John Henson, ‘Talk Soup’ host, discusses new gameshow ‘iWitness’

John Henson is happy to take a trip down memory lane to discuss “Talk Soup,” “Wipeout,” his stand-up comedy career and various other hosting gigs from across the decades. In fact, memory and observation are the most important skills that contestants on his new gameshow, “iWitness” will be called upon to display when the show’s test run on Fox commences Monday.

The format of “iWitness” features three contestants testing their powers of observation and ability to recall what they’ve just witnessed in video clips and images.

“I think that idea of ’eyewitness testimony’ and the strength or weakness of your ability to remember things correctly is really fascinating,” Mr. Henson told The Washington Times. “That idea of really testing the power of observation is what makes the show so unique.”

Fortunately, unlike in court proceedings, a person’s fate doesn’t depend on the contestants’ powers of recollection. Rather, the winner of the show earns a shot a $20,000 grand prize in the final round.

“This is a fun show to watch because not only are you able to enjoy it for the laughs and the fun we’re having in the moment, but it’s an easy game to attempt to play at home,” Mr. Henson said, adding he believes it could join such other living room participation mainstays as “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.”

“This really is the perfect fit for me — I think my ideal job at this point in my life and career,” he said.

Mr. Henson, 49 is no stranger to hosting, having previously MC’d the ’90s chat show takedown “Talk Soup,” the Food Network program “Worst Cooks in America” and anchoring the pratfall and literal falls inherent in the gameshow “Wipeout,” in which contestants wound their ways through obstacle courses that often tossed them into muddy puddles.

Mr. Henson and co-host John Anderson and their writers would write jokes after the hours of “Wipeout” footage had been culled into a viable 60-minute package.

“You’re watching the show ’live,’ so if I were to trying to set up a joke, by the time I finished the setup, the moment would be over. It was literally just writing punch lines,” Mr. Henson said of the show, which ran from 2008 to 2014.

Mr. Henson said he and the writers would typically come up with gags that were just far enough over the line so as not to incur the wrath of standards and practices.

“We learned if we fell in love with a joke, we would not put it in the script so nobody could cut it,” Mr. Henson said. “And then the day of taping, I would ’magically’ improvise that line. And once everybody got to see the reaction it got, it had a better chance of surviving the cutting room floor.”

Mr. Henson grew up the youngest of five boys, which he said necessitated him applying humor in order to avoid the wrath of his elder siblings.

“I learned from a very young age that I was not able to defend myself physically; I had to defend myself verbally,” he said. “As the youngest, I think I got used to running my mouth. And here we are all these years later, and nothing has really changed.”

Except for that his quick wit has earned him quite a career. While still a twentysomething stand-up comedian, Mr. Henson was chosen to fill in at the desk of “Talk Soup” after former host Greg Kinnear left to pursue a movie career. (Mr. Kinnear was Oscar-nominated for 1997’s “As Good as It Gets” with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.)

“People like Daniel Tosh have been outspoken about the influence ’Talk Soup’ had on him,” Mr. Henson said of the Comedy Central celebrity, whose “Tosh.O” follows a similar format to “Talk Soup,” but, in the 21st century, gets its source material from internet clips.

Mr. Henson said that other fans have included writers who later went on to pen skits for “Saturday Night Live.”

“Frankly, we had no idea who was watching. Cable was very young. E! was very young,” Mr. Henson said of the network home of “Talk Soup.” “We were really just trying to make ourselves laugh, and for whatever reason, it worked.

“We did not have the intellectual capacity to worry about ratings.”

Mr. Henson added that writing for television is incredibly different from writing stand-up comedy, where audience reaction is immediate — be it positive or negative.

“When you’re putting stuff out on television, you have no idea how it’s being perceived. It really hasn’t been until hindsight that I’ve been able to see how much of an impact that show had,” he said.

In addition to ribbing the often ludicrous material of chat shows hosted by the likes of Jerry Springer and Sally Jessy Raphael, “Talk Soup” entailed sketches of Mr. Henson mocking the opening of “The Charles Perez Show” and the ongoing gags where he would respond to letters sent in from viewers.

“Somebody had written a letter that just said, ’Dear John, do you like chicken?’ And then it was just about a minute and a half of me eating a chicken in the most graphic and sexual way imaginable,” Mr. Henson recalls, his voice animated. “It was the kind of thing where it was funny and then it wasn’t funny, and then it was really funny, and then it was annoying, and then it was the funniest thing you’d ever seen.”

Mr. Henson believes that the experiences of his storied career from stand-up comedian to TV host make him the ideal person to bring the appeal of “iWitness” to mass audiences.

“It’s an interesting intersection of comedy and improv and hosting,” he said of his new gig. “I’ve been a part of some really fun and memorable shows, and I hope ’I Witness’ will be the next chapter in that book.”

’iWitness’ premieres Monday on Fox stations.