The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Emmy Winners Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, and Ali Wong On TDS

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Quinta Brunson chats about how the mockumentary style of “Abbott Elementary” works, why teachers should be paid more, and creating a “no asshole” policy work environment. Ayo Edebiri discusses changing her career path from teaching to entertainment, whether her new FX series “The Bear” is a comedy or a drama, and what a standing ovation from a Nigerian dad looks like. Comedian Ali Wong talks about acting alongside Keanu Reeves in “Always Be My Maybe,” how her dad inspired her to write “Dear Girls” and the challenges women in stand-up face. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're gonna be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. My guest tonight is comedian and actor Quinter Brunson. She's here to talk about Abbott Elementary, the hit show she created, writes for and stars in. Quinter Brunson, welcome to the Daily Show.

Hey, Trevor, thank you for having me. Are you kidding me? Thank you for being here. This show, Abbott Elementary, a lot of people, we fell in love with it just in a promo. The idea was funny. The idea was th. th. th. theeea. thea. thea. thea. thiiiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, to, trailer, a lot of people, we fell in love with it just in a promo. The idea was funny, the idea was special and I'm so glad that it has lived up to expectations. Thank you. Let's talk through the idea, the inception of it all. Quintz, has always been somebody who's been very funny. But why does Quintraudson go like, the funniest thing I want to do and the network show I want to make to make by going to visit my mother before, it was the year before she decided to retire. I lived in LA and I came back to visit her.

My mom was doing basically a parent-teacher conference with a parent on an open house night. The night started at 12 o'clock p.m. Okay. No parents came the whole time, and I was there with my mom waiting with her. A parent walks in at 758, and I was livid. I was just like, how could you not get here earlier? There was so much time.

But my mom didn't look at it that way. She was like, this is the time that this parent could get here. And she sat down and had the conference with her. And it was in that moment that something was sparked where I said this is what I want to make a show about. Because the whole time I'm there, I'm just thinking about how funny the place is, her co-workers in the situation. Yes. Her and I started fighting about me, you know, doing comedy and her not retiring yet. And then this beautiful thing happens. I think, boom, I saw a show and I saw what I wanted to work on for the next however many years I'm able to. You know, before I knew that your mom was a teacher, I was just like, man, Quintos is just like

in love with teachers in a really beautiful way. And I know you are, but it explains so much some so much. For instance, I remember seeing, I the th. the th. th. the th. th. the th. th. thi, I the thi, I the thi, the thi, thi, the thin, the thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, how the next the next the, how thin, how thin, how thin, how the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the next the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the than than than than than than the thanks, how thanks, how thanks, how thanks, how thean thanks, thanks, how thanks, thanks, how thanks, how thanks, how thanks, how thanks, how thanks, for instance from ABC. And then you took a chunk of that money and instead of spending it on marketing and billboards and everything, you gave that money to school so they could buy supplies so that they can get things. What do you think we don't understand about teachers? You know, having grown up in a teacher household? Just how much work they really put into the job. It is not a not a not a not a not a not a not is not a th. It is not is not a th. Just th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. Just, thiolk. thiolk. thiolome. thoom. Just, thoomom. thiolomeome. thoomomorrow, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you. thoomomomomomomomomomomome. thoom. thoom. thoom. thoom. thoom. thiolololomeomeomeomeomeomeomeomeomeome. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. toea. toea. toea. You're toea. You're toea. You're to five. Do you know what I mean? First of all, my mother used to wake up a 730. Six, sorry, earlier because she had me.

She had her own children. Do you know what I mean? Which we forget, her own children, that she has to get through school, cloth and feed, and then she would go to school, deal with kids who were great, well behaved, but also kids, and kids, and kids, and kids, and kids, and kids, and kids, and kids, and tha, and tha, and thiii and thi and then, thi and then, thi and then, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.a, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.a, toei, toe, toe, thi, thi, well-behaved, but also kids who are menaces and parents who are menaces. And then she's identifying more than just these are my kids, it's this child has this learning issue. This child over here comes from a home where this is happening. This child is a selling too fast and I have to make a

little extra room for them. She's doing this for 30 kids all at once my mom. And then after that she would stay later, she would stay until the last parent picked up their kid because there always was a parent that would come in and be like oh man pickups at three up the same time every day and coming at 530 and then she would the thing thi thi. Coming at 530 and then she would go home and she would Short grade papers, which is the thing we all think is like, oh, that's what they do at home But no, it's doing lesson plans, which takes up like an hour It's do learning new development material that the school district puts out that teachers have to learn themselves exactly and I can go on and on, but I just think people who maybe don't have a teacher so close in their life don't know how big the job is. And it's one of the reasons why I firmly believe they should be paid more, but...

I hope your show does this because you know what your show has done, I think a really great job of, is that it shows the human side of being a teacher. Yes. We've only watched what seven episodes of the show already you have quadrupled your ratings from the first episode which I didn't even know what's possible. Yeah me either. I always thought it was like start at the top and then you just gradually. Network TV never does that. I know. You've broken records, you've changed history. You know, congratulations. The season two has already been you know. All of this. thirty. th. the from the dynamic of the cost. How would that happen? How is everybody so comfortable in such a new thing? Oh my goodness, I feel like I got to pick everyone I wanted for the cast, and I think that's rare. You know, usually there's some issue, like, you can't get this person you want because of this reason. Right. You can't get this person you want because of this reason. You can't get this person blah blah blah. But I also had like a personal connection to each person that I cast and knew what type of person they were. Ultimately I think, you know, whatever, everyone has different opinions,

but I wanted my show to feel like a workplace. I know it's TV and TV can be crazy and we accept we accept like a bunch of crazy, this trit shit. You know, I forgot when we were, did the Today Show this morning. So I like, but we, you know, we accept like bad behavior, we accept like so much, but I didn't want it to be like that because it, you know, it's my show and I was like- no asshole policy. We don't, we don't have have think think th these people together in a room, the first time we filmed the pilot, everyone was just energizing and feeling good about each other and feeling good about the show that they're making too.

So I think everyone's happy to be there. I love that. You may be one of the few people I know who have gone to be the thapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapap. the people. the people. the the to. the to. to. to. the to. th. to. to. to. to. I. I. I. I. I. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. the thean. thean. together. together. together, together, the. thean. thean. thean. thi. thi. gone off of the internet because of too much positivity. Genue, you like one of the few people I know who's gone like, guys, I'm going to take a break from Twitter. There's too many positive comments. I have to take a moment, please. And I think it's because of what you put out into the world. You know, I hope you never lose it. You have this thing. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. It's so authentic. th. th. thi. thi. 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. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the the the th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the fervor around the show, which I hope never ends. Yeah. One of the more confusing things that happens to people was a video where all the kids are leaving.

And you know, you're saying it's the midseason break. All the kids are leaving. But they're all saying goodbye to you as your character. So, I'm like, by Miss T. the the the the the th. th. the 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. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thee. tho 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. 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 a good day. See you on Monday. See you on Monday, you guys. Be careful. Let me see, I'm watching this video. And some people thought that the kids don't get paid and the kids aren't. It was very confusing for some people. It was very confusing.

I'm not sure they jumped there until we don't pay them. I just felt like, can we take a few steps before the the the the the th labor issues. People think the world is a bad place, Quinta. People think the world's a bad place. If nothing else that really showed it to me. I was like, no, no, no, we would never not pay the kid. Like, why would you jump there? Please don't. Look, people were very confused by it, but the way our step operates with those cameras will be. Oh, you know what I mean? Okay. So it doesn't look like this. So to them it almost feels like they're in a classroom and someone's making a documentary. Absolutely. In our classrooms look so real, because they also have school there.

the kids actually have school there. their kids. You know, the kids, you know, they're, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they's, they's, they're, they're, they're, they they they they they they they they they, they, they, it, it, it, it, it they they they they they they they they they they they they they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they they, they they... So, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're.... they're their. they're their th. to the. the. the. theats. thea. thea. thea. they're they're they're they're they're They just know Miss Teagues and sometimes I have to tell them to be quiet as Miss Teagues. They would raise their hand and be like, Miss Teagues, he hit me, Miss Teagues, I have to go to bathroom and I would just have to play the part so we could get through the yeah so we could get through the scene and they know the the the the the the the the the the the the 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 act their act their act their act their act and the their act their act and the the the their their their their their their their their their 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the This is a set. I was like, yeah. I'm on TV, Mystique. So, and your name is Quinta. My mommy told me. I'm like, okay, you're not figuring out anything groundbreaking, but all right. That is adorable. You see, I love it. I love everything you do.

Thank you once again. Thank you and thank you for your continued support. Always, always. Always. Always. I appreciate it. John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. My guest tonight is actor, writer, and comedian I.O. Edibury. She's here to talk about starring in the new FX show, The Bear.

Please welcome, I. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. I feel like you shouldn't have time to be here with all of the work that you're doing. I mean, we just saw a new show of yours that's going to be, you know, coming out on FX. And then, like, just take me through everything else that you're doing. So you're acting in the show, and then you write as well, and then the their, their, you're, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, times, tie. 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 their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, ti. I. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. Yes. And then you're a stand-up comedian. Yes. And then on top of that I feel like there's two other things I'm forgetting that you're doing. Big mouth maybe. And trying to get sleep I think. How is that going? I could call my parents more that too, yeah. But you know all the things they do be doing. Well congratulations. It really has been just like a wild ride for 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, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, 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, and th, and th, and th, and the th is th is thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiii thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi all the things they do be doing. Well, congratulations. Thanks. It really has been just like a wild ride for you, you know, slingshot. And the beginning of your journey is one that intrigues me the most because I read things

about people, I do the research and then sometimes it doesn't seem true. Yeah. Were you studying to to teacher. I wanted to be an English teacher. And then I did my student teaching. And did you know that teenagers are really scary? And they will tell you when you're not a good English teacher. Wow. And so I was like, hmm, maybe change careers? I was doing stand-up and stuff at night. All my friends were studying writing and it felt like, it was, thi....... I, th like like like like, like, like, th like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, and I was like, and I was like, and I was like, and I was like, and I was like, and I was studying, and I was like, and I was thing, and I was thing. I was to, and I was thing. And, and I was to, and I was to teaching, and I was stand-up and stuff at night,

all my friends were studying writing and it felt like people were doing this, I don't know, and I don't know, I just was like, I've got one life, might as well try. I love the fact that the kids were so terrible. You just changed your perspective on life. They just shifted you in a new direction. It was like the opposite of

any of those like movies were like a teacher's like you know coming in the classroom and standing on the desk like I stood on the desk and they were like sit down. We go home. Did you tell them you were going? Did you tell them you were going? No. I think if I told 13 year olds my dreams, I don't really think that would have gone great, you know? They might have had notes. They are, I mean, like the reason behind all of your success though, I feel like you should thank them now, because they've sent you into a very successful career, you know? It's like doing it, and you're crushing it at everything.

It's almost like... To all the teenagers who make me sad. So let's talk about the show on FX. It's, it's, is it a comedy? Because the moments where I feel like it's a drama, and there's moments where I find myself laughing out loud, I guess, dramedy? Yes? Wait, write that down.

I'm going to, yeah, copyright it's, the moment. Yeah, I think it is kind of in that dromomom dr It's definitely, I mean I identify as a comedian. I don't know if other people identify me as that, but I identify as a comedian and it was, it felt very funny to like be showing up to work and being like, oh okay I'm the most serious person. I'm like the least funny stuff. That's hilarious. I'm like actually acting I think. I think it. I th, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I the, I the, I the, I the, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, I, I, I, I, I, I thly, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thin, I thin, I thin, I thin, definitely definitely definitely, I thin, I thi thi thin, definitely definitely definitely, I thi thi thi, I thi, I oh okay, I'm the most serious person. I'm saying like the least funny stuff. That's hilarious. I'm like actually acting, I think. I think it is good. It's funny, it's funny, it's hotfelt. I mean, because it's a story about like really, it seems like a ragtag restaurant, you know, that's... Yes, it's a deeply motley crew. Yes. And around the food looks, is it real food, is a real. It's a real. It's a the food. It's, it's, it's a the food. It's a the food. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's a the th. It's a thi. It's a thi. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's a thi. It's a thi. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's a th. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's good. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's, I. It's th. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's a th. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's funny. It's a th. It's funny. It's funny. It's a th. It's funny. It's a th. It's funny. It's good. It's good. It's good. it real food? It's real food. We were cooking real food. We're working in a real kitchen. Our set designers and our production designers are geniuses and they created a real kitchen that felt really small like a real kitchen in a working restaurant wood. But they created just like a little space, enough space for a camera to be able to move through.

I like that. It has the feeling of like, you know, fire was real, the fire was real, knives were real. What was it? The fire was real? Yeah. Doesn't seem safe. Well, I mean, hey, oops. The, you know, the story is really great because it's, it's, it feels like it's a commentary on the family we have versus the family we choose you know we see your characters journey we see everyone starting to to fall for each other and be in that world it made me wonder where you feel your biggest family is like in what industry because some people let's say they're on Broadway and they act on TV they'll go like oh but the broad my Broadway family yeah you're in so many different worlds I want to know is 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 their their their their their 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 to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. to their. to to to to to to I want to know, is there like one world where you feel like I'm at home? This is me.

What if I was like, Trevor, with you? Uh, first time. I would, I would say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And that's very creepy because we just met. That's what I would say. But I would be flattered. No, I feel really lucky to be, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, th, uh, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, th, th, th, th, th. th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the. the. that's the. that's, that's the. that's, the. that's, that's that's that's that's that's like, the. flattered. I would be flattered. No, I feel really lucky to be embraced and feel like I get to learn in so many spaces and I feel like I have a lot of curiosity and I want to do a lot of things and do them well and

I feel like the places that I've been able to work and the people that I've been able to work with, like a lot of them are just really great mentors and friends and so I feel like in a lot of spaces in writing and in stand-up and I guess now in acting like I have people who I have so deeply earnest the standup in me is like, oh but I don't know, I feel like there's a lot of the conferences. I think it's good, I think it's good to be honest. I feel like you should be proud of what you've done. It's not an easy journey. Are your parents proud? My parents are backstage, so I hope that they're proud.

It would be weird if they told you now. They're backstage, they're like, ooh, we got notes. weird. So where are your parents from? My mom is from Barbados and my dad is from where you just did that and I said from, he's from Nigeria and he was back stage and he was watching and he was like, eh ha ha ha. I'll take that. I'll take that. I'll take that from a Nigerian dad. That's a standing ovation from a Nigerian da. You got a ahe. I'll take that. I know it's been great meeting you, you know, congratulations on everything you're doing. I think, I think, it's not just you who identifies, everyone who sees you goes, you're a comedian, you're funny, you're amazing. Thank you for being on the show. Thanks for having me. I felt at home with you right here. Thank you so much for being here. I thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to be 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 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the 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. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the an thean. thean. thean. thean. the an th Show, we're gonna be talking about the election,

economics, ingredient to bread ratio, on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. My next guest is a writer, actor, and stand-up comedian with two hit Netflix comedy specials and the film Always Be My Maybe. She has a new book called Dear Girls, Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life. Please welcome, Ali Wong. Alley Wong. Welcome to the day, Shirley Wann.

Thanks, Trevor. It's my first time being here. It is your first time being here. I feel like it's been... It's been way too long, because I watch everything you do, and I'm like a giant fan, and then I see you everywhere else. Oh my god, you're like stalking me. No, for real, congratulations on everything you've done. I mean, like, we watched you blow up and stand up, which everyone loves, and then the thing that really brought me, Joy was just seeing how you kick ass and movies as well. Oh, thanks so much. You're a movie star,

now, you realize that, right? Woo! It was well, it was really fun, and I got to Mac on those three fine-ass dudes. That's true. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi-I's, thi-I's thi-I's, thi-I's thi-I's thi-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-a-a-a-a-a, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-s. th-s. th-s. th-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-s. tha-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-s. tha-s. tha-s. th fine-ass dudes. You watched the movie, right? I know. Yes. It was like, who wrote this thing? Like, whose idea was this? Who was in charge? You have Keanu Reeves fighting over you. I mean, no. And then he came to your show, didn't he? He came to my show, which was amazing. He was so sweet. And he was like in such, the the th. th. th. the 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. thi. thi. thi. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. the 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 th..................................................................................... to. to. to. to. to.. to...... to... the. the. the. the. the. Yeah, it was the best. Do people get confused though if like Keanu Reeves plays your boyfriend in a movie and

they see him at your show? Isn't someone like, I think it's real? No, no one, I mean like, I'm cute or whatever, but no one thinks that he's really wants to date me. They were like, that you're cute, but you ain't that cute. You have fans of your stand-up. You have fans of your movies, but a book is a very different medium for us to engage Ali Wong in your first book.

And it's also an interesting style of book. You've written this book, Dear Girls, it's specifically written to your children. Letters to my two daughters. I have two girls who are th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, to th, to th, to thuuuu, to to to thu, tho, to tho, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, 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 tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. theea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. toooooooooooo, thea, to my two daughters. I have two girls who are under the age of four. And the first one was in that striped dress. When I filmed Baby Cobra and the second one's in the leopard dress, and they're very aware of it too. Like they know which ones they were.

And I wanted to, my dad wrote me this letter before he passed away. And my real name is Alexandra and it was started with dear Alexandra and he like reflected a lot on our relationship and how I had affected his life and it was a short letter and I love it so much. Wow. But I wish that he had written me more because after he passed it was too late to ask him all these questions about who he when he when I was born like he was already this successful anesthesiologist right and in the same way like when my girls were born they only know me after I film those two specials and they don't know like what it took for me to get where I am and how I

the grind before and I think that's such an important life lesson they and I want them to their... their. their. their. their. their. their. their. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I'm their. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. The their. G. G. The their. Gr. G. G. Gri. Gry. Gri. I'm their their. I their. I'm. I'm. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their their. I'm their to to to to to to their to to to try. S. I'm try. S. I'm try. S. I'm the the the the the the the the the the them to know that I wasn't, you know, that I struggled a lot and then I had to work really hard. So. It really is an interesting book because you know when when I first got the book, they were like, oh no, Ali wrote this for her two daughters. And I was like, oh, this is like a cute little kid's book. Oh no. And then she experienced while living in New York. Yeah, yeah. And then I was like, this is, uh, this is like, it's very, uh, it's very, uh, it's like, it's very, uh, it's very, like, it's very, like, it's like, thi.

Like, I'm assuming it's not for them now. No, they're like, they're like, they're likes that I hope that they watch the specials long before they read the book. Right. But I mean as much as it is for your daughters, it really is for women in general. That's what I love about the book because you're telling your story. And for instance, you share stories about stand-up comedy that I would have never thought of and have never experienced because I'm a man in stand up. So for instance, you just talk about how much you th. 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 thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the 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 is really is really is really really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really is really thi thr-----------------wi. thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty thirty a woman when, like you talk about like going to, like walking to your car at like 1 a.m. by yourself. I think the reason, I think a big reason why there aren't more women who do stand-up. It's not, getting on stage is the easy part.

That's the fun part. And being funny is the fun part. But going on the, you have to have to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to go to be a great stand-up because you have to test out your material in all these different cities in front of all these different audiences and that's it's a safety issue. I think that's why more women don't do it because when you go on the road the first day you go out as you know you get into a car with with four strangers. Always from your and it's like into a car and you're I never met this person before. Yes. They could kidnap you. And you're very kidnappable. Yes.

But you could defend your. But no, but this is, I mean, like, because like when we started was before Uber, before any of that, so like, what would be funny is, you'd get like, a random town. This would happen, like, who's Jim? They're like, he works with the club. You're like, at the club or with the club? Yeah. There's no picture being sent to your phone. You don't know who Jim is. Some guys coming and some like 1975 Toyota Carolla

that smells like the ghost of like a dead comic sperm. And you're just likethere's always like, you get in the car and the person's always, oh, you can just throw that on the back seat. There's always something on the back that you have to throw. There's like old fritos and stuff. Yes, yeah, yeah. So I can imagine how unnerving that must be for you. For a man that. And it's, it was, like I think about the days when I started, and I would never want my daughters to go through that.

You also talk about like, just the journey of your rise in comedy. You know, you talk about your success, the grind that came behind it, but then you talk about like just the experiences that you've had, 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, 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, like, like, like, like, the the the the the the the the, the, the, the, the, the, they..... they. the they. the the the the the the the the the the the experiences that you've had where someone, you know, many people in fact try to reduce you to just, you know, your, your factor. So they went like, oh, you're getting, you're successful just because you're Asian or just because you're a woman. Just because you're pregnant. There's so many, there was a guy who, I won't name names, he's not a very successful comedian, so I don't even know if you're, I'm not, the to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the to, to, the, the, to, to, the, the, th, th, th, th.. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, to, th. So, thi, so, thi, th. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so.... So, so, so...... So, so, so, so... So, th.. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, the, the, the. So, th. So, the. So, the. So, the. So, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. they. they. they. they. they. they're, the. the. the. the. So, the.to, you wouldn't know, you're out of there now. But he like came up to me while I was pregnant the second time and he touched my belly with his like fat sweaty hand, which is so gross to begin with. It's like, it's like, why don't you finger me while

you're at it? This is so not okay. Like just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean it's thoe to to touch my belly belly. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the belly. to to the belly. to to to the belly. to to to their to to their to to too. too. 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 second. their. the second. the second. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their their. the the thee. thee. tou. thee. thee. tou. thee. toda. try. today. thee. thee. thee. thee. the. the. I so this is your stick this is like your thing now right and I'm like I was like getting pregnant is not rainbow suspenders it's not a stick and then he was like you're so lucky alley because you get all of this attention because you're both a female and a minority and I was like yeah because you know historically that's always been the winning combo for recognition and success. And he was like, you know what I mean? Like me, I'm just another white guy. And I was like, be a better white guy.

There's so many successful. There's like, there's Jimmy Kimmel, there's Will Farrell, there's Nick Crow, there's John Melaney. I can name like, I could go on this whole show for like 35 days. We'll do like another show just of successful white comedians. Just be a funnier white guy. Like, that's it. So, um, the girls are gonna read the book.

Girls out there will read the book. Women can read the book I did. I did. I did. I did. My husband wrote the actor word too. It's very sweet. Yes, he did. He wrote a beautiful thing about how like you consult with him about the jokes that you will tell about him on stage, which is really nice. Congratulations on another successful endeavor. Thank you so much. Thank you for being on the daymine. Thank you. Explore more shows from the Daily Show Podcast Universe by searching 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, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go,

but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.