The Daily Show: Ears Edition - In The Control Room With The Daily Show Director, David Paul Meyer

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

In this podcast exclusive, Daily Show Director, David Paul Meyer and Daily Show producer, David Kibuuka, unpack what a day in the life of the Daily Show's director looks like. With behind the scenes audio from the control room, they discuss how he adjusts to breaking news stories and what it's been like directing a new guest host every week. David also describes his journey to The Daily Show and how his USC film school thesis led him to South Africa to make a documentary about then newcomer, Trevor Noah. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Survivor 47 is here, which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official survivor podcast on fire. And this season we are joined by fan favorite and Survivor 46 runner-up, Charlie, Charlie, I'm excited to do this together. Thanks, Jeff. So excited to be here, and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47. Listen to On Fire the official Survivor podcast starting September 18th wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. All right here we go. Stand by X for sound. And five, four, three, two, one. Roll track. Hey, Ears Edition listeners, this is David Kubuka, a producer for the Daily Show. We are back with another exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation.

And I am here talking to David Paul Meyer, the director of the Daily Show. One under. Three. Move one. Move one. Ready four. Move four. Take. Stand by screen screens. Ready five.

Take. Ready dissolve. Disolve. Two and dissolve. Thanks so much for leaving the control room to join us. For sure. We are coworkers, colleagues, but we have known each other for 15 years. August 2008, and this is the first time. Wait, firstly, August 2008, not to interject.

Yeah. I wasn't paying attention to the date because you were just some white guy from America. Yes, I remember it, you don't. I come to Johannesburg South Africa, August 2008. I'm doing a documentary about stand the co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co co. to th co. Yes, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th, but th. Yes, but th. Yes, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but th, but th, but th. But, but th. But, but th. But th. But, thi thi, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. We thi th. thi thi, thi, th. Yes, remember it. You don't. I come to Johannesburg South Africa, August 2008. I'm doing a documentary about stand-up comedy in South Africa for my thesis at the University of Southern California. All of what I just said, you assumed I was lying. You guys were like, we don't believe anything that he says, but he does have a camera, so let's see. And you're told. Yes. So that's how I met you and that's how I met Trevor. And I realized the last time we sat down and had a recorded interview was when I interviewed you for the documentary. And we used some of that in the documentary,

and it was quite good. And I was thinking, I'm gonna that one interview, and I did get some stuff from it. But you're like, no, forget me, follow Trevor instead. It's essentially what you said to me at lunch in Johannesburg. I'll never forget it. And in hindsight, I'm so glad I took that advice for both of us. Yes. You were like, you don't want to follow me, follow Trevor around with your camera. And I did and then the rest is history.

Now we're back here, working at the Daily Show for almost coming to 10 years now. Close, eight years. Dave is the director of the Daily Show, I said now. We're here to talk about your journey. Now, firstly, you did not study film as your first... That's true. My first discipline. Yeah, no. I'm from North Carolina. Very rural North Carolina. I grew up literally in front of a cornfield. Then I moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, and I got a degree in computer science. Because I heard there was money there. But you always love film, I assume.

Always love film and television. Especially because where I grew up, listen, there was a lot of rules around what you could watch and not watch because it was a very conservative area. So there was always this sort of like, oh yeah, there's a little danger there what's on the screen. When you're watching soap operas and stuff. Yeah, it's crazy that you know that it was the soap operas. Yeah, because those are like, you're like, there's going to be some potentially PG-13 sex in what I'm watching. I mean with that, it's almost like, you know, let the soap up but give me the setup, I'll

use my imagination to fill in the rest. Because it doesn't take much. It does not take much. It doesn't take much to fill in the gaps. So yes, I did the computer science thing because, you, you, this, this, this, 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, that, the, thi, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, 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's, it's, it's, it's, it's, the, it's, the, the, the, the the the the th.... thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. It's almost, thi. And it was difficult as well. Very difficult. Yeah. But I did well and I was working as a software developer at the software company in North Carolina. And then I had support from people I was close to at the time to just kind of like apply to film school. So I applied to the University of Southern California. A famous film school. Well I went to USC so some would say the top film school. We have listeners listeners the the the the the the the the th f listen th f th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I have th. I th. I th. I th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. th. th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I th. I th. I th. I was. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi. th. the thi. th. listeners we have listeners from old school so we don't like to. Yeah, but I also have to

you know the USC people would expect me to say that. But so I'm just doing it. We run a business. Yes and I also understand I am in New York and there's a lot of NYU people here. So respect to NYU. We don't want people just switching it off now. Yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. Yeah. the. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the. Yeah. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. That's fair fair Fair. So one of the top one of the top great. I got accepted Thought it was a mistake called him. They were like yep. No, you really did get accepted So yeah, this was 2006 picked up my life moved to Los Angeles to become a filmmaker 2008 the beginning of my third year there is when I went to South Africa met you and Trevor. You meet me?. 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. the th. the the the the th. the th. the the the the the the their their their their their their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. So. So. So. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, the. So, the. So, the. So, to toe. I toe. I th. I the. I the. I thi. I tho. So, the. So, to South Africa, met you and Trevor. You meet me and Trevor. He's just here doing a documentary. We don't believe you or not believe you. I mean you have equipment.

Yes. I say I'll give you one interview, but the real star is Trevor, obviously. Yes. You follow Trevor. You do a documentary township to the stage. Yes, which we then renamed You Laugh, but it's true, but I love that you call it, that's very niche, right? You just said there.

Yes, the original name, I'm one of those. You're one of the OGs, yes, exactly. You Laugh but it's true was the name of it. Yeah, still out there, people can watch it. I think I'm very far from even calling myself a good comedian. I'm just okay for now. You can watch it on. Where is it now? It's everywhere. You can watch it for free on YouTube even.

Oh really? Yeah. All right, great. You now, Trevor's one, you're thea. You now, the best friend? the treat. . .

. Yes, he asked me to direct his stand-up specials. You've directed all of them. How many like the one I did now in Detroit was the 11th one 11th stand-up specials you got you guys have had he comes to the daily show Then he's like okay cool. I got to call my boy. Yeah, he called the two davits. Yeah, he called the two davits. Yes, I come through come through come through? the day, th. the the the the the the the the the th. the the the the the the the th. the the the the the the the th. the the th. the the the the the th. the th. the the th. the th. th. threat. the th. the the the the the the the the the the the 11 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. 11. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. the te. te. the te. the te. the te. first, because you didn't start off as a director. I did not start off as a director. I worked in what at the time was called the field department, so I was a field producer. That's where you, you know, those classic daily show pieces where the correspondence go out into the field and tell some new story with jokes, essentially. Yes. And that's where I started because it was actually a perfect position for me, having come from a background of documentary and also doing a lot of comedy videos. What did you learn or what did you express, let's say that. That was my exposure to the Daily Show,

the culture of the Daily Show, you know, with the field, and now they call it the packages team. But that is a very signature part of the Daily Show's fabric and culture, in my opinion, are these field pieces? Because these are still things that you don't really see that prevalent anywhere else. So being thrown into that and working with all these legendary correspondence, and working with a lot of the people here who'd been here for a long time. So like Tim Greenberg and Stu Miller, who both used to work at the show, they were sort of like my mentors when I started,

and I really got to learn a lot about like, what is directing, what is storytelling, what is writing, what does comedy look like, encapsulated into this thing where you also have to be the producer, and the director, you have to learn how to work with all the other departments, you have to get to know everybody. It really gave me like a grasp, which I always believe, like with filmmaking. Same thing with the documentary on Trevor.

I was the director and the Prouster. I did everything from, asked Trevor questions for the documentary to booking the flights and the car rentals. And so it kind of taught me everything about creating good art or content, whatever you want to call it for this show. Yes and just a question that popped into my mind. You are a huge fan of the Daily Show. Huge fan. Oh my goodness. So remember, massive fan. Massive fan. Like I, when I was an undergrad doing computer

science at NC State University, Go Wolfpack. Coalfpack. 99. Freshman year, a man called John Stewart took over the daily show. And remember I'm coming from the conservative, rural, North Carolina world that I came from where TV and all these things are dangerous. And here's this guy on television telling jokes, poking holes in just the whole world that I had been brought up in and exposing the bullshit to use his term. And I was immediately compelled. I was a fan from the beginning, watching it in my the the the the the the th. the the th. the the th. the the th. the th. th, and I was immediately compelled. I was a fan from the beginning watching it in my dorm room,

and then I remember where I was 9-11, and I remember seeing John, you know, I know that's, he's not telling jokes there, but look, we all remember his, what he said. This eminal piece that he did. Yeah, we were watching it. And I was just like, man, this guy is the best thapapapapapapapape. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin. thin. thi. thi. thi. thi. thin. thin. 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 to th. I, th. th. th. th. th. the. thin. th. the. th. the. th. the. th. the. the. th. toe. toe. toe. to to to to to to to to is the best and I just like I watched it every night and then you know Obama got elected and I was like well all our problems are over so yes everything is solved so I don't need to watch the Daily Show anymore John we don't have there's nothing more to talk about right and in fact the Daily Show and John talking about comedy as catharsis was kind of like a

through line that inspired me while I was making the documentary in South Africa's obviously the parallel there was During apartheid you didn't have comedians of color on stage There weren't black comedians on stage and now that it had ended and you'd only had comedians on stage for like 12 years Maybe at that point when I came there was still very much this like? Catholic through line of like we joke about all this heavy shit that happened in our history and like that like informed I would say from watching the Daily Show and seeing oh how you take comedy from tragedy these ideas like that how does that work and then on that trip in 2008 I said to Trevor you know I watched the show the Daily Show you should watch he's like oh yeah I've heard of it. I was like, no dude, you should watch it. I think you'd really like it. This is in the first time we met. I was like, you should watch the Daily Show.

Yeah. So imagine the full circle moment coming here. Yeah, that's it's crazy. It's unbelievable. It's crazy. It's true. It's truely unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I. I. I. I. I. I. I thi. I thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the thi. the first thi. the first the first thi. the first the first the first thi. the first thi. the first thi. the first thi. thi. the first thi. the first thi. thi. th. the first th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the first the first th. the first th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. to. to. the the the to. the the first. the first. the first. the first. the first. the thing. You know what I mean? The Daily Show, very formative for me, working in the field team, very formative to me, eventually moved into segment directing, which all that really meant was I directed a lot of the scripted stuff, the sketches and things like that, and then the whole thing with the pandemic happening. That was the helm, let's say, or eased your way into it, into being the director, during the pandemic, and a large part of it had to do with your

computer science background. Computer science, my history with Trevor, my history making the document, all of these things that we've been speaking about led up to the moment where it's like, okay, pandemic, everything shut down. We have no studio. We have no cameras, we have no audio, we have nothing, we have no way to make a television show. But Trevor, from working with me and seeing the stuff that we had done just the toom.

He's like, well, you used to make this stuff when, when, you, do you think you could do that in my house? Because I've known you at this point that was, you know, 12 years. I trust you in my home. Yes. Would you be willing to help me make this show from my home? And I was like, yeah, of course, buddy. Like, we've been doing that. We've been just that, sort of the one man banding it with Trevor that I had been doing for so long

on so many projects because we did not just stand-up specials, but we did our own little sketch comedy stuff and all that stuff before I came to the show. Our history was what allowed us to work with him at his home and make the show from his home with just iPhones essentially. Which I was fortunate enough to have been there, basically as your assistant. Yeah. And I really saw how good you are with your technology. I was like completely amazed by your skill. It's quite mind-blowing. So you, so the pandemic happens, you make it one-man banding. Yeah, I really, it was two man banding because we were there.

You just tell me to do stuff. Go and get us like. Yes, no, I mean, yeah, maybe a little bit. Push this button here, okay, fine. Hold this thing. Hold this light. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And our little COVID-Bu-1. together. together. together. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to-in. to-in. to-in. to-ween. 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-s. th-s. th-s. th-s. th-. th-. th-a-. th-. to-. the-. the-. the-. the-a-. to-s. to-a-s. to-. to-. to-. to-go-go-go-go. Yes, with the team obviously, you know, coming in via Zoom, via Zoom, and we send the footage

out because Trevor had the best internet in the world. Yes. All right, we just need to take a short break. We'll be right back. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, the weekly show. We're going to be talking about the election the election the election the election the the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly. the weekly. the weekly the weekly. the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly. the weekly the weekly. the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly. the weekly the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show.. the weekly.... We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll... We'll. We'll. We'll. We'll.... We'll.. We'll.. We'll... We'll. the the theto 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. Ready to dissolve four with C.G.1, and move for, dissolve. If you had to do a career day, yes. You know, and you go to the children and then you have to explain what a director of the daily show does on the, what would you say? So I always think of my days, kind of split up in the upstairs portion of my day and the downstairs portion of my day. Upstairs, we have writers, we have producers, coming up with the creative. It always starts with the script, right? It starts, well, I guess, and the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the 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. And you, and you, and you go go, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, th.. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the the the the the the the the the the the the th.e.ea, thea, thea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.... the the the the the the the the the the the the the creative, it always starts with the script, right? It starts, well, I guess at the show it starts with the news of the day. News of the day.

The meeting where everybody's sitting around watching the news together, cracking jokes, a lot of free-flowing creativity, gems, gems, the thrown out, kind of what's happening right here. Kind of what's happening, yeah. dropping podcast gems. Podcast gems. So I'm maybe running like an hour and a half after the the initial sort of creative meeting and the writing starts maybe an hour and a half after that, things start to come up. Hey, they want to have a conversation with the host and a correspondent. The host is at the desk. The correspondent is in Washington, D.C. So we have a green screen in our studio that allows us to place the correspondent anywhere in the world in the world in magic of television

Magic of television and surprising not surprising This is a very funny person by the way guys don't don't be fooled. Yeah compared to now where I'm boring a shit. Yeah, compared to now where I'm boring. Yeah, I'm the the thing. I'm saying. Yeah, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the the c. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thing I want to say, the reason I'm saying that, I'm a professional here. Oh, word, the reason I'm saying- You're saying- Yeah, I get it. It's because one thing I think that makes you so great with comedians, is you yourself are a funny person. Okay, fair enough. Thank you. to be in this, you're very intelligent that we know, but your sense of humor is what makes you, makes you understand, at least from my own point of view. You like get it. Yes, and I think I'm always trying

to think visually, how can I execute this thing on the page visually in a funny way? That's always coming and how do I talk to the producers making sure that we have those visuals? What are those conversations like of terms of like, what would be a funny way to present this person in Washington, D.C.? We're always thinking about those in terms of the imagery of it for the show. Absolutely. There's a meeting, we look at the news, we then, we sort of put the script together. You come in, you look at the script, and this script, thak, thak, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, tho, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script, the script and turn this script of words into a visual experience. Yes. So that starts off with a meeting with the showrunner and...

And some of the other producers who work on the show from different apartments. This producer deals with the team that works on graphics. This is the producer who deals with like, we need a clip from Washington DC that we can use as the background so it looks like they're there or whatever. This is the person who's the art director who does props and wardrobe if there's a bit with like we had a bit with Ronnie Chain where we had to get a stunt coordinator in here so that he could sit on this guy's shoulders and wear a big trench coat trench coat trick. What's your take on Ron DeSantis needs to stop trying to pretend that he's one of us, naturally tall guys. Ronnie, what the hell are you doing, man? Are you on stilts or something? No, I've always been this tall. People just think I'm short because I'm sweet and soft-spoken, but I'm actually six-eight. Just that one bit, it's like, Ronnie's made look taller by doing the trench coat bit.

There's a lot of pieces just to that. So it's like, you gotta be like, how are we gonna do that? Is he sitting a ladder? He's sitting a stool? No, let's get a stunt coordinator. So it really, he's a weirdly tall person. All these conversations, all happening at once, and you have to be to be to be to be to be to to to be a to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be, to to to be, to to be, to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to learn to talk about a whole bunch of different people. And you have to really, in my opinion, learn to help empower them to do the thing. It's not about you doing all those things.

It's about you having communicating and same-paging a lot of people, honestly. And then letting them run with those things, andthen, you know, it all comes together and we get to execute the script. Great. And then I get to put director on it and like take credit for all these other people's hard work. But wait. But it's a joke, but like, the show is the full staff. Yes. It really is. Meeting one, we come up with the script for the listeners out there. Simple we do the script. Meeting to you and the showrunner and a whole lot of departments turn this script that is still being written by the way yes you turn this script into a visual experience then you go with downstairs so that was all upstairs talks now we're going downstairs now I go into the control room yes and I go into the studio floor and that's

where the crew is and we have the best crew in the business, bar none. Every position, our highly trained specialists, who are also very funny people by the way, and great at everything from shooting the perfect shot, lighting the perfect shot, making sure the audio is perfect on the shot, and it's like, all right, here's the script with all these visual elements we've discussed downstairs, let's start looking at them, let's start rehearsing them, blocking them, making, blocking just means like let's do the thing, not for real, but like let's practice it, essentially. Let's practice this stuff, practice, practice, let's communicate all these things, and so they're all working, all the people out on the studio floor, the studio, all the people in the audio, all the people in the audio room, all the people in the control room, the guy operating the switcher that's switching between

cameras, the teleprompter, the person who's hitting, making sure that the graphics are being hit at the time that they need to be hit based on me queuing them to hit. Yes. We're all working together now we have the script and we start thranging the the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thi. th. to. the, th. to. th. th. the the, th. th. th. th. th. th. the the, th. the the, th, thrific, the the, their, their, their, the the the the the script, the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the script. the the script. the the the the the the the the thrc. thrific. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. thri. togea. thea. thea. thria. thria. thria. thri. thri. We're, the the thr. Matt, on your one, two, three, fourth shot, I like how you start with the audience, but then you need to come around the other way. If you come around, then I think you'll be out of Phil shot. That's the other reason not to get, to stay back there. Okay.

I'm ready to do one more. Is anybody? What George, you have something? We asked her people and then took care of it there. They moved like the upright part of the mic standoff to the side so that it booms a little. You know, just on the straight on, it's not like a line through. Looks good. So you start practicing. Then we have a rehearsal. Yeah, we do the rehearsal.

Yeah, we go we see it. We're all sort of doing a run-through of the show together to see how, how does this feel? How does this feel? Yes. Roll track, move to, insert the OTS. Change. Yesterday, Americans went to the book across the country. And Democrats had been more nervous than just in their standby row. memoir. But last night they got some good news. Roll trick tax. I thought that I opened look good.

I think my only wonder is if you want to, once you get all the way across, if you want to move upstain? Yeah, cool. And we get a feeling for it. And then obviously writers then have their process where they go and work on the script of camera, actually. A lot of it's technical, but also a lot of it's creative. You know, like, we had a thing where Ronnie was on location somewhere,

and then we wanted to change the background to an American flag waving with music playing. That's a comedic thing, but and it seems like, oh, that'll just be funny, but it's like, no, how long is that transition? How long is the fade from where he was standing to the flag coming up to the music? You know, it should be a half second, one second, three second, we try to figure out what's the best way to make sure that visually we're continuing that as the script is being rewritten. Sometimes new things come up that haven't even been on the show and then you just kind of have to like trust that like doing this every single day makes you in a place where you can roll with these last-minute changes. You know what I mean? So like as they come up it, it's like, you know what they're to the try and to be a the, to....... I. the the, the the, the the, 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. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the graphic of this? Oh, they're gonna do this and a lot of times we're like Let's get it the best way. We're not gonna have trance to rehearse it. It's just gonna be performed for the first time in the show But there's patterns of like how you prepare and how you practice

Yes, that make you able to roll with the changes when the show when the show? their their show is their show is their show is 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 is is 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. It's is just is just is just is just is just is just is just. troenkk. trau. trau. trau. trau. traurau. their. their. their. the people on the show. Each one is ready to do their job and they do it better than anybody else in the business, but they need someone queuing them or telling you basically go, go, go, go. So in a lot of ways, during the show, I'm queuing. So I'm saying, ready camera to you're about to be we're about to be using your camera shot and then when I say take camera to that means punch the button that puts his camera online you're sort of like a coach calling plays yes I'm like the

quarterback calling the plays now you know blue 52 hut type of stuff change change standby lose our tears the p. Animate off center ready effects let's go live to the Ohio Statehouse with Drake with Grace Coolinchment. Ready boxes. Take. So do you have a visual idea of what the script is? Yes I'm in your mind very much so. Very much so what I've learned with with directing is you have to trust the images in your head. Okay. You have to see the thing playing out in your head and you have to as best you can in the moment execute that thing that's in your head. You have to be very present to your own sensibility of comedy to execute it at the time. But also be present to the sensibility of the host who's performing it. So I have I I I I I I I I have I have I have I have have have have have have have have have the short. I have. I have the short. I have. I have the short. I have the short. I have the the the the the the the to be. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the. their. to be to be to be the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the toe, the toe, toe, toe. toe. toe. toe. toea. toea. toea. toa. toauuuuiiiiiiiauia. toea. toea. toea. the. thea present to the sensibility of the host who's performing it. So I had the shorthand with Trevor. I've done a specials, I've edited his comedy,

I've done all of that so much. And the key to doing all of this is you really, once you're doing the show now, taping the show in front of a studio audience, the key is we follow the host's lead. And by doing that with 50, you know, for the the the their, for their, for their, for th, for th, for the th, for the th, th, for th, th, th, the th, the th, th, th, th, th, th. to, to, toe, toe, tho, thi, toe, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, to, to, to, to, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, th. So, th. So, th. And, th, th, th, th. th. th. the th. the thin, the thin, toe, toe. toe. toean, toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooes. the, the, the, the's what I do. I follow the hosts lead and by doing that with you know for so many years with Trevor it became very easy came second nature now we have hosts coming in every week who have their own history have their own background and comedy or whatever who have their own style of performing and very little time so the big way my job has changed from when Trevor was on the show to these guest hosts is now I have a very small night of time to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to try to try try try try try try try try try try try try try try to to to to to to to to to to to try. the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the 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 try. try. try. ttry. the ttttttry. tttttttttttttttttttttthe to to to to to Trevor was on the show to these guest hosts is now, I have a very small night of time to try to get in, because you're following your own sensibilities, but even more so you're following the host's sensibility in their performance and their rhythm. And how do I wrap my head around the host's performance style to make sure that we're hitting the jokes in the way that feels true to the host, right? So that's this challenge. And before we started

doing the guest host, Jen had the idea of like let's break down all of our processes through the day and really rethink what we do when we do it and why we do it. And one of the things that came out of it was we should do a run-through at the beginning of the week in the studio where we have a test script where we kind of go through all the examples of all the different visual things that we can do on the show. Yes. We put it into a test script. We have this person who's there for a week come down and run through it in the studio. And it's only maybe 30, 45 minutes, but it really gives me a te. the. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. th. th. th. thr-in. thr-in. thr-in. thr-in. thr-up. thr- the. the. the. the. thr-wea-in. 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 th. th. their th. their their th. th. th. their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thr. thr. thr. thr. thean. thean. tean. tean. teean. tea. tea. tea. theeean. theean. thean. theean. this is how they are, this is how they read teleprompter, this is how they look, this is how they smile, this is how they move their body or whatever to make a punctual line. I start studying and absorbing and really a lot of it is shutting up and listening and watching and observing the host and then taking that into the rest of the week. thing we do is we do music, you know, which is, which doesn't seem like an obvious quote-unquote fit for a political sati show. Right. But every now and

then we get, we get a musical performance and you really have taken those to another level. Didn't Brandy Carlile get some nomination? We got a nomination, I got a Director's Guild nomination off of the episode where she came and did a performance of the music. Yes. So I mean so, you, 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. thi, thi. 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. th. th. th. th. th. th. thooooooooooooooooo. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. and did a performance of the music. Yes. So I mean so you know and music is close to your heart. Yes. So how do you tackle that? So music is a beautiful thing and like yeah it doesn't necessarily make sense when you think new satire but when you think late night which were kind of both it does make sense sometimes it's like a fun thi. the thinne. the thiiii. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. tho, tho. So, the. So, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. So, th. So, tho, th. So, th. So, tho. So, thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. So, the to the to the to the tooooooooooooo. So, the the tha. So, the tha. So, the the the. So, the the. So, tha. musician, then it kind of makes sense, yeah, let's have them perform the song. So the thing that I love about doing music is it does give me a different experience from the general day-to-day of making the show, and that is we get to collaborate with artists outside the show. And each artist is different.

Some of them are kind of like, they're just like, I'm gonna perform the song like thi, and that's it's 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, 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, thi, thi, thi, thr-a, thr-s, thr-s, thr-s, thi.e. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi like this and that's it. Whatever the visuals are, that's fine. In the case of Margot Price, she had some ideas. And so I took that and then I pitched to her some visuals and she was like, yeah, I love it. I did have one pitch because I watched the live performance of it that you did at the church. There was a moment, and I think it's actually the last lyric. You looked into the camera. And 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 the, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I that, I th, I th, th, th, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th, th, th, th, 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. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, the camera okay and so I'm pitching that is like at some point in that line for you to feel it it would be the one that's pretty much right in front of you Benny our stage manager who's on the floor will show you but that's I'm just pitching like if you feel it like look into the camera for that line you're working with artists and their teams

and then I'm working a lot with our assistant director, Adrian, to break down the song, so that we're sort of counting out the song, the rhythm of the song as I'm directing. So there's sort of like, we're kind of singing in the control room almost as I'm cueing, cuing cameras. In a way, there's like a cadence to it, right? Because on the one hand, the one is sort of you're following a script and you're, and you're, and you're, and you're, and you're, 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, a, a. and the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the of like making sure you're hitting the jokes that are already written. With the music you really get to sort of delve into a lot of my background in filmmaking was in like narrative filmmaking, working on set, not necessarily in a control room. This lets me do a little bit of that and that I'm sort of sitting down, I'm watching this song, I'm writing, I'm coming up with a shot beforehand, and a creative pitch for it... and that.. and that. and that. that. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. th. the the 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, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the the music, to the music, to to with a shot list beforehand based on the, and a, and a creative

pitch for it. I work with our lighting designer George a lot on those and we come up, we get to have these creative conversations about how do we want to show this song being performed, what's the lighting, what's the imagery. So what I'll do is I won't bring up the key lights there. I'll wait until she starts to the tell she starts singing ring of the key lights and now lights go. The second cue that I had was bringing up those beams behind her when she started singing. But if you want all that to come up when she starts singing. I would say actually because she's gonna do harmonica at the top,

I guess we have to have her lit somewhat so we see what's going on. Right. Let's try another run through here? Is she want to do one one one one one one one one. All right, here we go. Okay, let's go to silhouette please. And standby lights. It's its whole separate thing and then you're working with the artist and their team and you're working with the camera operators and it's all very compressed into a very tight timeline and you're already trying to make the rest of the show on the same day. So it's definitely like a special sort of deviation, but I love it because it unlocks even more creativity. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been David Paul Meyer.

Thank you. He's called, he got a nickname when he got here, DPM. Everyone calls him DPM. They were like, that's too many words. It's a little too extra. You go on by three names, so we're going to shorten our showrunner game. And it has stuck better better better better than than than than than than than than than than than than than than than than then, then, then, then, then, then, then, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, th, th, th, th, the the name, their, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. theee. thean, thean, thi. thi. the. thean, thi. thi. thi. had. DPM. DPM. And I will say that you are a perfect, perfect director for a show called The Daily Show. That's very kind if you, David. And it was a pleasure sitting with you.

Thank you. Wonderful, pleasure. Explore more shows from the Daily Show 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. Survivor 47 is here, which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official Survivor podcast on fire

and this season we are joined by fan favorite and survivor 46 runner-up Charlie Davis to bring you even further inside the action Charlie I'm excited to do this together. Thanks Jeff so excited to be here and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47th. Listen to on fire the official survivor podcast starting September 18th wherever you get your podcasts.