Jimmy Fallon gets name-droppy recalling ‘SNL40’ behind the scenes

It’s possible that Sunday’s “SNL40” rivaled the Oscars as an assemblage of major celebrities gathered in a single place. And there was no one more on the inside of that celebrity scrum than Jimmy Fallon, who hosts “The Tonight Show” in the same building and was once a major star in the cast.

And for those who love clubby, insidery, name-dropping stories, then Fallon’s nine-minute tale about the event, which he told his audience on Monday’s show, wasn’t one to miss.

There were celebrity cameos aplenty, including all the stars Fallon once impersonated in his act, such as Jerry Seinfeld, Jack Nicholson and Paul McCartney.

How do celebrities behave when they’re surrounded by other celebrities? Fallon pretended to be a supplicating fan of Tom Hanks, who dropped a twenty on him without batting an eye.

But while many of us mere civilians got to watch 3 1/2 hours of the show on network TV, Fallon said the real craziness didn’t start until the afterparty.

The afterparty was at the Plaza Hotel, where a stage was set up with instruments but no band -- “in case anyone wants to get on stage and jam,” Fallon explained.

Fallon then recounted how he got invited to jam with Dan Aykroyd and McCartney.

Then Taylor Swift joined them on guitar.

After the first group split, Fallon said, he got Miley Cyrus to perform.

As you can predict, the talent list on stage just kept growing and mutating, from Ariana Grande to the B-52s -- all culminating in the purple, ethereal appearance of the one and only Prince, who closed out the night with a rendition of “Let’s Go Crazy.”

“It was one of the best nights of my whole entire life,” Fallon concluded.

How was your Sunday?

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