"Yesterday, we took care of one maniac with a beard. Today, Will Ferrell will take care of another," O'Brien tweeted earlier in the day. Then Ferrell touched on the news that was dominating the headlines.

"There is nothing else going on in this country other than the fervor to shave that beard," Ferrell pronounced. "I turned on the television last night to see if people were talking about it. There were people celebrating in front of the White House. There were people celebrating in Times Square chanting 'U.S.A.! Shave the beard!' "

Responded O'Brien: "I'm not sure you heard them correctly."

But that wasn't enough to save face. Ferrell was armed and out for blood whiskers. Fortunately he put down his straight razor, whipped out some clippers (dubbed Excalibeard) and went to work...albeit not very adeptly.

"Do you have any expertise in this?" queried O'Brien in between swigs of Barbicide.

"I've only shaved dogs before," said Ferrell, who, not so coincidentally, was on hand to promote his new flick, Everything Must Go.

Finally, when the damage was done (mercifully most of the carnage came off-camera by a real-deal barber), Ferrell stepped back to assess his work.

The verdict?

"I made a terrible mistake."