The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Desi Lydic and Troy Iwata on Auditioning for The Daily Show and Crafting Their On-Screen Personas

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

In this podcast exclusive, Desi Lydic sits with one of the newest news team members, Troy Iwata to discuss how they met on set of the movie 'Space Cadet,' their Daily Show audition process, how they crafted their Daily Show persona, and the sense of responsibility they feel to viewers. Plus, they reveal which famous Daily Show correspondent created a ten point list for how to shoot a successful field piece.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. For a look at the situation on the ground, let's go live to Moscow with some fresh exit polls and Troy Iwada.

For a look at the situation on the ground, let's go live to Moscow with some fresh exit polls and Troy Iwada. Troy, what are you learning? Desi, we're learning a lot about why Russians are so drawn to Vladimir Putin. Listen to these exit poll results. First, 94% of voters said they did not want to accidentally fall out of a window. And 96% said they did not want to be poisoned. So those are the top two issues, third being Putin's age. Hey, Ears Edition listeners, it's Desi Leidic, and I'm sitting here with one of the newest

members of our news team, Troy Iwata. Hello, thank you so much for having me in your podcast. Welcome to the pod. Thank you. And welcome to the news team. Am I pronouncing your name correctly? It sounded good. Troy.

Oh, that part, the first part. Yeah. No, that's correct. Okay, good. Yeah. And then just so we're clear, it's desci, lea diac. That's exactly right. It's German. Okay. Mm-hmm. Leal diac. Oh, wow. You swallow it. And what does that mean? It means child of God. And aren't we all? And aren't we all? You and I met on, we were friends before the Daily Show. Good Friends. Good Friends. It is Troy, right? Yes. Yes. We met on a little movie called Space Cadet. Do you, do you want to give the elevator pitch on Space Cadet? Well, I'll just say what everyone told me. It's like legally blonde in space. It is. It kind of is. And you and I play as-can trainees. And if for those of you that don't know, an ass can is not a can for your ass. No. We learned that on day one. Yeah, it's a space, spatial student.

Spacial student? A student of space. As you can tell, we are not actual NASA trainees. We did no research for this film at all whatsoever. Why would I have seven lines in this movie? So I, no, but I want to talk about that because, so most of the scenes that we were in, were group scenes with at least five plus characters. And so oftentimes we would have like a line here, a line there. But Troy, you stole every freaking scene in that movie.

If you had one line, you made the most of it. You had all of us cracking up every take. You were such a standout, truly. Oh, thank you. Why do you look so surprised? I don't know. One of my lines was fire. Yeah, but you, like, not even with an exclamation point. It was fire, period. Thank you. That's very, very sweet. But no, but it's true. And I think like that is one of your superpowers as a comedic actor. And I think it comes in handy here as part of the news team,

like in everything that you do here. You figure out a way of like putting your own unique spin on it. Well actually like, okay, so we met on the set of this movie, right? And we were in the beautiful state of Alabama for three weeks. Huntsville, Alabama. Which actually was pretty lovely, but, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the the the the news. Yeah, the news, the news, the news the news, the news, the news, the news, the news, the news, the news, 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 th. As th. As th. As th. As th, as th. As th for three weeks. Huntsville, Alabama. Which actually was pretty lovely, but- It was. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah.

And then towards the end of shooting, we were just sitting in our actors' chairs with our names on them, because that's what we require. Because we're actors. And you turned to me and you said, how much do I have to pay you 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 be, to be, to be, to be, to be, tooome, tooomorrow, the the the the the tooge, too. too. 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tofea, toomorrow, toomorrow, toomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, thea, tooomorrow, tooe., tooomorrow, tooe., too., too and you said, you said, How much do I have to pay you to come to the Daily Show? I know you said, would you ever consider auditioning for the Daily Show? Yeah, it's all I could think about when we were filming. And then we spent, well, we had time on set together,

but then we spent an afternoon getting coffee and hanging out. Yeah, and that's when I was like, oh, could use your perspective here. I think you should audition for the show. You're such a perfect fit for the show. Thank you. And I'm having a wonderful time. Good. But yeah, you asked me that question and I of course said no. Yeah, gross. That's disgusting. Why would you think that? And then a couple weeks later I got an email with a with a self-tape, and for those of your listeners, don't know what a self-tape is, it's a video tape that you make by yourself at home. That's not porn. It's not porn. Unless you want it to be. It can be. It can get you the job sometimes.. No we don't. I remember I was sent like a packet with some previous sketches that the

that the Daily Show had done and they asked me to just pick one and do one and two of them were for women and one of them was for a man so I picked the man one. I was going to say which one did that. One of them was like it was like about about about about about about about about about about about about about. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I the the the they. I was like, I was like, I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I was like, I was like, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was 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. I was like, I was like, I was like, I'm th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. the. I was the. I was the. I was the. I was the. I was the like about abortion rights or something and I was like I don't think You're like I don't care about women's rights get this out of here. This doesn't speak to me Um and so I did one of them with like a reader and then they and then they also asked me to write a desk piece For myself and had you ever done that before I'd written stuff for myself? I'd written stuff for myself thrown myself? I'd written stuff to myself th thu myself thu myself th thu. thu. thu. thu. th th thu. to to to to to to to to to to th to to thu to thu th. thu to to to to th. th. th. to me to me to me the. the. the. the. the. the. thi thi. to to to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me to me me to me me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me. to me. to me. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th news anchor sort of type thing. And like I was a little bit nervous because I definitely consider myself like a funny person, but I don't consider myself a writer, not necessarily a joke teler. And so you are, but I can make something funny. If you ask me to like make up a joke, I can, C plus, you know, but I don't, I'd give you a higher grade than that. But yeah, a low B minus. Yeah, I I I I I 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 th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I think. I th. I think. I think. I think. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th than that. But yes, I know what you're saying. Yeah, a low B minus. And but I also when when they sent me the tape they said you know pressure to be funny, we just want to hear how you talk. And I was like, oh, well that's nice. And then sent that in, and then a couple weeks later I had a zoo meeting with a couple of the producers and they offered me the job and coming from a theater background, not to sound, I don't know what the word is,

but this was the fastest and easiest process of getting a job that I've ever had. Nice! And I'm very grateful for that and I'm having a great time. All I did was walk away from set and then I went to Jen, our awesome EP, Showrunner, hi Jen. Thank you so much for listeningrunner. Hi Jen. Boss. Hi Jen. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for this opportunity.

I went to Jen and I said, I think we should ask if, I worked with this guy Troy on the movie and I think we should ask if he could submit a tape and she put in the request. And then I had no idea what you nothing to do with your audition process. I had no idea what you picked or what you wrote. And then I just heard back from Jen that they loved you and that they were bringing you in and gonna hire you. So, and then I did watch your audition tape afterwards when you sent it to me, and it was really great.

Thank you. Did they give you a cut of them of the bribe money that I sent in with the tape? I cannot speak of that. Okay. Because my lawyers might be listening. Got it. Yeah. Hi lawyers, thank you for this opportunity.

Were you, do you consider yourself a political person? I will say since getting this job, I have become more so. Only just like I've I think a lot I feel like it's a pretty relatable thing to be exhausted by politics especially in this country and but working here has made it more fun because I'm approaching because it forces you to approach it more from like you see the ridiculousness of it and you can laugh at it that makes it a lot more palatable than like just being overwhelmed. Yeah, it does.

In a lot of ways, I feel like the show has become my therapy. Because it is overwhelming. It's especially overwhelming to feel like you have to pay attention to every minute of the news cycle. Right. That's daunting. There's too much. Because also what is news? News is gossip of what's happening in the world.

And anything can be a story. So you can't know what's going on. And also, we're not supposed to know what's going on. It's healthy to take breaks every now and again. Yeah. And I think you do have to do that when we have a little many hiatuses here and there. It's healthy to kind of like unplug and take a step back. I was also not a particularly political person going into this. I did watch the Daily Show, the John years for many years before starting here and desperately wanted to be on the

show and auditioned multiple times. You auditioned multiple times? I did. I did. I auditioned for the show three times. I didn't know that. I did. Yeah, yeah. Over the course of like eight years, maybe, six years. Yeah, the same process where you, like, you get sent a piece that had been done on the show before and you choose that and then you write a piece. Yeah. And the third time that I was asked, I was like, oh, I don't know if I can do this again because it's a pretty big homework assignment. Yeah. And I felt the same way that you did. Like I'm not, I would write by necessity to, to write by by by by by by by by by by by by by by by by to, to, thia, the thia, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the same, the same, thi, thi, thi, thi, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, the same, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.. I, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I, th myself a writer, and I certainly wasn't really comfortable doing that at the time.

So it was a lot. It was like a big ask, and the third time I thought, like, oh gosh, I don't know if I wanted to put myself through this again. It was so heartbreaking when I wanted it so badly last time. And I think maybe if they wanted me, they would have asked me by now, and I just just to to to to to to to to to to 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, thi, thi, to be, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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, thr, thr. I. I. I. I'm, toe. I'm, toea. I was, toea. I was, toea, toe. I was, thr. I was, know and my manager at the time was like I really, I really think you should do it. One more time, just give it all you got and and make a tape. And I was like, all right, and so I did and I submitted and I submitted and this was when John was still hosting the show in his final year and I submitted the tape and I did not hear anything back and I thought, okay, well that's, that was my chance, that was it, that's it, I got to move on. And then three months later, we got a call asking if I was available for the show to come out

or to start and super thirsty. They strung you along for three months. It was like three months later and of course I was like yes I'll move there tomorrow I'll drop everything I'll be there. Were you in LA at the time? I was in LA and and they were like cool your pits and and they were like cool your pits. And they were like cool your pits. And so the the, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, and the, cool, cool, and the, cool, and the, cool, and the, and the, and the, cool, cool, and the, and the, and the, cool, and the, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, and th, and th. And they, they, they, they, th. It was like, th. It was like, th. It was like, th. It was like, th. It, th. It was like, th. It, th. It, th. It was like, th, th, th, th. It, th. It was like, th. It was like, th. It was, th. It was, th. It was, th. It was like, th. It's, th. It's, and th. And, and th. And, th. It's like, the, like, like, like, like, like, th. It's like, like, like, like, like, like, th. It's like, like, like, like, th. It's like,'re just sort of like feeling you out. Yeah, it said, cool your fucking pits. Yeah, cool your pits. And so we just said like, okay, well just so you know we're ready any time. And then shortly after that, John announced that he was leaving and so they did not want to bring anyone on during that time. It was like such a moment of transition.

But they continued to check in periodically. And so then I think John announced he was leaving. They started looking at who the next, who the next host was going to be. They locked in Trevor. And then they called me to come back and read with Trevor for a second audition. And how much longer down the line was that? So I submitted the tape in November and I got the call in July the next year. Oh my God.

And during this period of time, that's so painful. It was a little stressful. And during that period of time, my husband and I had just gotten married and we wanted to start being open to starting a family and I got pregnant. Okay. And so I get pregnant, I get knocked up. Yeah. And then I'm like four months pregnant

and I get the call to come meet Trevor. And now I'm like, oh my god, this is my dream job. This is my opportunity. Do they, do I tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tell tel tell thel thel thel thel thel thel the the the the the the the the the theat theat the. the, theat, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. I the. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, the. the. thea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, this is my opportunity. Do they, do I tell them I'm pregnant? Will that change anything? Should I keep it from them? What do I do? So I went to New York, I did the audition, I met with Trevor, and then I waited in the waiting room afterwards to talk to Jen Flans and the other executive producers just to give them a heads up because I thou, I don't, you know, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, 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, 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, their, their, the other executive producers just to give them a heads up because I thought like I don't you know of course women shouldn't have to think about this sort of thing but I didn't want to start the job off with the lie so I waited and then Jen was like Jen came out and she's like yeah yeah you did great and I was like oh no I don't need feedback but thank you I just want to let you know that this is my dream job and I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th that 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. I'm their. I'm their. I'm 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. I the. I the. I the. I the. I theeeeeeeean. theean. theeean. theeean. theeeean. theeeeeeeeeee. the. the. I just want to let you know that this is my dream job and I would be here tomorrow if asked, but also I am pregnant and I'd be starting the job four months

pregnant or six months pregnant and she's like, without even batting an eye, she's like, congratulations, that's amazing. We'll use it on the show or we won't use it on the show, whatever you want. She's done it before, we'll do it again. If if she's, she's, we'll, we'll th. She's, we'll th. She's, we'll th. She's, we'll th. th. She's, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th. 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 th. the. the. the. the. the. theat, theat, theat theat theat theat teat teat te. today, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. whatever you want. She said, we've done it before, we'll do it again. And if Jen's anything, she's a spinner into something marketable, which is a skill. It's a real skilled producer right there. Yeah, it is. But it was pretty awesome to hear that in the world of, you know, you know, the entertainment industry. It's not always. I came into it pretty young and thinn, like, oh, oh, oh, the the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, the world, th. the world, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. thin, thin, th. thin, thin, thin, to, thin, th. thin, th. thin, th. thin, th. th you know the entertainment industry. It's not always, you, I came into it pretty young and thinking like, oh, when you start a family, your career's over and that's it. And of course, that's not the way that it should be, but it often is.

So that was incredibly reassuring, and I have refused to leave ever since. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, the the the the the the the to be, 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 the the the the the the the th. th. th. the. the. thean. toda. today. today. today. today. today. today. today, today, the. the. the. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so Desi, you auditioned for the Daily Show thrice. Thrice. What did you in your

audition process come up with a idea for a character for a character for the thri. Thrice? One? On the show on the thi thi. th. th. th. to to to to th. to to to th. to thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the, the the, the, the the the, the the, the, the the, the, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Listen, listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. the, listen. thi, listen. thi, to listen, to listen, to. to to to listen, to to to to to to to thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to thi. the 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 the the the the the the the the the, the the, Thrice. Thrice. What, did you in your audition process come up with an idea for a character for your correspondent? And has that played into your character now, or has it changed? I did, and that is, I'm doing the exact opposite of what I thought I would do it. So it clearly worked brilliantly. At the time, I guess it was 2014 when I audition.

And the piece that I wrote for myself for the audition was definitely inspired by Gretchen Carlson and Megan Kelly, the kind of like Fox News, blonde, type. Okay. Desiletic. Okay, care to expand on that? Well, I'm a Stanford graduate. I have multiple degrees. I speak nine different languages.

One 14 different beauty pageants. I'm a proficient puppeteer, a Celiac survivor. No, I meant to expand on your view. Oh, no, no, it's self-evident. I kind of thought like, oh, there's, maybe there's an opening to do like a female version of Colbert's character and I would go hard into that Fox News lane. So that was the piece that I wrote, and that was the piece that I auditioned with. But then once I started the job, when Trump came into the equation,

I think the entire landscape changed. And it felt like, oh, we have bigger fish to fry than Fox News. Fox News is a huge part of it, but kind of like ironically embodying that persona at that time in the political climate felt sort of unsavory and like we couldn't we couldn't make that sustain itself for years on end and so I would dip in and out of that character periodically when we needed it but I wound up playing much closer to like just a heightened, sort of like overly confident, under-informed, correspondent, news correspondent. I think that's a layer of what we all do here. Yeah, yeah. So there was that, but then, you know, some, depending on the piece, like I would kind of, you end up, you try to create a character that's somewhat close to your persona, but highly exaggerated, you know, the the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, thi, thi, 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, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, like, 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, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, thi, the, the piece, like I would kind of, you end up, you try to create a character that's somewhat close to your persona,

but highly exaggerated, and then you sort of fit into any situation with what it requires. Like, if we're doing a field piece and we're sitting down with someone who is kind of a wacky crax character, you wanna play straight, right? Like you have to play the role of straight because they are the wacky character

and there's no sense in having too crazy people. So you figure out your dynamic and then if you're sitting down with an expert who's schooling you, you kind of become the overly confident under-informed, and then you play a bit of a character. So yeah, it definitely has evolved over time. And then now in this stage that we're at right now,

where we're being correspondence, but then also hosting sometimes, the hosting role definitely requires you to be more of yourself, which was an adjustment that I had to get more comfortable with, because I thought like, oh, I can be brave saying all of these things in character because I'm playing a character, but then once you take that armor away, it becomes a really vulnerable experience when you have to be more yourself. Yeah, because when you're hosting, you're not necessarily even a heightened version

of yourself. You're yourself. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. When they first approached you to say, hey, we're going to have you host. Uh-huh. What would, how was, what was your response? Uh-huh. I said, um, I'll be there tomorrow. Uh-huh. Yeah. I said, are you sure this is what you want? Had you thought about wanting to host before?

Was that even on your radar? No. Okay. It never, starting this this this this this this th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. W thi. W th. W thi. W. W. W, th. What thi? What, thi? What, thi? What, what, what, what, how, how, how, how thi? What, how would thi? What, how, how, how, how, what was, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how? What thi? What th. What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? W, th. W. W. W. W. W. W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? W. thi? Woooooo? Wo? Wo? Wo? Wo? Wo? W. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi? W. thi. th about wanting to host before? Was that even on your radar? No. OK. It never, starting this job, like I desperately wanted to be a correspondent. I watched for many years the other correspondent, Sam B. and Colbert and Correl, and like, worshipped what they did and thought like, that's the most fun job on the planet. And so when I started this job, I thought like this is what I'll be doing.

I never thought that I'd get the opportunity to sit at the desk. And I also, I think having more of like an improv background and an acting background, my goal was never set on being a host of a show. Like I just didn't think about that. But then when things opened up and we got the opportunity, I thought, well, I gotta try it on. I gotta put my hat in the ring here somewhere. And yeah, and it's, it is totally different, but it's kind of awesome.

It's like such a great opportunity. And you've gotten to do it multiple times. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've, yeah. It's still, still very new. Still like a new muscle that needs to be worked. But, um, but yeah. What, when you are hosting, what, what extra responsibilities do you have? Because I know we have so many writers there who are brilliant and come up with things like that, but it's like when you're hosting, do you have more input on what direction you want the show to go in that week?

Yes. Yeah. And I think that we, even as correspondence, we are always brought into the conversation. It's very collaborative. And I think the show always wants us to have ownership over what we say. I would say like when you, when you're hosting, I think there's a little added responsibility and pressure that whatever happens in that show,

you're sitting at the desk, so you share some responsibility in it. And, and taking extra care and making sure, like, this is my perspective, I believe in everything I'm saying, and again, it's very much a collaborative process because we have such brilliant writers here and we definitely rely on their expertise, but like it is your point of view at the end of the day. So yeah, I think there's like, yeah, a little added pressure. A little bit, yeah, and I also feel like, I don't want to speak for you for you, but, but, th, th, to, to, to to to to to to to to to to th, I to to th, I th, I to to to thi, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe, and to to to to thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, and I believe, and I believe, and I believe in to to to to to to to to to to thi to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to believe, I believe, I believe, I believe. So yeah, I think there's there's like yeah, a little added pressure. A little bit, yeah, and I also feel like, I don't want to speak for you, but I will. Do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but do you feel like when you are hosting or honestly just being on the show,

do you feel like being a woman plays, does, you have to put it through that filter. I'm just saying because I as like, I'm like half Japanese and I'm gay and all these things and just every time I receive any kind of material, there is always a filter of like I need to remember that I am saying this as an Asian person or as a gay person. So I need to know how that is going to come across because it's me saying it. Even if I think these jokes are hha jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are jokes are j j j j j. theeeea. thoe. thoe. thoe tho thi tho thi. thi. thi. tho tho tho tho tho-a tho thi. thi. thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the the the the the thi. I the the thi. I thi. I'm thi. thi. I'm thi. I'm theei. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm the thi. I the th know how that is going to come across because it's me saying it. Even if I think these jokes are hilarious, they might not come across as funny because I'm saying them. Right, or you feel an obligation to represent people who you're speaking about, like you don't want to disappoint. There was the ruling coming out of Alabama on the, on IVF. And we kind of quickly wrote a very funny, funny, they're they thi. 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 they they they they they they they they they the. 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 they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they of Alabama on the on IVF and we kind of quickly

wrote a very funny mini headline on it and we were working it out in rehearsal and as we're doing it I'm kind of like oh this is this is really funny but we're going to the jokes a little too quickly here I think we need to kind of like sit in how messed up all of this is and I had had to sit for a minute and go, okay, I know, you know, five to ten people in my life who have actually been through this, what are they going to want to hear right now? And they're probably going to want to laugh about it a little bit, but they also are going to want to hear some acknowledgment about how excruciating this process this process And so sometimes like, yeah, you do try to, you, I want to represent women well.

I'm, I think we all feel a sense of responsibility that we don't want to let people down. And at the end of the day, we just kind of have to follow our instincts. Yeah. There's no way we'll be able to make everyone happy. Right, and it's like we're happy to represent the communities that we come from, absolutely, but it can't be solely about that and we and I have I have no interest in being the face of my community in that sense because I'm not equipped, I'm not not intellectually or

anything like that and it's like I, my very first field piece that I shot was the piece about professional cuddling. As one who goes through life avoiding human contact, I wasn't thrilled about meeting someone who made a living from touching other people. I have to admit, it does sound a bit scammy. Seems like you're just ripping off people who've never heard of a body pillow. It is not just about the physical act of cudd The body pillow cannot talk to you, right? I would see the fact that my pillows can't talk back to me as an asset. And I remember, you know, they sent me the breakdown of it and the pitch. And of course I was like, I'm very excited because this is my first field piece, but

but I wrote back, I was nervous. Because the take i about it because I was nervous because the take was like, our correspondent thinks that this industry is actually just like a front for like sex work and thinks that professional cuttlers are, you know, are just sex workers and it's just, you know, a front for that. And I remember emailing the team back and being like, this is funny. The fact that this is my first impression on the show, I don't know if I necessarily want my first impression as like the gay correspondent to be me showing up being like, so we're all going to have sex, right?

Right. Yes. And that's what's so great about this show is like day one you can come in and be like, hey, I had this thought. Yeah. And this is a concern for me and how do we navigate around that or how do we change the take so it feels more more in line with what I want to represent, what I want to talk about. And what was that like when you, when you brought that up to the producer and you said, hey, here's what I'm thinking, how did that go over?

They're extremely receptive of it and said, you know, we'll tweak it before we shoot, we'll tweak it while we shoot. If you ever feel uncomfortable, we can stop, but they were wonderful about it. And it just goes to show like how needed it is to have a variety of diverse voices in the room on the writing team in producing in front of the camera because that's that represents our our audience. Yeah and the material itself wasn't offensive in any way but again it was just putting it through that filter of I need to think about the fact that I am a gay person saying these things and the fact that I was like this is my first impression and even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th I was the th I was th I was th I was th I was th I was the the. the. the. It was thi the. the. It was the. It was thi. It was thi. thi. thi. thi. the. thi. thi. thi. I was liked. I was liked. I was like, th th th th th th th th th th th. I was like, th. I was like, th. I was like, th. I was like, th. I was like, th. I was like, th. I was like, th th the. It was like, the. It was like, the the the to toe toe toe toe toe the toee thee the the theeeeee. I was, thethat I was like, this is my first impression. Even on even just it was your first piece, day one, bringing something up, it was, you were met with a very receptive response.

Yeah. That's wonderful. That's good to hear. Yeah. When you started here as part of the news team, did you think about the character that you wanted to play and how much of that should lean into your own personality versus what you wanted to create for yourself on the show? Um, I, I, uh, I kind of just knew that parts of myself would just make it into the character. I didn't really come in like, Method thinking this is who I'm going to be. How much back story did you write for your character? Pages. Pages, pages, and I learned that in college. No, I sort of just knew that it would like creep in. Well, first of all, actually, you were very

helpful to me in the, both the audition process and my starting process because any time... Oh, please say more. Well, any time, first of all, you were always very available to me to answer any questions, but you always backed it up. And I don't know, I think this is hilarious. You would always say, Troy, you are overqualified for this job. You said that to me multiple. You are, and I. And I. And I. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the start, the th. Please, thi. Please, thi. Please, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to to thi. to to thi. to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. this job. You said that's me multiple times. You are a very talented human being. You're an extremely talented performer in so many different areas and truly yes you are extremely qualified for this. Well that's a very kind thing for you to say I'll I will see now I'm still learning and there are definitely things about this job that scare me but in a good way and challenge me. But yeah, that it was it th, I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi, I th thi, I was it was it was it was it was thi, I was th th th the the the. 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 th. th. You th. You th. You thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to to to be very very very very very very very to be very very very to be very toeeea toea toea toeeea to be very very very very very very very thi thi thi thi to are definitely things about this job that scare me, but in a good way and challenge me. Same. But yeah, it was more of just trust the process and I was like, there's a lot of very

talented people that work here and they're gonna, they're gonna, I'll trust that they'll, that will all help each other. And I remember my first, my first day actually shooting something, doing a chat live in studio. I remember I showed up and everyone was so warm and welcoming to me and even when I was in the studio, they were like, there's four cameras, they're always in the same spot. There's two places for you to stand, that's not going to change. Look there, have you ever read a teleprompter before it? And I was like, no, but I can read it, thrown. And what's beautiful about here is the teleprompter is right over the lens. Yes, isn't it great? It's fantastic.

So you don't have to look like your cross-eyed reading it above the camera? No. It looks like you're looking at the camera, but you're reading the whole time. Well, now the audience knows. Well, we can cut this out. We should edit. Let's edit this out. And then also, they were like, and also, if you fuck up that bad, it's not live. Yeah, we'll do it again. That's right.

That's like, this is great. And also, I mean, I've been working in this industry for 10 years. And every time I've done a job that's sort of in my head been on like a pedestal of, oh, thi. Like, tho' thii.. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. We, th. th. We's, th. We's, th. We's, th. th. th. th. th. And, th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. th. th. toe. th. th. th. th. th. th stuff like that. As soon as I got there, it was, it's not like the magic was like taken away, but it was this beautiful experience of, oh, this is what I used to, I used to make movies in my backyard,

and I did plays in high school. This is the exact same thing, but we all have money now. Yeah. But we're all, it's all, it's still, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, I.... It's, I. the. the. the, the. the, the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's's the same people it's the same kinds of people the same dynamics it's just there's more people watching us and there's a little and there's more money involved it's true but other than that it's like yeah it was so in a way that it is a very positive experience of just like oh we're still all like dumb like theater theater film buffs you know kids just running around making stuff it's super fun yeah and you there is that feeling th th th th th th th th th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. th. thi. the the the the the the th. thi. thi. thi. 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 the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. theeeeat. theeeat. theeeeat. theeeeat. the same. their th. their th. their their th, you know, kids just running around making stuff. It's super fun. Yeah, and there is that feeling, it's one of those jobs where no one really sits you down to be like, here are all the rules of what to do on the show in this role.

You just are kind of like thrown into it because we're a daily show and we move so quickly, so you just kind of have to learn as you go. But at the end of the day, you are supported by what I think we have close to like 200 people on our staff and crew that are all truly the very best in the business at what they do, and they've got your back. So even if you know nothing or have the worst instincts, they will support you. You're going to be good. Yeah. I knew 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 the the the th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. We the the th. the the the th. We th. the. the. We the. We have the. We have theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. We have theee. We have the. We have the. the. We have th worst instincts, they will support you. Like you're gonna be good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I knew it was a good workplace when I, the second I came in here and started working, I was like, I've never felt uncomfortable. It was always like, not until this podcast right now. And all these very deep important questions. Never felt uncomfortable, always felt welcomed welcomed, always felt supported. It's chaotic, but in a funn, 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 th, I know, I know, I know, I know, I was thi, I know, I know, I know, I know, I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, I th, I was th, I was th, I was th, I was th, I was a th, I th, I I I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th. I th. I th. I thi. I thi. I knew thi. Yeah, I knew thi. Yeah, I knew thi. I knew thi thi thi thi thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii thii thi thi thi. I knew uncomfortable, always felt welcomed, always felt supported. It's chaotic, but in a fun, no, but no one's freaking out. No.

That's the cool thing about this. It's like, it's a calm chaos. They're like, oh my god, we have to move so fast, but it's like, but there's a, there's confidence that it's all going toomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You that the first piece that you did in studio on the book bands was so funny and it was so much fun to watch you like even from the rehearsal that we did that day it was like oh yeah you're just like such an obvious fit it seemed like such a natural fit for you. But do you really believe these books are gonna walk kids' minds?

Actually, if I could get personal for a second, I am a living example of how damaging these books can be. When I was in school, I read a Japanese manga book and look at me now. I am half Japanese. I am half Japanese. Wait, wait, the book turned you half Japanese. Yeah, and why only half? Well, I didn't, I didn't finish it. Well, thank you.

And Costa and Ronnie were fantastic that day. I remember... That's right, they were hosting. They were both hosting and they're both so kind and welcoming to me and very supportive. It was really, it was really cool. Yeah. It's a good, it's a very good supportive group. Did you receive the email from Colbert, the Colbert's advice? Yes. Not just for you listening, I didn't receive it from Colbert himself. No, it was forwarded to me. He does not, he is not interested in any of our email addresses. There's no correspondence. Yeah, I did receive and that was very, I actually received it from you, Ronnie and Roy. That tells you something.

Yeah, I had three people sent it to me. So Colbert at one point wrote down a list of a list of to-do- 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, the, the, thi- the, he thi- the, he- the, he thi- thi- thi- the- the- their their their their their their th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th, he th- th- th, he th, he th, he th- th- th- th, he th, th- th, th- the, the, the, thease-coo-col-col-col-col-colbert, to-col-colbert, to-col-col-col-col-col-col- the, he was the, to me. So Colbert at one point wrote down a list of advice, a list of to-do's for shooting, how to shoot a successful field piece. And I believe that he wrote it and handed it off to Rob Riggle maybe. And Rob passed it along to Al Madrigal, and then Al passed it along to Jordan,rigal and then Al passed it along to Jordan who passed it to us and then we passed it to you. So it's like this weird, very weird comedy fraternity. Yeah and it's just like 10 points. It's very simplified. He makes it seems so easy and yet he was the master of doing those field pieces. It's not quite that easy but they're really, really great pointers. Like know the three things that you want

to get from the subject and don't leave until you get them. Yeah, I like that Colbert was like it's just ten simple steps. Also if you're Stephen Colbert it's just going to work out. Yeah, it's just going at everything you do. We're like, hey Steve, I tried these ten things that didn't work out. And he was like, well, I'm very talented. Yeah. We're like, oh, got it, Steve, got it. Thank you. Yes, that helps.

What was the, you've done a lot of acting work before. Yeah. You've been both very decorated actors here in the studio. You were in a very funny movie called Summoning Sylvia. Thank you. And you are hilarious in it. Thank you so much. For the listeners, if you haven't seen the movie, it's hilarious and Troy is brilliant in it and it's on stars. It's on summoning Sylvia, now streaming on stars. You can say that again. Is this the vocal Is this the vocal warm-up you do before the show? It's what I do every morning and every night before I go to bed.

That's how I fall asleep. Summing Sylvia is streaming on stars. But how how does you also were on Dash and Lily on Netflix? We crashed? We crashed on Apple TV plus. On Apple TV Plus? Ever heard of it? Ever heard of it? You've been on all the streamers.

Yeah. How does the preparation for a more traditional narrative show compare to preparing for the stuff we do on this show. I mean it's really just time you know but also just filming filming like a TV show or a movie there's a lot of waiting around. Here it's fast, fast, fast, which as an as a creative person is more fun. It is and then you go onto a set like when we worked on the movie it was like, wait, why are we waiting so long? We're waiting so long. But that's you know, and you know that's you know we go in knowing

that we're going to be sitting and waiting for a long time. Yeah. But yeah, that's really just it's time. Again, I'm not, okay, for all of you listening, I'm not the actor you want to interview if you want an actor talking about acts. Tell me more about your process. Like for example in that tour divorce that we shot on Tick Tock last week. Mm-hmm. Gadoom Godong. Yes. Okay guys we all know the boss got kicked off of Twitter and he's making his own social media site. So the question is, what should the site be called? You know, one name that we talked about was Zion? Oh, Zion.

Or, or Zionining? Yeah, yeah, that's got a nice pop to it. Hey, you guys see Trump's new Zionning? thuke, tho'niii, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they. they, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they, they, they, the their, 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 their, their, their, their, their, thi. their, thi. thi. thi. thi. toda, toda, toda, today's today's today's today's today, today, you can't, it's impossible. Any other ideas? Oh, oh, we also liked gadoon. Or gadong. Yeah, I like where your head's at. Or gadoon-gadong. Like you post a gadoon and then get people to gadong it.

Like my gadoon gottoddongs. And oh wow, Don Jr. We were also thinking that users can re-boying a go-boing, which is a gabonged gadoon that has been gray-daggle. Of course. And for every ten gray daggles, you get a delungi. And ten delugteam. Did you have to kind of get into that conspiracy theorist mindset? Did you do a lot of back-channeling? Yeah, well actually part of my, I actually I learned this in my collegiate program and part of my process is I like to start from the bottom so I like to start with what shoes do you think this person wears? Oh I love that. What shoes did your character wear? They just happen to be the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes. the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, the shoes, their, their, their, their, their, I, I, I, I, 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, th. their, th. th. th. th. th. th. thea. th. thea. thea. their, their, their the shoes that I was wearing at the time, but, you know, normally I like to buy the shoes, I like to spend some time with the shoes, like to interview the

shoes, I like to dismember the shoes and put it back together, so I know exactly where I'm coming from and where I'm going. Mm-hmm. It's important to hydrate. Always have to always have to hydrate in character. It's important to keep your instruments lobed. Do your shoes stay hydrated as well? Oh yes, I have a spritzer.

A shoe spitzer. A shoe spitzer. I buy it organic on Etsy. Now the line Godun Godaddong gets a Galgadoe. What kind of prep did you put into that particular line? Because that's a real, you have to do some real mental gymnastics around that. There's a beautiful acting technique where you assign a sort of active verb to your lines, whether it's pulling or pushing or ringing or smashing. And... I'm going to keep the

stride, I got it. I'm going to keep the straight face. Go on. Mm-hmm. And it actually it just helps lay a foundation and puts a purpose behind each each line. So for Galgaido, my word was force. was force. Oh yes, I see that. Did you see it? Did it come through? Yes. Because if it didn't, then I didn't do my job as an actor. Troy, you are an absolute delight. Thank you so much for having me, Dizzy. Thank you for pronouncing my name correctly. Finally, it took me alone. Desi. Troy. They. Thanks for being on the pod. Tanks for having me. 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 th th th th th that th th th that that that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did that. Did to to to to 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. Did it come come come the the the. Did it come come come the. Did it come come the. Did it come the. Did it come the. Did, it took me alone. Desi. Troy.

Thanks for being on the pod. Thanks for having me on the pod. And I'm so happy you're part of the team. I'm happy to be a part of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for listening. Bye.

Bye. to explore more shows from the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're gonna be talking about the election, earnings calls.

What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're gonna be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the Weekly weekly weekly weekly weekly weekly weekly the weekly weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to weekly to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thoe. thoe. to to to to to to to to to tho. 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. thea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toe. the. the. the. toe