The Daily Show: Ears Edition - The Daily Show Correspondents' 92nd Street Y Panel
Episode Date: February 24, 2020The Daily Show correspondents discuss the process behind their field pieces, their on-screen personas, satirizing the media's election coverage and more at the 92nd Street Y. Learn more about your ad...-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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They've been having a lot of fun backstage, so hopefully they will have as much fun here with
you. Desi, I would love to start with you.
Because we all watch this and you make it seem easy,
but there's nothing easy about what you produce each night.
So when we watch one of those field pieces, how does it go from concept to execution?
Well, one of the cool things about the daily show that a lot of people don't know is
that anyone who works at the show things about the Daily Show that a lot of people don't know is that anyone
who works at the show can pitch an idea.
So anybody who works there, whether you're a writer, a producer, a correspondent, it can start
with an intern.
Maybe an intern pitches an idea that takes off and is great.
So usually a field producer or the head of the field department will pick up in an idea and appoint a producer
and a correspondent. And we spend time thinking about what the comedic take is. Is it something
that's like an issue that seems to matter to people? And we start the pre-production process.
And then we take it to Trevor and Trevor either approves
it or doesn't improve it and and then we hopefully go out it can take it
be a long process it can sometimes take a week or so or sometimes we are
coming up with something and going out and shooting at two o'clock in the
afternoon for the show that night which has happened so this
question just goes to anybody who wants to take it,
which is, what's one idea that you have pitched maybe multiple times
and you just can't get on the air?
Falling school.
Falling school.
Camels.
There's a guy that will teach you how to fall.
And it's meant for the elderly. What? Why are you look? Because? Because? Because? Because? Because? I? I? Because? Because? Because? Because? Because? Because? Because? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? th. T. They? They? th. They. They. They. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. th. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. They?. They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They? They. They. They. They. They. They. They. They they. They they they they they th. They they th. They th. They th. W. They're th. W. They're th. W. W. They're th. W. They're they they they they they they they they they they they the elderly. What? Why you look at this?
Because they get injured when they fall.
Everyone can get injured when they fall, not just the elderly,
but you understand my point.
So I want to go to a field piece where I learn how to fall,
because every senator is like 165 years old right now.
So we got to teach America how to fall.
You're laughing. That should be enough to get it approved.
He has been trying to drive this thing home ever since he started the job.
Yeah.
I mean you just learned how to stand, so now you only learn how to fall.
Camels, Camels do know how to fall.
But you're not telling the host.
It's Australia.
I've been pitching camels since I joined the show, never gets approved.
What about camels, Ronnie?
Australia has the largest population of feral camels on the planet.
Did y'all know that was a thing?
They had, no. They had the largest population of feral camels.
No, no, no. And this is why it's not appealed.
No, no, they still do.
Everything else died.
See how I set him up?
You see how I set him up?
Yeah.
The camel survives because they're perfectly adapted to the desert.
And nobody wants to talk about this, except for me.
And just running around the middle of Australia, just messing shit up.
What's in the middle of Australia to mess up? Like, nothing much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the the the tha, tha, tha, thia, thiolioli, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the the thi. thi. thi. the thi. thi. the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea, thea. thea. thoananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananana, thea to mess up? Like, nothing much really, to be honest.
But the government sent guys in helicopters
to shoot them down 10 years ago, and they did it,
and they ran out of funding to do it.
And the camel population increases exponentially every five years.
And it's going to overrun the country.
And no one wants to talk about this, except for me.
I think what happens in the field department is that a lot of stories that we pitch that are good and are addressing a real issue,
the bigger question in the building becomes how does this attach itself to the national conversation about that issue
and more often and not a lot of the better field pieces we do are an extension of something that Trevor has already talked about at the desk... the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, the th, th, the th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, is is the, is the, is the, is, is, is, is, is the, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is the field, is the field, is the field, is the field, and is thi, and is thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thi, is thi, is thi, than not, a lot of the better field pieces we do are an extension of something that Trevor has already talked about at the desk
or something that would have worked at the desk,
but it's such a deeper issue that we go out and actually try and figure out
what's going on with that issue.
So unfortunately, there aren't enough people in politics.
So let them fall. That's all I got right there.
Do we have enough young people in politics? No. Why? Everyone's oldest shit.
So let them fall.
That's all I got.
That's all I got right.
That's all.
You bring up though a good point,
which is how do you avoid?
How do you avoid following the bouncing ball?
Like, how do you come back to what matters, to what matters to your audience and making sure that you're focusing on that, that, and that, that, that, th...... And, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the tho, tho, tho, tho, toe, toe, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thea, toea, too, too, too, too, toea, toea, toea, toea, toea, toea, tho, tho, thea, to what matters to your audience, and making sure that you're focusing on that and not just doing recitations of the president's Twitter feed.
We do that too.
I think if you just actually care about the thing that you're talking about, then I think
people will identify with that no matter what it is.
Because if you genuinely care, then someone else is going to care at some point. And we are all different people. And we you pursue what you're passionate about or what you're interested in, it's going to be much
different. I don't give a fuck about camels, okay? But Ronnie loves camels. Yeah.
Yeah. I don't give a fuck about old people. But Michael loves old people falling.
So quote that, quote that tomorrow. Okay, there was a moment in one of your pieces where I couldn't tell whether the the subject the subject the subject the subject th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to to to you, to you, to you, to me, to you to me. I's, to to to you, to to to to to to to to to to to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be. I, to be. I, to be. I, to be. I, to be to be to be to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to. to. to me. their. to me. to me. to me. to me. to. to me. to. to. to. to. to, to. I to. falling. There was a moment in one of your pieces where I couldn't tell whether or not the subject
was sort of bought in and understood what was happening.
It was a piece you did about Arizona and about how temperatures are rising in Arizona.
And you keep sort of repeating Nelly lyrics.
You said, Nelly tried to tell us this.
And then you keep saying, it's getting hot.
And the person's just like, they, they, the the the the the they, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's getting hot in here and the person's just like, okay, it's hot.
But then there's a later part of the piece where you're walking down the hallway with
the expert and you have no pants on.
So I'm assuming that he knew that was coming.
Yeah, he asked it actually.
It was his request.
No.
I think Brian was really cool.
He was pretty game for it. I think people know the
Daily Show like institution so a lot of people are ready to play and it can
actually be hard to catch people off guard sometimes because they go into
it thinking a certain way. So with that it's either like you have to play it
like really quiet and subtle or you just have to like lean into it and
and see how far you can poke them for them to like break this, like steely reserve
that they have set up.
Or they're so ready to play a game
that you're not playing.
Yeah.
That happens too.
So I was interviewing someone for the chipped piece,
and he kept making these jokes.
And I was just like, I don't know what's happening. Because they were like true like dad jokes,
but then I also think he'd never talk to a black person before,
especially a black woman.
So I'm like, we're going through the takes
and like he would be having a conversation
or like he would like, he would get the, he wouldn't want,
he would want to redo the take, which is fine, because we're taping something. He's like, well, let's just go back because we just need to run through this again.
And he was like, okay, don't hit me.
And I was like, who the heck?
What is happening?
But he was always like, don't get mad at me,
don't hit me, don't hit me, don't hit me.
And I was like, thrown, And we can be talking to someone that has a position that we may find to be incredulous,
but to them, this is their reality, this is what's real, and I think through that basic,
like we did a piece at the University of Texas where they've outlawed sex toys, but they're allowing
concealed carry on campus.
And so we spoke with a pro-gun advocate who's anti-sex toys, and he was adamant about why sex toys are worse than guns.
And that's just a real conversation,
and within that is the humor.
So a lot of the times you don't have to try.
You just talk.
It's a sad, sad man.
Or a sad wife of that man.
I don't know. Ronnie, there was a piece that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that was a piece that that that that that that was a piece that that that that that that that that that that that that that was a piece that that that that that that that was a piece that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that was was was was was that that was was was that that that was was that that that was was was was that that that that was was that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that man. I don't know. Ronnie, there was a piece that you did with Andrew Yang.
Oh, sorry, yeah.
Okay.
Hi.
Yeah.
And I was thinking about some field pieces, I'm thinneed.
I was thinking about some field.
Yeah.
And you sort of start out with this premise we were like, well, you're Asian, so I'm going to vote for you. That is the entire premise of my vote.
Yeah.
And he really wanted to pull it back to universal basic income.
Like he was going to get that point in regardless.
What kind of response did you get from the Yang Gang on that piece?
Oh, you mean the, honestly, I don't know.
I swear to God. I don't the response, do the response, do the response, do the response, do the response, do the response, do the response, do thia. thia. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tho. tho. thi. thathea, thoomomomo. that's, that that to to to to to that that that that that that that that that, tho, that, that, that, that, tho. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. toe. toe. thean. the. the. the. the. I swear to God, I'm not trying to, I don't know what the response was from them.
I can follow.
How was, did they like it?
Yeah, it was cool.
Okay, great.
They rock with you.
Do you all check your social media?
Are you sensitive to the feedback loop on your pieces?
Jebuky, do you want things that will like slip through the cracks and like I'll see it. I think when I first started I was definitely like in every
comment section like he doesn't know what he's talking about but like so like,
so like so he doesn't know what he's talking about. But at a certain point I
was like, thin. the things you say is because like that just did this desk piece talking about like Listen if you're sick, please don't go to work
That's all I was saying and people started losing their minds and it was just like you have the luxury
I've not gone to work and this girl just went off on me and I was like ma'am. I've done stand up with the flu
She was like oh, okay. What? What point did we prove now? Hang on, so what did you hear about the Midea piece?
People talking?
Did they say something that about us?
They loved it?
They loved it.
Okay, good.
Just making sure.
2011, you'll probably remember this, there was an academic study that looked at
the Colbert report and whether people's political ideologies affected the way that they perceived it. And I was, th, the way, th, th, th, the way, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, that, that, to to to to to to to toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, to to that, that, thatthey perceived it and I took this directly from there. Conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking.
Has anyone ever confused your persona with who you actually are in real life?
I mean, for me, sure, absolutely. I've confused it sometimes.
Sometimes you're writing or creating an outlandish opinion,
and then you get kind of buried in it,
and you're working with other people,
and all of a sudden, you're like,
well, we're kind of making a decent point.
But oh, no. I get people that come up to my stand-up shows and are angry
that I'm not a dumb, buffoon guy that we sometimes, that I love playing on the show.
But hey, they bought a ticket to the show, so fuck them, you know?
Cost is very smart.
Cost is very smart.
Thank you.
I just want to, because when he says he don't believe him, that's why Oprah's a millionaire. Oh, yeah, Cost Cost cost is the cost is the cost is the cost is the cost is th cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost cost I I I I I I I I th. I th. I th. I th. I just that th. I just that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's very. I just that's that's that's that's that's very I that's very I that's very I that's very. Thank that's very. Thank that's very. Thank that's very. Thank that's very. I that's very I that's very I I I that's very I I I I that's very I I I that's that's that's that's that's th. I I th. I th. Thank. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thi. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I that's that's th. I th. I th. I th. I th.'t believe them. That's why I said it, because you all believe black women, that's why Oprah's a millionaire.
Billionaire, sorry, but yeah, Costa Smart.
I don't think there's a lot of conflation, at least not for me. I think that the thing that
Trevor has done with the daily show, with his iteration of the daily show is that I think it's a little more closer to the pundentryn, tree, tree, tree, three, three, threen, threen, threen, that, that's, that's, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, thi, that's, but, but, but, that's, that's, that's, that, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is a little more, I I I I I I I I I I I I I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I'm a little, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, I'ma, the punditry that it's a little bit more closer to reflecting the punditry that's on television now whereas under the John Stewart regime I
believe early on it was a lot more reporter-driven so there was something
that was a lot more there to parody whereas now we're just plain heightened
caffeinated versions of ourselves so for me I don't I'm not that much different I'd
yell a little less in real life,
but everything else pretty much holds true.
I think the fun, the fun part is doing a field piece
and interviewing someone who might not be of the same belief
that you actually agree with,
but you're sort of ironically agreeing with them.
And people always say, like, how do you get away with confronting them and people always say like how do you get away with doing that or
how do you get away with confronting them or pointing out the hypocrisy but
like they're so entrenched in their belief that it doesn't occur to them that
you don't agree with them. I interviewed a guy who wanted to split California
into two make half of it the inland part of California Republican and then the
coastal part Democrat and it was so outlandish and silly and then halfway
through the interview I was like I agree with this guy like I he switched me
there was a piece I don't know if you also I think there's a little clip of it
that Roy did where you were looking at the black vote and you had a focus group
I'll take I'll take this one. And what was what was so
fascinating to me is that there were just a lot of truth in that piece. I
mean they really did speak to a spectrum of views and values and as
funny as it was it also could have appeared on a news organization.
Yeah, and I think that's the goal is to find comedy in the realistic moments.
That's why, which goes back to just what I said before, it's just, let's just have a conversation,
and let's see what comes up in that conversation, and more often than not, you're going to get something that's good.
And of course, we already know, if you put a black Trump supporter in a room with other
black voters who skew Democrat, you're going to get some action.
Yeah.
So you just figure out where that stuff is going to come from within the conversation, and
it just surfaced up and it was great. Right, because what was sort of amazing with that is it didn't devolve into attacks or into, I mean,
they were really pushing back on the substance.
Yeah, because we weren't trying to create some room where just people just yell, like
we weren't trying to create Facebook comments in real life.
Like let's have a serious structure conversation about the candidates and tell us why you do not
like this particular person and why you think this particular person and have the argument based strictly
on policies and what your needs are as a constituent and not based on well he
makes me angry so I'm gonna just fight you because I don't like him
because that one time on TV it was none it was none of that it was
none of that it also was good because it showed America that
black people are an intelligent voting base. Because a lot of times they think like, all right we had a pork chop, they'll vote for me.
Like, no, this is not you walk into a beauty salon or we're automatically going to vote for you.
That's not how it's like, because it just seems like a lot of times when, as a black voter,
and the black voter and thi.
And seeing how politicians interact with not just black voters, but black voterss, but's very much like I ate the pork chop, I ate the taco, let's go, what's happening, what else
do I have to do for you people? I said five words of Spanish, I get it, let's go,
on delay, vote for me, like that, and so I love that piece because it was just
like oh all of America gets to see why this is an important voting basis as anyone else, not just as automatically, we're automatically going to do this.
And then the black Trump support of being there was also good
because it was like, oh, we don't all automatically vote Democrat.
So it got to show that black people are not this monolith in reference to just.
Did you just ask what monolith?
How then do you play on stereotype without falling into it?
So that piece, Roy, begins with you doing a very serious open about the black vote
and then sprinting across the street to go to Waffle House.
Yes.
That's delicious.
Ronnie, you have, you have a piece, it was you doing like an Asian alternative debate
when Andrew Yang didn't make it into one of the debates. You really relied heavily on Andrew Yang th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th, th, th, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. theii. theiiiiii. toea. thiiiiii. thi. thi. the debates. You really relied heavily on Andrew Yang this season.
But...
Yeah, someone's got it, right? If I don't talk about him, who the hell's gonna talk about
him? But you...
I don't talk to him?
What a moment in time that was, by the way, that we had an Asian person running for president and an Asian person on a TV show who able to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak to speak, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, to speak, to speak, who, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, to speak, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who, who to speak, who to speak, who to speak, who to speak, who to speak, who is a to me to me to to to to to me a to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the to about it. I don't want to pat myself in the back, but...
No, no, no.
Okay, but then you took the opportunity,
I think your sort of first policy question was about Panda Express.
Okay, look, okay?
Listen, there's some issues which I don't expect you to understand, okay?
Okay?
And that's not amazing is that the entire premise was Ronnie being like, you need to close Panda Express and that Andrew Yang was like, I love Panda Express.
So how do you do, so where do you play with that?
Where do you see the line between, you know, getting the joke but then not over relying on
it or making that the totality of it?
It's a comedy show first. So if you're coming to me expecting me to give up, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm not to to to to to to to to to to than, I'm not, I'm not to to, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I tha, the the the the the tha, the tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, than, first. So if you're coming to me expecting me to give a,
I'm not doing a propaganda piece, I'm doing a comedy piece.
I'm not gonna give you five minutes on TV to say whatever you want.
I'm here to make jokes about it.
So.
I'm doing a little bit.
I'm doing a little bit.
I'm here to make jokes about the thing. If you're looking for serious, their jokes, a jokes, a jokes, a their, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, the, I'm, the, the, I'm, the, the, the, the propaganda, I'm, I'm, the, the propaganda, the propaganda, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, the propaganda, the propaganda, the propaganda, the propaganda, the propaganda, tho, tho, tho, the, the, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, the, the, the, tha, you know, I don't, I'm here to make jokes about the thing. If you're looking for serious analysis, go to this blog or go to whatever the current,
the non-biased news is right now.
But also, but you, I didn't watch the piece, I don't watch around these pieces, but
I know, you probably had a couple of cheap jokes in there too.
I speak on behalf of everybody, you know, when you're in the edibay you keep a couple
silly ones in there because they're super silly and fun. Pantexpress jokes and you also
try to make more profound ones as well.
And I think that that moment between Ronnie and Yang, I just think it's, it's a small moment, but I think it highlights a bigger a bigger their their their that are in the satirical news space right now, which is
you're winking at your PR person?
No, I'm serious that we're able to do things from a space.
Most diverse.
Can you just slow the prompter down so we can read it please? I'm being for real. I'm messing with you, I know.
That, they, see, fuck it then.
We got a lot of different people, we got more different people than the other shows,
so we get to talk about stuff from the perspective that way it's honored and it's handled.
It is true. It is true. It is true. It is true.
Tell me. You have black, you have white, you have white, you have white again. Whatever the Jibuki is. I don't know.
Yeah, we have that.
Millennial.
Yeah, age, we have young people.
We have old people.
We have old people.
Do you point to me and say age?
Yeah.
But truthfully, I mean,
I mean, that's it.
Two people on the honestly tell me another eight? Which are TV shows is an Asian person period much as the Asian person
We can talk to Andrew Yang
Yeah
S&L do you say S&L?
Bowin. Yeah, okay, fuck S&L
Yeah
One show one other show that's different, but if you're wondering what it's like for us to be in a meeting.
Whose team are you on? It's mine.
Black women, fuck y'all.
I'm talking to Djibouki.
What I'm saying is that it's,
if you're wondering what it's like first to be,
it's this.
It's us, Roy tried to make a point.
Kasa saying something unnecessary.
I'm the only one that has a wireless microphone at the meetings though. It's very hard.
The whole building can hear them is great.
But through this whole process, it's because when we have those field meetings, it's, we
all pitch to each other and if no one, because it does seem like that the ideas that
we can riff off of in the room are kind of the ideas that seem to get pushed because it's everyone going, oh, and we could do this, and we can do this,
and we can do this, and we can do this,
because it's all collaborative
because when a piece is pitched,
they don't always have a specific correspondent in mind.
Sometimes it's, okay, here's the idea
and let's see who would be best fit I think the most important thing that contributes to creating comedy in the daily show environment
is that no one is sensitive when they hear no.
So you may pitch something.
One of the things that I love the most about the show is that a lot of pitching happens
over email because the show is moving so much during the day.
There's only so many meetings you can have.
So you can pitch over email and no one just won't reply to your email. All right, guess that's not getting made.
But there's no hard feelings in the meeting to what Doce is saying that you go, hey let's
do this, eh, that doesn't really have any teeth, let's do something in this regard and no
one's all sensitive because it keeps you pitching. Like you may pitch an idea, get a pitching, pitch. You may pitch an idea, pitch and pitch, pitch an idea, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, to to to to to, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, to, and the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, they., they., they. their, their, they. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the come back the next day with something else. Yeah it's very collaborative environment everyone wants the same thing. I'm pretty sure that
the email address that I got for pitch is the wrong one because man do I
send some sweet ideas over there and I have never heard a response one time.
Guess falling? All right yeah that one you said something in an interview where you said the most difficult thing for you
is and I quote when the South does something stupid.
Oh, you explain?
Yeah, because I'm from Alabama.
And I'm from Georgia.
And so, thank you so much.
It's the assumption that everyone in the South is the South that makes the news.
So the burden of carrying that onto television when Jeff Session says something stupid or when
Roy Moore does something stupid or there's a stupid law that's trying to get passed or there's
voter suppression or gerrymandering and the idea that it's something that I definitely am proud
of because there are a lot of people in the South that are trying to make a difference.
You know, Dulce's, you know, we've pitched stuff with Stacey Abrams and trying to show that
there's something that matters and there's people there who care about that stuff.
And to be in a building where people will actually listen and hear you out and not just make dumb Alabama toothless jokes is important to me.
And then the other thing with Stacy Abrams because people were like, it's so amazing.
It's like, how could a black woman be elected governor in, you know, a state in the south?
And I was like, but people forget that 60% of the black population in America lives
in former slave states. So the place that a black woman would get elected
is a place where a bunch of black people live.
The numbers just make sense.
And there's all of these type, and then the other thing,
because you're talking about the thing that we're wanting to pitch,
we can't figure out a pitch, it's that I would love to pitch about how America thinks that racism only exists in 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13, that's, that's, that's, thiii, that's, that's, thi, that's, thi, thi, thi, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, thi, thi, that's, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, theeeeeeeean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thi.. theeeeee. And that the rest of the country is, aha, everything was great.
No.
The most segregated city in the country, Chicago.
That's not the South.
Okay, whoa, chill, chill, chill.
Chill on what?
Chill on what?
Chill on what?
Cil on?
Cilchil, chill.
You're right.
You're right.
You're right. So. So. So. So. So. So. Thank. So. Thank. Thank. Thank. We. Thank. We. We. We. Thank. We. We. We. Yeah. Thank. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank. th. th. th. th. to. to. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the most. the most. the most. the most. the most. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the.............................. the.. the. the. true, true. Me and Shibuki fist fight constantly to keep our
friendship strong. Right, and our bones is just good for the body. It's how it
work out. Does it help that our offices have doors some days? It does help. Yeah, some
days. But yeah, there's those times where it's just like, that's the hardest part because any time something stupid in the South happens real, damn it's, damn it's th.. th so th so thi thi thi thi. that's something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something. thi. thi.! I'm just like, ah! We didn't need this again.
Iowa do something.
In that same interview, Roy, you said something that I think is actually pretty resonant
in the news as well, which is that you try to make the joke about the idea and not about the person behind the idea, and I wonder how you sort of focus yourself and actually make, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, like, like, like, like about the person behind the idea. And I wonder how you sort of focus yourself
and actually make, like, stay true to that.
The people making bad decisions will always change.
The conditions will remain.
So that's what I would rather focus on.
And so that's what we try to focus, even with the desk chats. Like, it's not, person, there's the reason, this thing. It's no, why is this issue an issue? And here
are people that could change it, and those are the people whose feet we may hold to
the fire on that issue. But it would have been very easy. Costa did. How many great lakeshapes have you done? Like, to. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. thiiiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. this is thi. thi. thoes thi. this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi.'ve done two or three. So he's a big environmental guy.
Costa really cares about the environment.
So the issue is more about what's happening here.
I care about you guys.
And what could change?
And how that change could come about.
And it's not always about going after the person.
Because then you get the person, you get them out of office, yeah, we did it, he's not in anymore. People still starving, it's people still poor, it's still people that need solutions.
So sometimes it's better to have a piece or say, me, that's solution oriented versus just
attacking someone that's responsible for the condition.
Ronnie, is there a line for you?
Are there parameters you try to stay within?
Lines?
Hmm.
Hmm. I. Ooh.
I trust my own internal judgment.
It's hard to talk about these things hypothetically, like what's the line?
You know, everyone wants an equation and definite answers, but if I do say to myself, this is more
of an art than a science.
So we trust our own internal judgment going to situations when we're like, oh, this is fair fair, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their thi thi thi thi to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi. thi. to thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. tru. toe. toe. toe. toe. to toe.this is fair game, go hard. You know, and sometimes when it's like, you know what,
let's pull it back a bit.
So if you want hard to find lines,
don't say the end word.
I mean, that's one line I have.
There have to be times where the gut check goes wrong,
or where the gut check is sort of comes after the fact. I think even sometimes if we're tha thua thuuuuuuu, if th. th. th th th th th this th th th this th this th th th th this th th th th this th is th is thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I think even sometimes if we're not sure, if it feels like it's right on the line and
like this could upset someone or this we might be punching in the wrong direction, we'll
pull each other in.
I'll be like, no, not Costa.
I'll be like, Roy, come look at the...
Roy, I trust your gut.
Come look at this and tell me if you think there's something that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that feels that's that's that's that's that's that's the the their that's that's that and tell me if you think there's something that feels right or if we should change it and we do.
I mean, yeah.
The show is a huge institution.
There's a lot of people who have been a long time.
I think they've gotten, rarely gotten something wrong, wrong.
So you know, we have our own internal barome that we trust because we have a history of
doing it as well. And also we are good people good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good. th. thia. thia. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I thi. But also, yes, I think the best answer around I gave
is he trusts his own internal code with that.
But we also aren't going to change something just because one
person on the internet is mad about it.
So I know I take a lot of value in the experience of everyone above me who's made
way more field pieces than me. Editors who edited the pilot 22 years ago to to to to to the the the th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the the th. I th. I the th. I the the the the the th. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the best. Yes yes yes yes. Yes. Yes. I the best. Yes. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the best. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the theanananeded. I will will. I've theanananannia. I'm thean. I'm thean. I'm thean. thean. the best. the best best best best best best best best best answer. the best best the best. I've the best. than me, editors who edited the pilot 22 years ago for the daily show.
I mean, there's so many intelligent people in these rooms that can help guide you that.
But yeah, so.
I'll give you a good example of something where you go into it with good intentions,
and sometimes there's just things that you can't change.
We did a segment during the March for Our Lives rally about a year ago where I went to Montana to a pro-gun rally. Everybody else was anti-gun
and it was nationwide. Everybody was marching against guns and in Montana there
was a pro-gun rally happening. So I went to Montana to cover the rally
and we got the opinions and perspectives of people that are pro-gun and we
made the jokes and the piece went fine.
The feedback I got from people from Montana was,
how dare you come here and talk about those people when they were perfectly good people
across town talking about the right thing.
But we had an entire 12 minutes on the show before my segment aired that was dedicated
to people that have those beliefs.
So the whole point of my piece was to explore the other side.
And that's something where there's nothing you could have done
that would have made that group of people happy.
Well, it's also just a challenge of the fact
that you're consumed on multiple platforms.
That if you were watching it as a television show,
then you saw that counterbalance.
But if you're only watching the digital the digital, yes, yes, the digital, the the thage, then you're watching it, which, I mean, what is the line that you've been walking around the office saying about we're the most socially.
Oh, I just want to remind everyone, we're the most socially engaged late night series of
all time.
Yes, of all time.
What's currently on right now?
We are the most engaged, in the award winning.
So I'm an old millennial. So the daily show I that show that is is is is is is is that is that is that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, I, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, th. th. th. What's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's, what's. What's. What's. What's. What's. What's. What's, what's. What's. What's, what's. What's. What's. What's, what's. What's. What's. What's, what's. What's. th. th. th. th. What's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's the the the the the the the the the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most thethat I grew up with was a television show, right?
Like it probably had a Twitter handle, but that wasn't considered truly a part of the show.
It was like there was like a Twitter person in a corner somewhere doing a separate thing
where now you have all these platforms fully integrated and it's not show first.
And I wonder how that changes the work and changes what you do when the
show is just a piece of a much larger puzzle. There's a there's a lot of
pieces where I will have to fight for a joke because I'm like I know this won't
play in a live audience but this is going to crush on YouTube and I need those
YouTube comments to be good. So like I think it's just knowing and having a really good understanding of how
each thing is going to be consumed and trying to like plan ahead for stuff like the Montana
piece where it's like, right, okay, this will play like this, but then online when it's divorced
from this context, how is this going to look there, which is how most people from
this date on are going to be watching it. Like 90% of the people who see, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, to to to to to to be a to be a to be a to be a to to be to to to be a to to to to be a to to to to be a to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, date on are going to be watching it. Like 90% of the people who see it will probably see it, like divorced from the entire show that it was in.
So I think you kind of just have to develop like a new consciousness or like a new side of your brain.
I would I would say maybe to counter that a funny joke is a funny joke.
We all a lot of us tour do stand up all over the world. me to counter that a funny joke is a funny joke.
We all, a lot of us tour do stand up all over the world. I mean, funny, people laugh at everything.
So in my opinion, if it's good on TV, it's probably good on YouTube,
it's probably good face to face.
And that's what we try to do.
I can't speak on half of the others, these other five people.
Okay, Shane, all. All, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. People, people. People, people. People, people. People, people, people. People, people, people. People, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people. People, people. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People just think, you know, we are all different people and sometimes a piece will be directed
toward a different demographic or a different group of people.
I just try to think of that when I do stuff, you know.
I mean, to answer your question, how do we extend the show?
Part of it is we live this life, so it's not that hard to think in terms of Twitter and YouTube, and Instagram because we have th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thiiiiii and thi and thi and thi and thii and thiiiii and thi and thii and thiioli and thi, thi, thi, thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and to thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi and thi........ And, and thi, and thi. And, and I thi. And, and I thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, ti. And, tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. And, ti. And, tthat. And also we have a lot of talented people working at the show, digital producers and so forth,
trying to figure it out for us.
So they'll see something, we'll pitch a good idea,
like Michael Costa said, it's a good joke,
it's a good joke,
then these people work day and night
to try to figure out how to to the the Instagram post, there's the Twitter library that tours around like,
TikTok.
Yeah, TikTok.
I don't even know anymore.
Snapchat's do a thing.
If it is, we're on that, I'm pretty sure.
I watch the show on Instagram.
Yeah. That's how I catch most of the time is,
it'll have, because it's the easiest,
it's just like, because I'll be the the the the the easiest, because I's the easiest, because I' the easiest, because I' the easiest, because I'll the easiest, because I'll the easiest, because I'll the easiest, because I'll the easiest, because I'll the veling and doing shows and if I'm in some hotel room somewhere I can't catch Comedy Central the show like on 11 o'clock because I'm I might be at my
own stand-up show.
So I can be on the road and just go on the Instagram and that's how I watch the show.
But also so we do the show that we know how to do and then it gets cut up for these different platforms. And then sometimes we'll do something and extend it,
knowing that we'll extend it into beyond the show.
So we'll do a field piece sometimes
and we'll think like, hey, this field piece
will have a website in it,
and let's get the team to make a website
that will extend this field piece
into interactive spaces and all that.
So I did a sexual racism piece with Jessica Williams back in the day and at the end of it we had this thing that was like hey call in and tell us
your or write in your your experiences and then we felt we read out the
people's experiences for YouTube and that extended the show beyond what it
was and we went in knowing that we were going to do that that's that we were able to put the link in the field piece so stuff stuff th th th th that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th I the that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th I th I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th I I I I I I I I I I I I I I th I th I th I th I th I th I was th I was th I was the I was thi the I was thrown the I was thrown the I was the I was thi thi thi that's thi thi that's thi thi thi thi thi that's to put the link in the field piece. So stuff like that, you know, that's when it's more considered. And then sometimes when we just throw that,
like the Yang thing is just Instagram, live,
and me and him are Asian.
That's what was it.
That's what that was.
There's also an opportunity.
There are ideas that people and interact with the audience or audience
and in a way that we wouldn't be able to on the show. As we head into 2020 general
election what are you all most excited about? What are the stories you want to tell?
The road. I enjoy the road. I enjoy the road. I enjoy...
I enjoy...
I'm here for this... Why do you say it like that? Keep going.
Because sometimes it's interesting. It's very interesting.
That was like the beginning of a Gatorade commercial.
Yeah. Or like a Lincoln commercial.
Yeah. You selling Harleys?
I'm interested in the challenge of finding humor in places where people aren't necessarily
embracing the media anymore.
There's a lot more of that out there than in 2016.
And 2016 was a little weird.
And now, for 2020, what do you mean?
I mean, just the actual physical
being out and doing man on the street and interviewing people on both sides.
I think in that regard it's something more exciting and finding comedy in
places where the country is more upset so there's more of a challenge in
that we're not, we're way more pissed off than we were in 2016.
In terms of where the Daily Show is concerned,
when we're going out with cameras,
and to go talk to people about the election,
we're gonna go to Iowa, we're gonna go to New Hampshire,
we're gonna go do all the Super Tuesday stuff,
and we're not gonna be getting the same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same 2016 which means we have to change our recipe so I'm excited to see what adjustments we have to make. What I'm most excited about and I think this is
what the Daily Show is founded on and what it continues to thrive on is how
the media will cover it. Last Democratic debate I love that moment where they
asked Bernie Sanders something they immediately split screen with Elizabeth Warren.
They were trying to get the fight going.
Like the media was like, okay, split screen was get the fight going.
And they didn't take the bait.
Now they took the bait later during the commercial break,
and of course CNN releases the audio.
Our job is to satirize the media that builds this shit. I mean, this is to to to to to to to to the the their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. thraguia. thraguiuiolk. threen. threen. th thiolk. thatheen, thathea. th th th th th th th th the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. the thi. thi. thathemememeen. thathemeen. thatheatheatheatheatheatheatheatheatheate. toda. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. th th th th th this shit. I mean, this is the American entertainment industry is at its finest in an election year.
I mean, it's going to be going off the rails.
And our job is to be able to call bullshit on all of this stuff.
That's what we do.
That's why it's called VOTGASM 2020.
It's a orgasm for us.
We climax at this opportunity. That's all I have to say. Good night. Get me out of here.
Why am I not leaving?
Okay, that's it.
I'm excited to see America confirm its identity.
So we have round one.
And don't say that, please.
Don't say that.
Yeah, round one.
And obviously this happened.
And if that's what America is, let's confirm it.
This is the mulligan.
This is the, do symbols matter?
Do people in charge matter?
This is when it, this is when we confirm that.
So, I'm excited to see the results of that.
Y'all got real scared.
And honestly, I agree with him.
I'm sitting up waiting and going, okay, see what time it is America?
I think I'm.
Because I'm in this, that's how I'm thinking with Ronnie.
I'm just like, they're going to pop off and do this again.
OK.
I'm not moving.
Canada's cold.
I'm not going nowhere.
I think I'm really interested to see how the election plays out now that we're the the the the the the the the the election plays out now that we're all aware that we live in bubbles and we're not acting like how our co-workers and the two people who live next door to us are a representative
of the entire country.
I think that that's going to really change how we, not only how the politicians enter the
race but also how we consume their message.
It's more so like people are listening out not only for their own beliefs now, but with the Democrats, it's so much about electability.
So everyone is trying to imagine what all these other people
who they would never talk to are voting like,
thinking like, living like.
And it's just really weird to see people try
to extend their logic and their judgment
into what other people are experiencing.
I think it's like an interesting exercise and empathy. We will be at both conventions. We'll be in Milwaukee for the Democratic
Convention and will be in Charlotte for the Republican Convention and we'll be
doing a man on the street. You better believe it. Or as Roy likes to say,
the road. I'm excited to be at the RNC. It just have people go, so what are you doing here? Because why would I be there? Because they're going to look the the the to look the the the to look the like the like to look the, the, to look the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their d.coc. Weaqqaaqaqaaaaqaaaqaqaaa, for their their theirto be at the RNC and just have people go, so what are you doing here?
Because why would I be there?
Because they're going to look at me like, boy, you can't support.
Because sometimes when people see daily show and they're not a Democrat,
they automatically go, you're trying to make fun of me.
And it's like, no, I want to, because a lot of the times, like we pitch stuff to Trevor Trevor goes okay I like this idea now think of the other side to
it to make sure we're not punching down to make sure that we're giving
because a lot of times you can get more comedy out of seeing the other side of
something because then you can maybe more anticipate what the person might say in the interview and that you can come come up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm the. I'm the. I's the. I's the. I's thi. I I's thi. I I I I's thi. I I I I I's th. I I I I I's th. I I I I I I I's th. I I I's th. I's th. I's th. I's th. I's th. I's th. I's th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm thin. I'm thin. I'm thin. I'm the. I'm the. I'm theeeeean. I'm theeeeeean. I'm theeeee. I'm thin. I'm the. I'm the. say in the interview and that you can come up with better questions because it's just not like well you're wrong it's like what Desi
was saying it's like so I kind of agree with you so listen and then it's it's a
it's a bait-and-switch it's I can make a better question because I get your
mindset and I think that's gonna be interesting to be down there and see
those people and they're just gonna go black lady black the black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black what what I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I want? I think she's trying to trap me. Like, no, so you're not even cute.
I don't wanna.
That's not what I'm here for.
I'm here for work.
The convention, I'm very excited to go to the conventions.
It's, I, a few of us got I get to hide from my four-year-old
for five days. So I'm mostly looking forward to that. Best sleep you'll have in a long
time. I can't wait. Somebody didn't like the answer. I don't know if you all are having
this same response than I have you, but I know that you're all very smart. I'm sort of touched by how...uhh! Except for you, Michael. How soulful and that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th. thi is all that that that that that thi is to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th is is is is the the the the the th is the th is th is th is th. th is th. thi is thi. thi. thi. thi. the. theat the. theateate. the thus. the. the that that that that that tooooo. thful and invested you are on this, because the way that we consume
all of you is in this very sort of jovial, jokey way, which I think we all need because
we need the catharsis of sort of processing this moment. But I'm struck by how seriously you
all take this.
Thanks. It's still a job. I got to bethis. Uh, thanks.
It's still a job.
I got to be serious.
I got bills to pay.
Like, I can't.
No, we care.
Yeah, I think we care.
I think you have to care to do this job.
Otherwise, it's, it's not the hardest job in the world, but it's hard.
Every day you're not in and look at this stuff and think of jokes about it. If you don't care about it, you can't last in this.
And then you also realize that what you do matters to the people who consume it, the
thing that I found myself adjusting to when I started at the daily show, I would occasionally
be recognized from B.E.T.C. Comic View. But as a stand-up, as a stand-up who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who th is who th is who th is th is thi-a, th is a stand-a, th-a, th-a, th-in-a, th-a, th-it-a, th-a, th-a-it-it-it, th-in thi-it-it-it-it-it thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you th is th, you th, you th-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-sa-a-sa-sa-a-sa-a-sa-s. tha-a-a-a But as a stand-up, as a stand-up who's done some TV,
hey, you're funny. Yeah, you're funny, you're funny.
But when I started at the Daily Show, every now and then you get someone who comes
with you and tells you thank you, which is a totally different type of compliment. I was doing a college show and someone came up to me and was like, hey, I'm from Kenya
and watching the Daily Show is my first time, like seeing a gay person and feeling like
they were like a cool guy.
Like, that's sort of how he phrased it.
But like, just stupid stuff that I do sometimes, like, the Panda Express jokes and stuff
like that, you don't realize how to some people that actually is like,
groundbreaking.
For a record, I also asked him if you would take his shoes off in the White House.
Okay, so.
So, it wasn't, it wasn't just Panda Express jokes.
It is time for the audience's question.
This one comes from Jackson, who says, tell us about your audition process and
first getting on the show. Anybody have a great audition story or first time on the show's
story? Ooh, Costa? Was yours eventful? Well, it's the only audition that anybody ever said yes
to me. So I would say the real interesting story is the first 386 auditions where the
network in their own mistake passed. But I'm a stand-up comic. I think part of our job
in a stand-up comic is to come up with a point of view on the world and share that
point of view in a humorous way. Fortunately, that is also
the description of the Daily Show. So when an audition came through, I was fortunate enough
to have opinions on things that I thought were current and put it on tape and send it in and
for some reason it worked and I've tricked them and I'm here. It is the great, this is not, I have executives here who are at the show but they can th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th th th th th th thathea. I th that that that that that th th th th th thi. I have that, I have thi. I have th thi. I have th thi. I have thi. I have th thi. I have th th thi. I have th th th th th thin, I have th th th th th th th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th th th th th th that that that that that that that theeee. I have toeeeeeeeeeat toeeeeeeeeat toeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. thee. the. the. the show but they could leave for this. It is the best place to work in comedy. It is a pleasant, intelligent place. There's at least 10 dogs in the office every day.
You can be talking about serious topics. Voter suppression in Georgia. People can be getting hot,
and then you'll look over and they'll be like three dogs smelling each other's assholes in the corner.
It is a nice, amazing comedy job. I cannot believe the Comedy Central
was dumb enough to accept my audition and hire me for this job.
You're about to get fired. Yeah. The basic audition process, and if anybody did anything
different, jump in. You sent in essentially a three-minute segment of what would be you
at the desk talking with Trevor.
And then the producers give you something that they wrote.
So you perform something that you wrote to prove that you have the ability to construct
a segment that's in the vein of what Trevor wants.
And then you have to prove an ability to perform something else that's written for
you because that's also a big part of the job where you could be chilling and at noon news breaks about X Y Z. Hey Ronnie, you're on the show tonight, sorry I thought you
weren't going to be on show, but we've already written a segment head down to make up rehearsals
in 45 minutes.
What's it, Andrew Yang?
Okay, got it.
So they're testing your ability to be on the fly and be able to perform something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something something was prepared for you. And so you do both of those pieces with Trevor
and usually with the, I found out on the way to the airport,
I found out, yeah, like, that, it's yay or nay, it's fast.
Yeah, it was a little bit different from me.
My mom is ahead of communications at Viacom
and she heard that there was an opening, and she just. I'm actually Trevor's son.
I'm actually Trevor's son. That's how I got the show.
I like pulled up with the paternity test and I was like, give me a job, bitch.
And then he just sort of, let me in.
She's actually 13.
But yeah, no.
It was pretty much kind of the same thing I had auditioned once before and I didn't get it. And then a few months later they asked me to audition again and I was like, what has
changed in my life in the past like five months?
And then I said no, and then they were like, are you sure?
And I was like, it's so much work.
And I think, oh, and then Trevor If Trevor Noah says that, I'll do it. And it was pretty much that same thing, yeah.
And to Trevor's, to Trevor's credit, I think he understood what he was coming into with
regards to the show having to compete with the other satirical late night landscape.
So if the argument is A and B, I feel like the best arguments that we construct in the building present the C-side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side side the the the the the C. the C. the C. the C. the C. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. the. the. the. the. thea. thea. thea. thea. tr toea. to thea. to toea. to to thea. that's the. that's to side to the argument that someone wouldn't have considered and
I feel like for most of us like what was your audition your original piece do
you remember the original piece that I wrote was about um it was at it was
that funeral and the pastor like put his hand around Ariana Grande in a
weird way oh yeah the black pastor he touched Ariana Graz.
It was about that and it was about,
something else that happened in the Catholic Church
and I was talking about how the Catholic Church
doesn't even have bops to like be doing all the shit
that they're doing.
Like the songs are not that good.
And...
I had two written pieces that I had to do. Oh really?
So my first one...
Oh, well, yeah, yeah, you do the first one on self-tape and then you do the second one
in the studio.
Yeah, so there's the one you do in the self-tape.
So like the first one was just like basically just trying to help white people to stop
fucking up. And we thank you th you th you th you th you thian thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' thin' their, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, thin' thin' than, than, than, than, than, thi, thi. thi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, thi. And, yeah, yeah, thi. Yeah, I'm just here to be an ally. What was it? The general stop asking us wild shit.
Just, you know, the basics.
I didn't even talk about touching my hair
because you all know.
And then the second audition that I did,
that's the one I remember the most,
because it was talking about how hard it is to be black and patriotic,
especially because my birthday is July 4th. And then on top of that, I get my nails done really intensely.
So I had like these July 4th, like, airbrushed,
firework nails when I come in to do this piece.
And I did it, and then I did the piece that they gave me,
and then you do the green screen and you read off a teleprompter.
So all of this is your audition. And then they called me two hours later
and I was in the way to the airport.
So there's a lot that happens.
I'm, why is everybody going to the airport?
Okay, I was not at the airport.
I was at a dig-in on 55th.
That's where I was.
I didn't live in New York. It's much easier to get guests in when you're in the airport.
We're next to pre-check, it's pretty easy.
Next question from Billy.
What was it like on election night 2016?
I did not work there.
Oh my God.
I remember we were about to go out on this quick field piece to the Javits center
where Hillary was going to accept. And we were doing a breaking the glass ceiling piece because the Javits Center where Hillary was going to accept.
And we were doing a breaking the glass ceiling piece
because the Javits is all glass.
And we were about to leave.
And the head of the field department was like, we're calling it off.
And we're, fuck.
It was like, oh, it was very somber. It was a very, very...
Yeah, if you can remember that night, it was actually, I think 537, was that the name of that website?
What's that website? Nate Silver's website?
Yeah, 538, sorry. They want, off by one, Jesus.
Just, just like Nate.
Numbers aren't his strength.
Yeah. Breaking stereotypes stereotypes every day It was what what was it 83% chance of Clinton victory? I say Clinton because I'm not American so like so meaning it was a very big surprise on the night now. It's like? the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they, all but guaranteed yeah, there were some people there were some people crying in the building. There was some? the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they th th their their their their their their their their they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they the night. Now it's like whatever, right? But on the night it was like, all but guaranteed. All but guaranteed. I remember that.
There were some people crying in the building. There was some people sipping a little whiskey
that they had saved for Doomsday. But the thing I remember the most is how quickly everything
was changing because we were live live live and so on a live show on a live result show you you have jokes, but you only have two-thirds of the joke.
It's almost like a quarterback coming to the line and calling it an audible.
If Hillary wins, we do this.
If Trump wins.
I don't get this reference.
If, yeah.
Here's the jokes about polling.
If Hillary wins, then here's the way it's gonna go. We were, yeah, we, Like a choose your own adventure joke.
We wrote, we wrote three scenarios.
Yeah, we wrote three scenarios.
We wrote, uh, Hillary victory,
which was the problem, we thought was gonna go to air.
We had the, if the votes won't decide yet,
which was my, my act, my, my, the one the one they wrote, I was that I that I that I was that I was that I was that I was that I was the, I was the, I was the, I was gonna, I was the, I was, I was, I was, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, I was, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, I............................. the, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, the. the. the. the. the. the, the, we, we, the. the. the. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, about if there was no clear winner yet. And then the third one was an unlikely Trump victory.
So we actually prepared all three
because it's a place that handles its business.
Yeah.
And because we're good at what we do.
And then at the time it was, there was no answer yet.
And so I remember I went on to do it. I remember when I did my death segment, it was the, oh, we don't, the, the, the, thua, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. thin, thin, th. th. tho, that, that, that, the one, the one, the one, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It, th. We, th. We, th. We, th. We, th. It, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, the the the the the the the the the the thee. the the thea. the the the the the the the the the the that, was, was, was, was, was the, oh, we don't know who's winning yet,
which is already scary because we knew who was winning
before the show started.
So the fact that we didn't know halfway through was like,
oh, oh shit, something is getting close.
So anyway, I remember that.
Yeah, it was very somber.
Yeah, it's the true.
We're gonna be live, we're live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all live all the the most live show. We are so alive. We're socially engaged. We're socially engaged.
But we're live with the next caucus?
So live, super live.
The most live show.
State of the Union.
Live.
That's live.
State of the Union, the next four or five Tuesday elections?
Yeah.
Yeah, live.
Live.
No other show is is live.
Yeah, debates as well. Carly wants to know, do you watch or listen to other satirical or comedic news shows?
And if so, how does that affect your material?
Do you also listen to or watch or read, quote, regular news?
And if you do...
How many questions is this?
That's the third question so far.
Ma'am, you cheat it.
Do you try to read from both sides for the show. So there's that one answered. Because
how can we do a satirical news show if we were looking at the non-satirical news?
But maybe I'm an idiot. I think part of the question though is like does it help
you to get an angle on something to read things that clearly already have a perspective? Only in so far as to make sure we're not doing a exact joke that
has been exactly done before. That's probably the most useful aspect.
I think we occasionally check in with the other late night shows and the
other satirical shows just to kind of see what they're doing.
It's tough to keep up with all of them, but especially if we have a piece moving and we want
to make sure that someone else isn't covering it or if we're covering it, we're doing it in a different
way.
I like to know what's going on out there.
We got a show every day. you can't spend too much time deviaring five hours of other entertainment, you gotta write your show.
And I would suspect they're the same,
although they aren't as good as we.
Ooh.
They, there's, you start figuring out kind of stylistically where other shows are going,
and you're not gonna land on the same joke,
even though it's gonna, like tonight,
everybody's gonna be talking about impeachment. We already th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, and, thin, thin, they're, thin, they're, they're, they're, they're thi... they're they're they're they're they're talking about impeachment. We already know that. So it's what is our angle, what's our take that we know is unique.
And you've watched enough of the other shows where you can get a feel.
Well, you know, all right, Seth is probably going to be in this ballpark.
That's funny, but that feels like something Sam B might touch.
What is Oliver going to read local newspapers
when I'm on the road and watch local news.
That, to me, gives me more of a other side.
Because to me, the national media, everything, a lot of what's being consumed in the building
is national news.
So national news doesn't always talk to local people. They don't always talk to the people that are being trulylylylyly, truee, true, true, true, true, truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, the the the the the the the the the the the thi, when the the the thi, when thi, when the the thi, when the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi doesn't always talk to local people.
They don't always talk to the people
that are being truly affected by the issues.
So I like doing that.
I also like going on YouTube, Reddit,
our Instagram can get a little spicy sometimes.
So I like reading all of the comments.
I just like knowing what people are pissed off about,
because sometimes that can help you point which way to shoot the gun on a particular issue? At least it helps me with field pieces
Yeah, how is explained? It was explained to me early? I was asking is there like a kind of thing which all the daily show people in the building read through?
What are the common sources and Allison the former coordinator of the field department told me not to That it's better when you just read what you the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to? to to to? to to to to? to? to to to? to? too too too too too too too too too too too too too too too too? too? too too? too? too too too???? to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their? their? their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their tel. their tea? their thetold me not to that it's better when you just
read what you already enjoy reading and you bring that to the table.
Everyone just reads what they like reading.
You're going to be most passionate about that.
You're going to find something that you like to talk about.
So my point is like, we just read what we're interested in and then we usually pitch
stuff based on that. So, what was the question? I skim through the paper, what's that?
Bernie Sanders fell on the shower, boom, falling.
Here's the last question.
And we're gonna start with you, Desi,
and we're gonna go down the line.
That piece would win an Emmy.
This question's from Sarah.
Who is your dream interview subject, political or not?
Elizabeth Warren. I've been trying to get
her on the show for quite some time. Yeah we get her. Go get her. Why do you want
Elizabeth Warren? I just, she's got a plan for everything. So I have a lot of, I need
some personal advice. How to manage my marriage, my child. You could white lady
like Ronnie did with Andrew Yang.
Thank you.
Yeah, you could do a Lulu Lemon joke.
Lulu Lemon?
You can talk about Martha Stewart and Pinterest.
I don't know what you all do, but.
Oh, they'd be so fun.
You'll go like, I don't know, salads together.
That's what they eat
right thank you I love it oh sure am I supposed to answer what was the
question again I'm sorry interview that you want to do political or yeah, I can't win.
Samuel L. Jackson.
I think Samuel L. Jackson represents for Black America someone that's been at the bottom and someone that's now at the top.
So he has a perspective of both sides of the poverty line.
And I think he's someone that also, politically speaking, mirrors a lot of actual Americans where you can be invest in the poverty line and I think he's someone that also politically speaking mirrors a lot of actual Americans where you can be
invested only to a certain point with certain people and certain issues and
you can't focus on all of them so what are the couple things that you would be
focused on? I've just always found his journey very intriguing.
Ask me about those capital one ads too.
How do he how do you
get those? What were you thinking bro? A check. Oh this is my son. I would want
to interview Lizzo so people know we're not the same person. I'm dead ass serious.
I'm dead ass serious.
I would definitely want to interview AOC and I've tried so many times.
But she's very busy like making laws and whatever the fuck. I just wanna go axe throwing,
get a drink or something.
Just hang out for a little bit.
Dismantle capitalism or something, I don't know.
Dismantle capitalism.
Chibuki took my answer.
Living or dead, is it alive?
Because I would love to talk to a founding father and ask him if they could be a lot more clear.
Would their...
They wrote it so ambiguous, come on.
Can we quarter or can we not quarter?
That's all I want to know.
I read the Constitution.
I know what I'm doing.
Thank you all so much.
Let's all hear it for this awesome year.
Thank you.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for watching the show.
Thank you.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition.
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