The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Thirty F#@king Years | Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta and Troy Iwata Look Back at 30 Years of Very Serious News

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta and Troy Iwata sit down to reminisce about 30 years of The Daily Show, revisiting iconic bits from alums like Craig Kilborn, Ed Helms, and Samantha Bee. Plus, they give their take on hilarious and personal moments from TDS history, including when Desi Lydic donned a ski mask and crowbar while eight months pregnant and Troy Iwata got down with the Insane Clown Posse. -- The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Stream full episodes on Paramount+ Follow TDS: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Comedy Central. Every time they cut to me, I have a different ball in my hand. You decided to introduce prop comedy into this podcast, and we're not going to let you let it go. Hey, everybody, and welcome to 30 fucking years, a special podcast miniseries celebrating 30 fucking motherfucking years of the Daily Show. I'm Michael Kostom. I'm Desi Lytic.

And I'm Troy Yawanna. Guys, 30 fucking years. That's a lot. Can you believe it? It's a lot. And also, it's really not that old. Is it 30 years? Not that old. I think it's, that's, I think that's very old. I think we're 30 years young. Yeah. I like that.

Yeah. But we're going to talk about the history of the show, our memories of it, and we're going to play some clips, you guys. This is from the past. A great opportunity to revisit all of our favorite daily show pieces. And an underappreciated part of the show, which are the field or the package pieces in particular we'll be talking about. Yeah. That's right. I agree. If the Daily Show were a human, it would start to get really bad hangovers. Maybe some lower back pain is starting. Yeah.

Maybe. Consider getting its real estate license. Correct. Yeah. Question its life choices. Yeah. Wonder if it partnered up with the right person. Correct. Yeah. Because if it's not, it's time to pull the rip court and, you know. Yeah, you still have time at 32. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Like question, it's like bisexuality, but like it's, you know, it's a little too late.

Is it? No. I mean, I'm 46 and that's still happening. It's still happening every. All right. I think the baseball really takes care of the message going on. I'm straight. I'm straight.

I'm straight. Look at me, catch it. Sending a different message over there. In all honesty, it is. really amazing. All of us have worked in show business or TV in some capacity. Nothing lasts 30 years. No.

Mm-mm. Look at us. I know. Us, SNL, the news. How many, like, what's another very successful franchise? Like, CSI. How long has that shipped out? Survivor.

Survivor. 50 seasons. Yeah. American Idol. I feel like Survivor is like only 10 years old, but it has 75 seasons. Yes. Yes. which is a lot of survivors

it's a lot it's like I thought we were just doing a one survivor it begs the question is it that hard exactly you know yeah it should just be called people it's not new satire yeah I mean come on it is amazing that I'm sure you all get this people often think oh you guys are are thriving because

of Trump yes and I always remind everyone it's been 30 years seven different presidents We've been thriving since the American political system and our news media have been satirized. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I tell them.

I'm not hosting this, by the way. You guys talk also. You guys are looking at the thing is, you got your legs crossed. You're sipping in between statements. You have your cards. Like, you've got your baseball. Like, you look very hosty. You do.

Everyone knows Carson used to always hold this baseball. Always hold the baseball. It was that baseball. Wait, wait. I want to know you guys, when you, you both were avid watchers of the show before you started working here, right? I wouldn't go that far. Oh, wow.

Did you know what the Daily Show was? Of course I knew what The Daily Show was. I'm not ashamed of it because it's true, but I didn't grow up, you know, once again, being only 24 years old. I didn't. He's a baby. When you were born, the Daily Show was six. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. No, I didn't grow up. I, of course, knew what the Daily Show was. Right. I didn't. What? Because by the time it came on, I had to go to bed because I had skew. You had skew.

I had skew. Yeah. Did all of your families have cable? Remember that? Remember that question? Yeah. Wow. Yes.

But the bare minimum cable. Like we weren't fancy. We didn't have HBO, no premium channels. Right. Yeah, that was a big expense. It was. Yeah. I didn't have TV until high school.

Yep. So I was just watching old VHSs. I used to come home from school and turn on. So this was 1996 when Kilbourne was hosting the Daily Show. I was 16-ish. I was like 10 years before I was bored. Right. And I would watch, I guess a rerun because it would air at 11,

but then I would watch it at 4 or 5 or whatever it was. Oh. And I just remember watching the show going, who is this guy who's just, you know, one of my favorite Kilbourne pieces is when he does the, Is it a moment for you, Alan? A moment for us. Okay.

So he would look in the camera and do these a moment for us. And then his signature would go across. And I just thought it was like, who is this guy? And what the hell is this hilarious show mocking what happened today? Right. I loved it. So you discovered in the Craig Kilbourne days. I discovered Craig Kilbourne days.

And then when I went to college, I don't know. There was like six, seven years with no cable TV. Right. So I stepped out for a little bit. Sorry about that. It took you seven years to get through college? That's correct. Seven years.

And I was a communications degree. Oh, you couldn't write because you were holding the baseball the whole time. That's right. I shouldn't have brought this baseball. It's going to be our runner. Every time they got to me, I have a different ball in my hand. You decided to introduce prop comedy into this podcast, and we're not going to let you let it go. What was your first memory of the show?

So I guess I started watching the show late high school. uh call it more regularly in my 20s when john was there but i i mean the first piece that i can remember was beth littleford yeah doing her best celebrity profile barbara walters satire and she did this incredible piece with boy george and in every single one of these pieces she there was like a huge cumbersome flower arrangement. And she'd be sitting in front of it because they always, these pieces always had like a little Vaseline on the lens. The filter.

This was pre-filters. Yes. Like now kids know what filter to use for their Instagram. This was pre-filter. They were filtering. I think they actually were literally putting Vaseline on the lens and arranging an oversized floral arrangement that she would sit in front of. And then as the piece went on and on, she just slowly started retreating back into the floor.

And it would be obstructing her face by the end of it. It was so funny. And little known fact, I don't know if you know this, Jen Flans, our executive producer, showrunner, started out as a PA at the show, which you know. One of her first jobs was to arrange the flowers. And just like really heightens the idea of the celebrity interview where it. It's much more about the journalist than it is about the person you're trying to profile. Correct. It's an unexpected thing to hone in on.

Yeah. The set dressing of these interviews. Oh, God. It really is a great way to wink to the audience like, we are fucking mocking this whole thing. It's just another tool in your arsenal that you can use. It gives us more to play with, too. Yeah. Well, I think that also was at a time when the show was in time.

entirely about kind of parodying the news. Yeah. Yeah. They weren't necessarily often doing, you know, in pieces where they were like, let's tackle climate change. Let's tackle gun control. Like they were keeping it, intentionally keeping it very light and silly and fun. It was so much fun to go back and look at all these pieces and get on.

Well, also now, for better or worse, you can stand in front of a green screen and be standing in the Washington, D.C. reflecting pool. Right. Right. Immediately. Which we could not do back in the day. You could not do back then. You know, Costa, I think as the podcast goes on,

we should see you more and more surrounded by baseballs. And you're just like in a heap of baseballs by the end of it. Alan, can we make that happen? I do love the weight. I do love the weight. When Westchow first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion. Inline skates were everywhere.

And two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Troy, your first memories of the Daily Show. Of the Daily Show. Of me being here? No, not of you being here.

Of you even seeing it. And by the way, it's okay if it was a day before you auditioned. I knew what the Daily Show was. Thank you. But yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't a, I wasn't a viewer. Yeah. Because it was on so late and also. Why not?

Let's get into that. Let's get into that. I was also, you know what's funny? I was raised in a semi-Christian household. I remember having like a negative, a negative depiction of Comedy Central. Yeah. Really? Yeah.

I remember being like, oh, that's like, that's Satan's channel. Right. Really? Yeah. So it would come on, I was like, oh, these are bad people talking about bad things. What do you think? Was it? It was Daily Show.

It was South Park. Just the idea of comedy in general? South Park probably played a huge part of it. But Comedy Central in general was just like, oh yeah, it's a bunch of comedians saying bad words. What would your parents, if you watched Comedy Central, what was your parents' worst nightmare? What were they afraid would happen?

It came true. That you would get a job on the Daily Show? Yeah, become like a gay comedian. Here I am. God forbid. It's too bad that religion can't go like, like if they would have said, hey, this is a, this is really funny. Yeah. They're having a lot of fun.

You should go watch that. I would probably still be religious. Right. Because when they tell you like, don't do that, then you watch it. It's like, oh, this is fucking great. Right. And I'm not supposed to. Oh, you guys.

30 years of pissing off religious people. That's what we. Favorite pastime. Have to be proud of. Costa, what was your, what was your, what was your, well, you already said, you're, you're, I'm a Yeah, Craig Kilbourne. But I want to draw attention to this Vance degenrous cat stuck in a tree piece. But before we talk about that, I want to ask you both because Vance starts this piece in a tree. Yes.

And I'm wondering your pieces that are all very funny, are there weird places that you've started or in a piece or done standups in or strange places that you've broadcast from? My one of my first pieces I was so proud when I watched his fancy generous piece Because I always loved the piece And I had forgotten that he starts in a tree But one of my first pieces I'm in a three piece suit

Standing in the middle of Lake Michigan And I was like this is a beautiful Daily Show trope 30 years ago he was in a tree Now I'm in Lake Michigan And then I think of all the other places We've all shot and been And very funny

But what comes to mind for you with that? My first field piece That I ever shot Or weird places that you shot Yeah Okay Um, I, my very first field piece that I ever did, I was eight, eight months pregnant. And I went to Lincoln, Nebraska.

And, um, you already wins. She already wins. Yeah. Eight months pregnant. And I, I had to throw on, I had to throw on a ski mask and hold like a crowbar and run into a Walgreens. Oh my God. And that was my first introduction. I was like, are you guys, are you guys, uh, what do you guys? Uh, what do you?

Is this like part of the hazing process or is this actually going to end up? And by the way, it was like pretty bare bones in those days. It wasn't like we were going around with security and like checking protocol because it was all about getting it real in the moment. I'm going to get killed. By the way, not the only person in Lincoln, Nebraska and a Walmart with a mask and a crowbar. This is true. And one of many. One of many.

So that was my weird, crazy visual and incredibly dangerous. Yeah. Yeah. Troy, what comes to mind for you? I interviewed the insane clown posse. Oh, yeah. Oh. At the, you know, the murderous clown convention in Ohio.

Yeah. Let's just talk about being a fish out of water. Yeah. It was a little scary because, you know, that whole community is very, uh, they're very anti-political and they're, you know, it's a, it's a whole group of people who essentially, you know, like a lot of, you know, niche communities, like feel othered in a way. so then they found community with each other. And so approaching them in a three-piece suit with a camera crew

already feels like a little invasive. Correct. And so it was, yeah, it was interesting. And then within like five minutes, people were like throwing beer cans at us and pouring beer all over us. And then people were like, no, that's like an initiation. It's like a compliment. And I was like, oh.

In that case, it'd be easier to broadcast them up in a tree. Right. Take the tree. Yeah. What did you guys like about the vance to generate? as cat stuck in a tree piece. Okay, we just revisited this piece. It felt early days, old school daily show

when it was so much about satirizing local news packages. Yeah. It was so, the idea of taking the most absurd, silly news story and treating it with the gravitas of war coverage was so funny to me. Yeah. I mean, the reenactment is, It's fantastic with the stuffed cat in the tree over and over day one, day two, day three. That's like not only, I mean, it got an immediate laugh from day one. And then a classic daily show is like, oh, we're going to keep going to that throughout the piece.

Okay, here's Vance DeGeneres opening this cat stuck in a tree piece. Nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than the story of a kitty stuck in a tree. Except maybe the story of a baby stuck in a tree. Or an old woman in a wheelchair stuck in a tree. But this is the story of a kitty stuck in a tree. It was early January in this suburban Chicago neighborhood when Deb Walton let Blackie the cat out. I let Blackie outside right up in the snowstorm January 2nd. And I heard a lot of commotion outside from the birds.

The birds? The birds. Not just birds, crows. And like winged pipe pipers, they lured Blanky into a date with destiny. Yeah, by the way. Yeah. So I just, you know, such gravitas to such a silly topic. Also think about like the way that they really utilized the camera equipment that they had. This was back in the day when they used one camera. They had one camera. They would, they would shoot one side of the interview and then have to turn it around and repeat the whole thing all over again.

Stylistically, too, it's a little Jerry Springer. It's a little Absolutely. Inside a dish, like hard copy. Totally. Yeah. It's very funny that when

Deb Walton's name comes up to as if like that's important to us. That's who this person is. I don't know. It's a real name. With no context. Right. Just her name.

Deb. I love that piece. And it's a classic daily show piece for it creates a problem and there really, there's no problem. Everything's totally fine. And I just, I think it's great.

It's great to like, the way he focuses on what kind of tree was it? What kind of birds were they? Right. Where are the birds now? And then she's very, very sincerely goes, they flew away. Well, in that, so often we have these great jokes to try

with our subjects, but then you sometimes just ask like a really genuine follow up and they answer genuinely, and that often is the best thing. It's the best part of the bees. Yeah, where are the birds now? They flew away. That's great. God, such a good pick. Share with me one of your favorite pieces. Okay, so this one is, it's Ed Helms from the office.

Remember whenever you worked on the Daily Show, you would get on the office? Oh. Wasn't that nice? Miss those days. And this is talking about, you all remember, when our vice president shot that man in the face. Yes. Yeah. Ed played this so well.

Yeah. Oh, my God. I've forgotten, like, because I've known him from so many other things now, but I was like, oh, he just played that. well. Yeah. My favorite thing about about this clip was the fact that he almost doesn't tell a joke for like the first three quarters of the piece. And it's it's brilliant because they embraced the fact, they embraced how ridiculous the situation was and realized that the situation itself is funny. You don't have to put a hat on a hat. That's it. So he's just he's just repeating what happened in the audience is cracking up. At the hospital where Austin lawyer and Republican fundraiser Harry Whittington is in stable condition after being shot by Vice President Dick Cheney during a weekend quail hunting expedition. Doctors say he's recovering quickly after being shot in the face by the vice president. I'll be here all day with continuous coverage of how Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78-year-old man in the face. after he mistook him for a small bird.

It needed, you know, and then they go on this quail run, which is great. Yeah. About like why, you know, they're hunting quails don't even fly. Yeah. But three feet in front of you. Yeah, right. They did the right thing there in that they did just have to repeat the story a few times because it is so ridiculous. And this was almost the beginning of like insanity politics.

Now it's like Trump call the reporter fast. You know, it's like we're so used to this type of insanity now, but that was, to me, at least in my lifetime, that was like the first, you know, example of this. Yeah, I feel like nowadays if someone, like, if they were like Vance shot someone in the face, we'd be like, okay. Yeah. And like, will the, will the news story still hold up on Monday or will someone else get drunk? You're just like, sure. Right. Yeah. It was, it was such a perfect example of not competing with the funny that exists in the story. And now that, you're right. You're right. Like that happens so much more often now where we have to kind of become the street people because the news is so ridiculous. Yeah. But, oh, God. I love his coat. Like, the layering of the outfit gives it this, like, real reporter quality. You know, we often get put in these outfits and then you're kind of like, why am I wearing this? But then you watch it and you're like, oh, it does.

It feels like he's standing outside there, you know? Yeah. I love that occasionally a car goes by. At one point in that piece, he mentions the name of the hospital. And I'm like, is that a joke? But I think it was the name of the hospital. It's just, it's just, he plays it. So straight, which I love.

And then coming back to John who can't help but to Google. It's just like watching him break is so, so good. Very, very, very good piece. Yeah. I'm glad he got on the office. Yeah. Where is that guy? Yeah.

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affiliated with or endorsed by Vietris. Desi, what's one of yours that you love? Oh, God. Okay, so for me, one of my favorite pieces of all time is the Steve Correll on the Street Talk Express. Who's that? Yeah,

what happened to that guy? Was he on the office? He also was on the office. This was nice. 1999, he embedded himself into the campaign, managed to get on the bus with John McCain, and got this interview with him. I don't want to over explain it. Can we show it? Because this is classic. This might be one of the most iconic daily show moments. I think so. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot. Yeah. But this one is the one that gets replayed a lot. Not only was I finally on the bus, but I was going to get the chance to talk to Senator John McCain. Sir, how are you? Look, let me say you are welcome on our bus at any time.

Let's do a lightning round. Okay. Your favorite book. For whom the bell tolls? Favorite movie? Viva Zapatta. Charlton Heston. Marlon Brando.

Close enough. If I were a tree, I would be a... If I were a tree, I would be a... Root. What does that mean? Senator, how you reconcile the fact that you were one of the most vocal critics of pork barrel politics? And yet, while you were chairman of the Commerce Committee, that committee set a record for

unauthorized appropriations. I'm just kidding. No, I don't even know what that means. That clip has everything. That has everything to what makes a great daily show. piece. You have you have silliness, pure silliness. You have this great organic moment when McCain answers the ridiculous question and says, I'm a root. And then he goes, what did that say about me? Like that's something you can never plan. And then you have this incisive commentary that just in the

moment it starts to get uncomfortable and you have that like thick comedic tension. He bursts it and makes a self-deprecating joke. And then the joke is back on Steve Correll. It's beautiful. Also makes an excellent point. Yes. Which is like classic Daily Show. You hope for moments like that.

They rarely have him. But moments like that are just and Steve Correll is truly the best. And then after that clip, it cuts to him on the street, right? As if he got like a kicked on the bus. Well, there was also like a nice buildup to will he get on the bus. Yeah. Yeah. Which I had forgotten about the piece.

I was watching the piece again going. like, oh, I thought he just started on the bus. But no, the piece really builds adding to the tension you're talking about. He finally gets this moment. And he finally, he's asking him, what got a tree would you think. Of, like, the whole thing about this piece is Steve wants to get on the bus. He finally gets on the bus and then he beefs it. And that's like that, I mean, you guys are out in the field all the time and deal with it.

This is what happens. Like, that piece could have turned out very differently. I'm sure that the producers worked really hard to get that sit down with him. But anything could have gone a ride. could have run out of time. He could have not gotten that interview. It's just, yeah. Have you all ever, do you remember a piece where something happened on the fly where you had to improvise real quick, do another interview or in the middle of the interview it kind of blew up?

I don't know. Oh, God. And like, in real time, the course of the piece changes. In that piece, I wondered, you know, he speaks to McCain's wife first. Yes. And I wondered if it was like, hey, we don't know about John, but you can talk to Mrs. McCain. I wondered if that's what happened. I have no idea.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that thought did cross my mind. I did like a spin room piece, which felt like this in the sense of, like, we didn't really know who we were going to get. And I almost felt like with this piece, they went there not knowing if they would get McCain. Because they don't commit to that stuff. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good question. I'm trying to think of big turns like that.

Oh, God. I don't know if I've had to deal with. What I didn't love at this piece was at the end, they went to the desk and kind of tried to squeeze it for more juice. Oh, yeah. And I was kind of like, I think now the piece would just end. Right. You know?

We don't do that as much anymore. The sort of like recap with the host after. Yeah. All the, like, the chemistry between John and Steve Correll is so. Great. Steve will not break. No. And also, like, they're both now John will.

They're both now John Stewart and Steve Carell, which is also just amazing. Yeah, right. Right. At the desk. Yeah. Costa, what else do you have? I think we should watch another clip. I love this awesome Monvee two-headed fish piece.

Oh, awesome. Because he's great. I think he's undermentioned in the Daily Show universe. And I just think he's so funny and great. So good. To your point, Desi, when we make good jokes and also make a beautiful point. This corporation is clearly polluting Idaho and owns the whole town, including the performance art center, and no one will talk shit about it, and Asif tackles it.

When interview requests to the EPA were ignored, I headed to their offices to see how they could overlook a two-headed fish. Hi, I'd like to talk to somebody about the Smoky Canyon mine. Where are you guys from? I'm from a river up in... No, no, what company are you from? I'm not with a company, I'm a two-headed fish. I've called the police because I don't really appreciate the way you guys are coming in and getting in our face. I can't really make an appointment. I'm a two-headed fish. I live in a river.

You're not a fish. You're a person. Why would the EPA call Homeland Security? I needed answers, but everywhere I went, no one would talk. What is this? Does Simplot run this whole state? Well, I like how also his fish costume didn't fit. There were clamps on the back of it. Oh, I didn't even see that.

How many times do you think the costume department was cursing that field producer and having to put together that costume in probably 24 hours? I love when a reporter puts a camera up to a window and then the window goes up. It's just like such a great, it's like just tells you so many things. another great opening great costume great visual yeah yeah have you ever had to go in somewhere and like you're not supposed to be there and they blur we don't do that as much probably for legal I remember one time doing it I went into the Philadelphia parking authority and had to kind of push myself in and then you get the audio of them saying sir you have to leave you know

we use that in the piece but there are it's very like nerve wracking It is. It is. It's terrifying. Especially because we're not actual reporters. Correct. We could get arrested. Yeah.

Yeah. They're like, you need to get out of here. And I'm like, I just had an audition for a musical. Like, I don't, you know, this isn't. What, what, what was yours? Yeah, one of my, one of my favorite pieces I did was at the NRA convention in Louisville, Kentucky, my hometown. And they would not let us in inside the convention. We were not allowed.

We didn't have credentials. They were very, very tough on the press. They didn't want the press going in. You had guns, though, right? But you were allowed to carry guns inside the NRA convention. And you know what? I was making a joke. So that is, that kind of answers both quite, that is what the piece became about, the fact that we couldn't enter in with our cameras.

But we could come in, no camera with a gun. If you were a gun, if you were a gun, if you were a gun, you would be in. Oh, and you could have, you could have used a gun outfit. Yes. I could have dressed as a gun. Why didn't I think of that? A two-headed gun. We had a pitch in the package department once where to adopt a dog in New Jersey was like a 75-point process, but to buy a gun was like two questions or something.

But I think it never happened for some reason, but it's kind of like that. I feel like that's a very common experience for like if there was a list of things that are harder to get than a gun. Right. It's a long list. I also enjoy this piece because the environment is still a mess. And corporations are still polluting our waterways and are drinking water. It's worse. You know, you have an excellent climate change piece.

I was going to say, this is a great segue. Thank you, hosts. But it's like, God damn it. You should host the show. It begs the question, it begs the question, is what we're doing affect stuff? No. No, okay. Nope.

Got it. The answer is no. The answer is no. It certainly helps the viewer feel like they're not insane. Yeah. Which is, that is helpful. That's what we know for. It's helpful.

It's a baby step. It is. And you just hope that it incites some sort of action from people. Yeah. I think it does. I think it's a, I think it also, truth to power does at least offer some pressure release. I don't know. I don't know.

Let's talk about your piece, which by the way, when I watch this piece, I was like, this That is a Troy piece. Yeah. Totally. Like I was like that John Hodgman's doing Troy. The absurdity. And the dry delivery. You are so good with dry, deadpan delivery.

Thanks, Desi. See what I mean? See what I mean? Yeah. And like the most of the correspondence that I always responded well to are like pretty high energy. Yeah. And John Hodgman delivers like a very monotone. That's hard.

And that's hard. It's very hard. It's very hard. The audience is sitting there. They want you to be like up and you're giving it. There are times when I'm on camera and I, you just, I mean, you feel yourself, I think as the energy of the audience and stuff, you feel yourself naturally get bigger. Correct.

So when someone can actually be this, like, contained and subtle and calm, it's pretty amazing. Well, yeah, that's what you do as well. No, thanks. And I hate for it. Oh, yeah. Get the fuck out of here. All right.

Let's watch some John Hodgman. What is the general picture today? concerning global warming? Well, the consensus position among most scientists is, it's getting hot in here. So take off all your clothes. The cream suit, too. Yeah.

Also, look how thick ties were back then. Why specifically do the scientists think that? Oh, specifically. Well, new findings revealed that in the past five years, the glaciers around Greenland have melted at twice their previous rate. Now, this map shows the contours of the Arctic Glaciers, as they exist today, but at this rate of glacial retreat, within only three generations, the seas could rise as much as a meter,

changing the map dramatically. When you say dramatically, you were talking about the change of the water level or... No, that explosion between the two of them. That's a very stupid joke. It takes such a, like a hyper-awareness of oneself to confidently be that dry, and, for lack of a better term, like nothingness. because even like, like, I, like, thank you for the compliments, but I don't think I can do that piece just because my voice doesn't sound like that.

I'm thinking about, like, the way his hair is, the glasses, the suit, his expression. It fits him perfectly. Yes. It fits him perfectly. You know, in stand-up comedy, they always say, like, if the audience is talking a lot, instead of, like, talking louder than them, like, talk really softly and it'll shut him up. They want to hear you. They want to hear you.

Yeah. And that's what John does there, like, he's so quiet that I'm, like, really paying attention. Yeah. And I think that's a great tool that he uses for sure. Yeah. And he's so sincere. Yeah. Like, even his first line where he's quoting that song, like, the fact that he does it completely genuinely. Yeah.

Whereas your first initial instinct is to kind of do it with a wink. Right. Which the audience would still laugh at. Of course they would. But that's so uniquely his. Right, right. Because then it makes you wonder, like, is he? about to oh he did you know yeah it's great also I think he says that the ocean levels would

rise a meter which is cute yeah I'm pretty certain we're past that yeah well and then he goes and then the piece goes completely absurd and he starts talking about the thawed cavemen yes right yes that that will that will reemerge when all of the ice melts which is one of the consequences of climate change people don't talk enough about right yeah all of that our population's going to grow because all the cave people come back. Speaking of absurdity, can I throw out another piece?

Please. Samantha B. Doing the five. What the fuck was this piece? The performance art piece that is the five. Was so funny. It was funny. Okay, she did this in 2014.

Maybe a year before I started at the show. I was watching the show regularly. at this point, it just shows you that, like, you can restructure the show to be anything that you wanted to be. Like the right. Because it does go off from what, of anything that would happen on a news channel. So it takes something like the five Fox News. The shows talked about it incessantly. We talk about Fox News all the time, right? But this was a performance art piece that was such an outside the box idea. The writers must have come up with that in the morning meeting. And somehow, by the time Sam did this,

it was like a perfectly executed, choreographed routine. It's so good. But also, raw as fuck. Yes. Like when she, you know, turns and eats the strawberry and wipes the strawberry jam on your face, you're like, it's classic daily show. It's so bad that it's hilarious on purpose.

Yeah. Alan, can we watch it? Oh! He has a wife. But something you could have mentioned. In the three years you've been sitting next to Dana, you're two-timing monster, letting Dana, precious Dana, fall in love with you, while you were just gallivanting around your stupid studio,

laughing it up with your secret wife and your dick pills. You know what? All the while breaking a heart, you've broken all the hearts. Here I'm needed anymore. You said to get it. Good job. I mean, standing ovation. Given the structure of our show, just knowing that that could have been either only the second or maybe even first time she ever did it.

Right. Yeah, because we only do things in one take. That's what I kept thinking. So watching it before I started at the show was so impressive just from like a performance standpoint. It was just so fucking funny. And now after being at the show for however many years and watching, oh, Oh, she was doing full camera turns. She was using the space.

She was utilizing every angle, every camera. Yeah. That was not easy to pull off. No, and we only get one rehearsal, and it's usually different than the final draft, and you get one, by one rehearsal, it's one take. I think I was watching, I watched it the second time and realized, I think the only part that she pre-taped was that strawberry bit, where she would have had a messy strawberry face.

And so there was just that one quick bit. It has hints of when we used to all stand at the monitor wall. And Trevor would kind of say just like go. And, you know, I wish I would have the confidence in the playfulness to do what Samantha B did there, which was insanity. But it is a really like pat on the back for the Daily Show for we try stuff. Yeah. We try stuff. Like if you want to put the time in and pitch it and stick with it like we'll do a one woman show.

Was that the end of Act one probably? I mean, John probably was doing real headlines two minutes before that. Exactly. And, you know, it's like, it's really fun. The other thing that is just such a great reminder of so many of my favorite pieces, it's so easy to be critical of the media, Fox News or whatever. And another thing I don't like about Dana Perino. But celebrating it. Yeah, like when you're celebrating it, there's so much more room to enjoy it and to find the laughs.

Yeah, anyway. That's a great comedy lesson point. I always have to remember, like, poo-pooing something is easy. Yes, anding it and celebrating it is harder and funnier and more rewarding. Definitely. Yeah. And so the fact that, like, the fact that, like, she discovered a potential love interest and just hyper-focused on that. And also a way to show clips.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes. At the end of the day, she's showing clips. Also, all those same fucking people still work at Fox. Or anything have been promoted. Yes. Yeah, I love it.

Gilfoyle's, what, an ambassador now? They're either on Fox or in the president's cabinet. We're in the president's cabinet. Here we are. One of my favorite is honorable mention. One of my favorite pieces is this Rob Cordry going to Boston piece. My favorite part about it is it is, it is, incredibly personal. I mean, I think that's the joke. But he talks about who he lost his virginity to.

He interviews his father. I mean, it goes off the rails. He introduces his father at work. At work. But I just, look, I have to compliment any artist who reveals themselves because I just love it. That's my favorite thing. From Beacon Hill to Back Bay. From Burning Witches to Busing Blacks. This city has something for everyone. It's sad. Unless you're black. There's so much history here, like Fanual Hall, Bunker Hill, the site of the Boston Tea Party.

Of course everyone knows about this little piece of Boston history. The Adams Inn, where I treated Maureen Sullivan to my virginity. From 223. Picture. You know, it's kind of a strange piece. It's kind of a strange piece. I don't know if we would do a piece like this where the correspondent reveals so much about themselves personally.

Right, because there's not a, there's, like, what's the news angle? I don't know why they're there. I don't know why they're there. A tourism piece on Boston? Yeah, there wasn't any reason why he was there, right? Was it a convention piece? Were we doing a convention in Boston? I don't know the answer to that.

Maybe he was just in Boston. Oh, my God. But just really fun. Also, like, that's a good trick. We don't do much of anymore where he, like, goes like this in the camera. Yeah, yeah. fun. There's a clip in that one, too, where he's in a bar.

Is he with his real friends? Yes. And then they really start, like, fighting. Yes. So funny. It's not like, I don't know how that piece existed on a pitch document, but it's funny. And I love it. It just said, trust me.

Trust me. These are people of my past. Yeah, that's true. Oh, I love Rob Cordry. What's the, he interviewed his dad. What's the closest? Have you interviewed anybody of, like, significance in your pieces? I interviewed my dad for the NRA piece.

Oh, you did. The only interview I could get because I couldn't get into the convention, but we did land an interview with my dad. Did it say Desi's dad? Yes, I did. And we have very different beliefs, but by the end of the conversation, we agreed about a few things. Oh, that's good. That's great. That was one of the, the daily show brought my dad and I together.

Do you feel like was that hard? I would be terrified to bring one of my family members in on a piece. I just wanted him to feel comfortable. I was like, oh, God, I don't want to make him nervous. I don't, but he was great. My dad's a naturally funny guy. Oh, okay. Like, did he try to be funny?

No, not at all. He played it straight. And the segment director was really, it was Ted Tramper at the time. And he did a really nice job, like just making sure my dad felt comfortable. That's also a really fun memory for you. It's my favorite to this day, like because of that. That's great. But sometimes you go on the road for a piece and it's like in their home.

Oh, yeah. And then you meet their wife and their kid comes home from school. I feel like I get to know these families or whatever. That's happened multiple times. Or you're like using their bathroom, you know, because it's like that's where they want to, that's where they need to be shot. Yeah. And it is an incredible, you know, the interview is such an intimate thing.

And we see just the clip now of them, but it's like so much has gone into that. Parking in their driveway. Beth Littleford is like, you know, with the dwarves, I mean, it's just an insane piece. What were some of these that didn't make it because we only could pick a few, but like you honorable mentions, like ones that you really, you know, and maybe there's not. Oh, Jessica Williams. Jessica Williams. She's talking about cat calling. Cat calling.

There was a chat. And then am I making things up? Did she shoot a piece on the street where she actually walked through the streets of? New York to get cat called and got cat called and reacted to it to it. Oh, I don't know, but that's great. I don't know. That sounds like something she would do. I feel like that is.

But Jessica Williams' cat calling studio piece, chat with John was excellent. And definitely, that was one of those pieces that definitely struck a chord with the audience. The audience was like, yes, that happens to me. I understand what you're talking about, which is always a great feeling. That's great. for me it would be Craig Kilbourne at the desk for doing a moment for us like a sentimental thought shared with the audience with his signature it just was like it was the very seed of the fake

kind of sentiment that we do so well now 30 years later yeah where he's talking about farting or he's talking about like yeah poison beef yeah you know and by the way it is very clear that he is reading that joke for the first time at that desk often but I just love like I like I said I love the fake sentiment what about you Troy what what what didn't make it in here that you wished it would in this podcast besides my baseball all my all my pieces all your pieces yeah those are really well I sent in all my pieces first and they were like Michael can you try to pick someone else's yeah we rejected that idea yeah we didn't hey what you the deal go ahead

well I was going to ask you like um like how long you guys been here I didn't mean that as like... 1,000 years. I've been here nine or 10 years. Costa, I remember when you audition for the show. Oh my God, crazy. So you came in and we were... You didn't know this at the time, but you were on the feed.

You were auditioning in the studio with Trevor. They don't tell you that. They don't tell you that when you come here, but we were all like just eating hot corn. I had a live audition for the second floor. I had no idea about it. But you came here and did your audition. Correct. Wow.

And I remember watching you and going, that guy feels like he's been here for the last 10 years. Like you were such a natural fit for the show. Thank you. And now I have been here 10 years. And now you have been. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you.

I was eight months pregnant too, just like Desi was when I got hired. And just steal my thunder. What do you think the daily show going forward? What do we expect? Same. I mean, is there going to be more news to satirize? Is there less? I mean, I don't know. Just a thought. We can also cut this. More platforms? More platforms, maybe. I don't know if the daily show will get any better. Yeah. But there will be more of it, hopefully. There will be more platforms. Yeah. More ways to engage with our audience. More pods. Like, I don't know, it's reinvented itself so much, and I do think we are in this age of, like, nostalgia.

And now, like, even just watching some of those older clips, we, it, I felt like there were a lot of aspects of the tone of those pieces that, that we really loved and missed. So I feel like, I don't know, I think everything's kind of cyclical. Yeah. I can see, I can see the Daily Show going back to those, like, local news pieces. Right. I mean, I long for like a cat stuck in a tree piece. Because everything is so heavy and serious now, it'd be fun to turn it on and it's like, you know,

and we still do some of those. Oh, yeah. I think we've maybe even gotten a little sillier with how heavy the news gets from time to time. I think that's one thing that the show has always done an excellent job of is feeling kind of what the audience needs at the moment. And that's what we hope to do,

as people need a little more catharsis and lightness you know there you are in a fucking weird costume whatever you had a mustache on last week you know and you're more costumes I feel like we'll have more

costumes yeah yeah okay that's a pretty good prediction yeah all right well that's all the time we have thank you for joining us you can catch the next 30 years of the daily show starting up again September 8th on Comedy Central Paramount Plus and right here in podcast forum on the daily show

Ears Edition. Final thoughts. Did you just make that up? What you just said? I'm reading that. That's amazing. He was reading it. Guys, on the count of three, let's do a wipe. Ready?

One, two, three. 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 Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.

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