez, campaigning hard to earn the comedian the prestigious office of the Mayor of Dildo.
The late-night host's sidekick took the Sunday night red-eye flight from Hollywood to the far-flung community in Newfoundland and Labrador to further his guy's quest for mayor.
"Today we have to campaign for Jimmy so he can be the mayor of Dildo. And tomorrow, hopefully maybe we can go fishing," Rodriguez said Tuesday afternoon.
When asked if Kimmel has a platform for his campaign, Rodriguez was vague.
"I think he does, I'm not sure," he said.
But Rodriguez said fixing the cellphone reception in the rural area should be Kimmel's first order of business.
"I tried to call my wife, it doesn't work. She says, 'How come you don't call me?!' I tried to but it doesn't work!" he laughed.
Apparently nine suitcases full of signs like this one were brought in by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JimmyDoesDildo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JimmyDoesDildo</a> staff. A lot of them have “gone missing” and are a popular item - if you can get your hands on one <a href="https://t.co/IOW46TpijJ">pic.twitter.com/IOW46TpijJ</a>
—@Jeremy_EatonHis wife and son were part of the reason he wasn't thrilled with the assignment at first.
"They told me like, 'Oh, you gotta pack right now!' … so I was like, 'Oh my god, the whole week.'"
"But then you know it's hard to get here, because it's far, but when you get here it's such a nice place, it's beautiful," Rodriguez added, saying the friendly people and good food are making his time in Dildo worth it.
"It's real far but it's like a different world. It's real nice."
Rodriguez appeared live on the show Monday night from Dildo, which has been heavily featured on the ABC late-night show for over a week, since Kimmel discovered a place called Dildo exists — and decided he'd like to be mayor.
No word yet on whether Kimmel will visit the community he wishes to run.
Came for the people, stayed for the Kimmel
American Randy Roberts was also visiting Dildo on Tuesday, explaining he and his wife travelled to Newfoundland after people in nearby Atlantic provinces told them how wonderful the people are.
"When I saw Jimmy Kimmel's show I had to come here, quite important," Roberts said of visiting the community on their trip.
The man from Lewes, Del., said he was already a fan of Jimmy Kimmel, and loved the Dildo storyline.
"His whole schtick on this place, and I love the local people, and to give them more business is just wonderful," Roberts said.
"And the people are special."
All about the name
The "Kimmel for Mayor" running gag started on his show Aug. 8 when he said he learned of the town's unique name and announced he wanted to be mayor of it.
"I was alerted to the existence of a place, maybe a magical place ... It's a real place in Newfoundland, Canada," Kimmel said at the time.
That same week, he dialed in a crew of people who live in Dildo, the small Newfoundland town about an hour's drive outside St. John's, to talk about the town's origins, as well as to announce he wanted to be its new mayor.
Ever since then, Kimmel's apparent appreciation of the town, and his mayoral aspirations, has continued and people have been wondering if or when the Hollywood star would land in Dildo.
With files from Marie-Isabelle Rochon