Hurricane Sandy: David Letterman Performs Eerie Monologue to Empty Studio (Video)

David Letterman was determined to bring Late Show to his millions of fans tonight despite the encroaching Hurricane Sandy -- which resulted in the late-night vet taping the show in an empty Ed Sullivan Theater.

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And how does Letterman fare without the support of an adoring studio audience? Or put another way, if a talk show host cracks wise in a hurricane and there's no one around to hear him, does anybody care?

The answer will come tonight, but producers have posted a preview clip online.

Introduced as "the perfect storm," the comedian emerges to dead silence. We then cut to a little further along in the show, where Letterman reads monologue jokes to his longtime bandleader Paul Shaffer.

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Letterman is one of only two of the major talk shows to follow through on their Monday tapings. The other, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, will also proceed before an empty studio audience. Video below.

His scheduled guest for Monday, Denzel Washington, made it to the taping in a yellow rain slicker. The Flight star feigned exhaustion as he made his way towards the host, causing Letterman to note, "Here's some acting right here, ladies and gentleman." 

"They say this is a storm of historic proportion," Letterman continues. "I'm proud you chose to spend the storm with me."

Watch video of Denzel's arrival here.