Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central coming to you from New
Speaker 1: York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily
Speaker 1: Show tonight. Jed Cruz comes to New York, Jordan Clipper
Speaker 1: fingers the poll, and John David Washington. This is the
Speaker 1: Daily Show with Driver Nolo. Everybody, welcome to the day
Speaker 1: Shark No, thank you so much for tuning in and
Speaker 1: people coming out and put amazing, He sells, We're gonna
Speaker 1: have some fun like a peanut taken seat, everybody. We
Speaker 1: thought a great show for you tonight. The United Kingdom
Speaker 1: has a new Prime minut that to replace their new
Speaker 1: Prime Minister. China celebrates Zijing Ping in the most awkward
Speaker 1: way possible, and our very own Jordan Clapper starts a
Speaker 1: civil war. Plus the one and only John David Washington
Speaker 1: is joining about it. So I feel as people, Let's
Speaker 1: come straight to today's headlines. Right before we get into
Speaker 1: the big stories, let's catch up on a few other
Speaker 1: things going on in the world. According to the National
Speaker 1: Assessment of Educational Progress, US students have suffered a record
Speaker 1: drop in their math scores. Now, many experts say that
Speaker 1: the two years of COVID disruptions are to blame for this,
Speaker 1: but in my opinion, everyone would do better if the
Speaker 1: smart kids would just stop hiding their answers. Yeah, Lucy up, Angela,
Speaker 1: we get it. You study, let's open it up. And
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know. This is distressing news
Speaker 1: for all the parents out there, but but just remember
Speaker 1: this is the best time to cheat your kids out
Speaker 1: of their allowance. They won't know the difference. Yeah, five
Speaker 1: plus two. Yeah, that's that's what you get. That's ten. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: in San Francisco, officials are coming under fire after it
Speaker 1: came out that a new public toilets that is being
Speaker 1: built in a popular tourist spot will cost the city
Speaker 1: one point seven million dollars a single public toilets. Now,
Speaker 1: before you complain, remember this toilet is going to be
Speaker 1: top of the line. The seap will come prepete on,
Speaker 1: and the graffiti on the walls will be written by
Speaker 1: George R. R. Martin Wow. In sports news, the Houston
Speaker 1: Astros swept the Yankees to win a spot in the
Speaker 1: World Series and attending the game, Oh you're gonna save
Speaker 1: those booze because attending the game in New York was
Speaker 1: Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Yeah, who was greeted by Yankee
Speaker 1: fans just like that. Yeah, there were a lot of booze,
Speaker 1: a lot of extended middle fingers, which at this point, people,
Speaker 1: why does anyone bother ted? Cruisings so soft? And he
Speaker 1: may not even be offended, all right, he might just
Speaker 1: think that's how people wave now, just like Hi, Hello,
Speaker 1: how are you hello? Hi Jack cruise. All right, let's
Speaker 1: move on some of the biggest stories of the day.
Speaker 1: You know, with food prices going up, gas prices going up,
Speaker 1: and walk crippling Europe, it may be easy to get
Speaker 1: distracted by short term problems and loose sights of the
Speaker 1: long term problems that will actually kill us all, which
Speaker 1: is why climate activists are going to extreme measures to
Speaker 1: get our attention. Another act of food and fuse art vandalism,
Speaker 1: this time with mashed potatoes. That's right. Climate change activists
Speaker 1: tossed potatoes onto a cloud Monet painting at a German museum.
Speaker 1: Look at this. Officials there say the painting, it wasn't
Speaker 1: damaged and that it's covered by glass. Last week, activists
Speaker 1: through tomato soup on the Vincent van Go sunflower is
Speaker 1: at the National Gallery in London. There was some minor
Speaker 1: damage to the frame, but the painting was unharmed, and
Speaker 1: in both cases activist then glued their hands to the wall. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Increasingly around the world, climate change activists of vandalizing famous
Speaker 1: arts to bring attention to climate change. First, they splashed
Speaker 1: food on Evan go now a Monai. They also hit
Speaker 1: the Jackson Pollock, but no one noticed. And as much
Speaker 1: as I agree with the message, I don't know if
Speaker 1: a museum is the right place to do this because
Speaker 1: think about if you protest in the streets, everyone knows
Speaker 1: it's a protest, but if anything happens in the museum,
Speaker 1: half the people are just gonna think it's part of
Speaker 1: the art. We know. Yeah, you could be in front
Speaker 1: of a painting like not ever a heart attack to
Speaker 1: be like a very powerful, very powerful no help me, ah, yes,
Speaker 1: the cry for help we all feel in the modern world. Bravo, bravo. Also,
Speaker 1: I feel like at this point the problem with climate
Speaker 1: change isn't a lack of awareness, right, It's more the
Speaker 1: fact that a ton of people just don't give a ship.
Speaker 1: And I stand to be corrected, but I just don't
Speaker 1: think that those people who don't care about climate change
Speaker 1: care about fancy art you know, I doubt your Maga
Speaker 1: uncle is gonna be like, no, not Monai's water lilies. No,
Speaker 1: all right, you win, you can tax carbon. I agree
Speaker 1: with you. You know, if anything, these protests might bring
Speaker 1: more publicity to the art than to climate change. Yeah, like,
Speaker 1: you tell me when was the last time you thought
Speaker 1: about monae and sex dreams? Don't counch like if I
Speaker 1: was a painting in a museum right now, I would
Speaker 1: be begging. I've been begging to get some food thrown
Speaker 1: on me. Oh look, look, someone's walking up to us
Speaker 1: right now with a child pool up pudding. This could
Speaker 1: be our brick break the pudding is Oh no, wait,
Speaker 1: they're just eating it. What the hell man went snack
Speaker 1: to bring your museum? Come on, people, I want to
Speaker 1: go viral, or somebody throw some food at me. You
Speaker 1: know who? I hate the pool up as I hate
Speaker 1: them by coke drinking. He loses. They deserve to die. Nothing,
Speaker 1: all right, forget it. I guess factor staring at people's
Speaker 1: butts are all day. Oh that's a nice pot to
Speaker 1: look at that one. Look at that one. Oh all right,
Speaker 1: let's make like America's money and move on to China.
Speaker 1: Over the last decade, j Jing Ping has gradually taken
Speaker 1: full control of the Chinese Communist Party. He's put his
Speaker 1: people in all of the top positions, He's pushed out
Speaker 1: all of his top rivals, and he is the sole
Speaker 1: owner of the password for the country's Netflix accounts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so no one in China can watch Dama without him.
Speaker 1: He's like, no, don't watch without me. That's one of
Speaker 1: our shows together. They're like, these are all our shows together.
Speaker 1: We're communists anyway. Anyway, over the weekend, President g was
Speaker 1: formally re upped as Communist leader of the party. Right,
Speaker 1: that's what he was for an unprecedented third term, which
Speaker 1: means he will rule over the nation of one point
Speaker 1: four billion people for at least another five years. And
Speaker 1: if anyone doubts on how power full Jijing Ping has become,
Speaker 1: just look at how he treats of China's previous leader.
Speaker 1: China's leader, Shi jing Ping, is beginning an historic third
Speaker 1: term in office after being annoyed again as the head
Speaker 1: of the country's Communist Party. But there was an unexpected
Speaker 1: twist in the normally highly choreographed Chinese National Congress over
Speaker 1: the weekend, when his predecessor was escorted off the stage.
Speaker 1: Two aids appeared to remove shi Jinping's predecessor, Hu Jintao
Speaker 1: from the front row, who appears confused even to resist,
Speaker 1: while shi Jinping shows zero sympathy. Was the seventy nine
Speaker 1: year old who unwell or was it some kind of
Speaker 1: political power play. We'll probably never know, as the incident
Speaker 1: has already been scrubbed from Chinese TV and social media.
Speaker 1: God damn, yeah, scrubbed from social media and TV. And
Speaker 1: did you see that They picked that old man out
Speaker 1: and just escorted him. The just scorted him out like
Speaker 1: he was Kanye too, mitzvah. And did you see jes Ping?
Speaker 1: What's even what's even wild? He's just sitting there like
Speaker 1: he can't do anything, Like the old man taps him, like, hey,
Speaker 1: you're gonna do it. He's the most powerful person in China,
Speaker 1: and he's like, sorry, there must be some rule or something.
Speaker 1: I'm new here. I don't know. I can't help you.
Speaker 1: I can't do anything. I don't even know what this means.
Speaker 1: Was it supposed to send the message? Was it not?
Speaker 1: Because if it did, I don't think it worked because
Speaker 1: nobody knows what happened, right, They either took this guy
Speaker 1: away as some kind of power grab or because he
Speaker 1: just had one too many island iced tease. We don't know, right,
Speaker 1: who knows? I mean, I guess I guess we do
Speaker 1: know that it didn't go according to plan because they
Speaker 1: scrubbed all the video of it from the internet. They
Speaker 1: wouldn't do that if they wanted people to see it.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like your browser history. Yeah, nobody's clearing
Speaker 1: it because they donate it to charity. You know. No
Speaker 1: one's like, I can't let my wife see what a
Speaker 1: good person I am. I can't. So yeah, this is
Speaker 1: a weird, opaque story that has left everyone guessing. And
Speaker 1: I guess the only question I have is can we
Speaker 1: hire those eyes for whenever Joe Biden starts rambling in
Speaker 1: a speech, can we, you know, just to bring that me?
Speaker 1: And he's like, I passed a student build debt with
Speaker 1: fifty and he and a hundred thousand and fifty six thousand,
Speaker 1: and I don't know. Okay, sir, come on with us.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's take everywhere we hired Commala, come on,
Speaker 1: let's go all right. Finally, let's move on from China
Speaker 1: to a country with the leadership situation is a little
Speaker 1: less secure Great Britain. Last week, Let's Trust announced, after
Speaker 1: just forty four days in office, she would be stepping
Speaker 1: down as Prime Minister so she could move on to
Speaker 1: becoming that person who everyone recognizes but they can't quite
Speaker 1: remember from where, like did we go to a high school?
Speaker 1: To oh, you're the prime minister. Oh so sorry about it? Anyway,
Speaker 1: I can I have two large popcorns please? And uh? Anyway,
Speaker 1: Let's Trust is gone and it looks like the UK
Speaker 1: has got a brand new man. We begin in the
Speaker 1: United Kingdom, which is about to get its third prime
Speaker 1: minister in less than two months. Just a short time ago,
Speaker 1: the ru In Conservative Party announced that former Finance Minister
Speaker 1: Rici Sunac won the race to become partner leader and
Speaker 1: Prime Minister. Una will become this country's first ever prime
Speaker 1: minister of color, first ever Asian prime minister, and first
Speaker 1: ever Hindu Prime minister. Richie Sunac not only the first
Speaker 1: person of color to walk through ten daddy also the
Speaker 1: youngest prime minister here in about two centuries. Really a
Speaker 1: historic day. A former investment banker, he and his wife
Speaker 1: are reported to be among the country's richest people. It
Speaker 1: is the greatest privilege of my life to be able
Speaker 1: to serve the party I love and give back to
Speaker 1: the country I owe so much too. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: The UK's new Prime Minister is former Finance Minister Rishi
Speaker 1: Sunak and he's Indian, he's Hindu, and he's only forty
Speaker 1: two years old, which means he will probably serve well
Speaker 1: into his forty two and a half's easily. And let's
Speaker 1: not forget, let's not forget another important first. He's also
Speaker 1: the first prime minister who's an absolute snack. Yeah, look
Speaker 1: at you, Risci. And before you're thinking, oh is he
Speaker 1: don't forget who came before? Don't forget. We're moving on
Speaker 1: upw Of course, of course, not everyone in the UK
Speaker 1: is happy about Rishi Sunac taking the top spot and
Speaker 1: making history. And it's not because of his policies or
Speaker 1: because of his personality. No, there are some people who
Speaker 1: have a problem with something else, as as this caller
Speaker 1: to a British radio show so eloquently explained. Is the
Speaker 1: real problem here, Jerry? That Chi sac as a brown
Speaker 1: man and you don't trust him at the top of
Speaker 1: this country. Well, did you imagine him going to the
Speaker 1: Scottish nationalists and being the prime Minister of the Scottish nationalists.
Speaker 1: Could you imagine me becoming the prime minister of Pakistan
Speaker 1: or star of the Arabia. No, these things matter. Sorry
Speaker 1: you don't like it, but this is predominantly we're talking
Speaker 1: about England. Right of English people. Yes, are white english
Speaker 1: people and they want to see a prime minister that
Speaker 1: reflects them. Yeah. Yeah, this guy has a good point.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine if white English people wanted to rule
Speaker 1: countries when no one looked like them, I wouldn't never happened.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine that wrong? What would that wrong be like? Now?
Speaker 1: You know what's so funny to me? It's funny how
Speaker 1: racists always say colonization was fine, it was a business.
Speaker 1: Until they feel like they're being colonized. Then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden's like something they still be done, something that
Speaker 1: to be done, not even being colonized. The guy is British.
Speaker 1: What's wrong with you? You You know? And if you ask me,
Speaker 1: British racists are looking at this whole thing all wrong.
Speaker 1: This could be a good thing for you people. After
Speaker 1: four years you'll finally get to legitimately blame a brown
Speaker 1: person for your country's problems. You're living your dreams. Wake up.
Speaker 1: I mean there is a part of me, there's a
Speaker 1: part of me that feels a little bad for England's racists. No,
Speaker 1: because because I remember remember they voted for Brexit specifically
Speaker 1: to keep Britain white, and that vote started a seven
Speaker 1: year chain of dominoes that has now led directly to
Speaker 1: an Indian prime minister. Oh yeah, they're probably like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is certainly a rich irony at my expense in it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And here's the thing. Keep in mind, this corner even
Speaker 1: says that he is Tory, so this is the same
Speaker 1: party as Richie Sunak, right, which means they probably agree
Speaker 1: on all the same policies. He just doesn't like that
Speaker 1: he's not white, which I don't understand. I truly don't understand.
Speaker 1: What are you scared of? What is this? What is
Speaker 1: this call is scared of? Does he think Snaka is
Speaker 1: gonna walk up to the podium on his first day
Speaker 1: in office and be like, it is the greatest privilege
Speaker 1: of my life to be able to give back to
Speaker 1: the country I owe so much too, and to show
Speaker 1: my gratitude, I just want to say I'm selling datac
Speaker 1: under the India that prevene time you botin. This is
Speaker 1: a planned all time happy divini bitches. It's not gonna happen,
Speaker 1: you racist. All right, that's it for the headlines before
Speaker 1: we got a break start for checking all the later
Speaker 1: social media trends without very own fronty changing everybody travel.
Speaker 1: All right, let's see what's blowing up social media today.
Speaker 1: We got Taylor Swift, anti Semitiza, Tom Brady, you know
Speaker 1: the usual. But what's lighting social media in England up
Speaker 1: right now is the new Prime Minister of the week
Speaker 1: Rieshi Sunac. And I know everyone is really excited that
Speaker 1: this is the first Asian prime minister. But let's be clear.
Speaker 1: Indians are not Asians. Okay, okay, that's still people, great people,
Speaker 1: They're just not Asian people. Okay, no, no, no answer
Speaker 1: me this. If this guy is Asian, how come when
Speaker 1: he became Prime minister? I felt absolutely nothing. I mean
Speaker 1: when I was down at dim some palace this morning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the fellas want like, oh ship, that's me up there.
Speaker 1: I feel seen. I love how Indians trying to have
Speaker 1: it both ways, like being Indian and Asian. Pick a lane, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I bet if I show up in a Bollywood film.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna blend right in right, because all just
Speaker 1: one people just having a good time. Also, speaking of
Speaker 1: Asians and Indians, real quick, you mentioned America's math scores
Speaker 1: were dropping since COVID or something, right, I mean, mass
Speaker 1: schools in America were bad before COVID. How could you?
Speaker 1: How could I get any worse? Like the question used
Speaker 1: to be what time did the train leave the station?
Speaker 1: Now you gotta explain what train is? But but, but
Speaker 1: the biggest trending story has got to be the climate
Speaker 1: change protest the videos. Okay, and my question is who
Speaker 1: the hell is doing museum security these days? You see
Speaker 1: people walking in with two buckets of massed potatoes and
Speaker 1: a high visibility vest and you don't think anything's going on,
Speaker 1: or you caught by surprise, and now he's like sneaking around.
Speaker 1: I mean the people show up in high visible visibility
Speaker 1: construction vests. Just keep an eye on them. Okay, just
Speaker 1: imagine this ven diagram. It's real simple. In one circle,
Speaker 1: you've got people wearing construction vests. In the other circle,
Speaker 1: you've got people with no upper body strength. Okay, Now
Speaker 1: when they overlap in the middle, then those are climate activists.
Speaker 1: Make sure you check every cavity for sloppy Joe's Also
Speaker 1: the worst part is this painting. Wasn't even expecting it
Speaker 1: at least saw it at the painting that's ready. I mean, see,
Speaker 1: this guy knows some bad ships about to go down. Alright,
Speaker 1: what they even doing? What thoring guacamoli a odd isn't
Speaker 1: gonna change anything? All right? The only people who care
Speaker 1: about out our pretentious douche bags like check out this
Speaker 1: tweet I found online for some random moron. All right,
Speaker 1: look at the lobe. I saw Mona Lisa for the
Speaker 1: first time, and she's smiling or not. It's so powerful
Speaker 1: everyone should see. Oh really, you think everyone should see
Speaker 1: the most famous painting ever? What a great discovery. I mean,
Speaker 1: I wonder what else this guy likes? You like the
Speaker 1: Beatles breaking bad? Let me guess you gave off season
Speaker 1: five stars? I mean, how basic can a bitch get?
Speaker 1: Whoever he is? Back to you, Trevor, I think that
Speaker 1: was a great treaty, chatting everybody back to stop the
Speaker 1: thick about what's that of the Civil War? Your state?
Speaker 1: There's gonna be on, so don't go away. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the day the show. You know, there's no question,
Speaker 1: there's no question that America is becoming more and more polarized,
Speaker 1: and it has a lot of people wondering could this
Speaker 1: division turn into violence? Well, we sent Jordan Clapper to
Speaker 1: find out for another episode of Fingers the Pulse. When
Speaker 1: you've been to as many rallies as I have, you
Speaker 1: get used to hearing things you don't encounter in everyday life,
Speaker 1: like go to Hell and clippers a bit. But lately
Speaker 1: the crowds have been coalescing around, in particular idea that
Speaker 1: nobody wants to hear civil war. Civil War, the Civil War,
Speaker 1: our country's bitter attempt at divorce that ended with mom
Speaker 1: and Dad back together in a state of constant resentment.
Speaker 1: Of Americans think it's very likely there's a civil war
Speaker 1: in the next decade. Um, okay, I'm gonna be perfectly
Speaker 1: straight up and honest. Is gonna happen much sooner than that?
Speaker 1: How soon? Because I have an Airbnb rented in the
Speaker 1: Outer Banks. But it turns out a lot of Americans
Speaker 1: think this way, and not just your uncle who has
Speaker 1: been hoarding weapons and Vienna sausages in this basement bunker.
Speaker 1: Even sitting members of Congress, like January six Committee member
Speaker 1: Adam Kinzinger, how close are we to another civil war?
Speaker 1: I think we're closer than we'd like to think. And
Speaker 1: I used to be afraid to talk about it. Now
Speaker 1: I think it's important for us to talk about to
Speaker 1: talk about a civil war, because I think we have
Speaker 1: to be aware of where we're at. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be north and South with large marching armies.
Speaker 1: You know, if I live in Illinois, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: Republicans and Democrats in Illinois. I do think it could
Speaker 1: get violent easily. I mean, that's scary. If a city
Speaker 1: and representative like Kinzinger thinks a second civil war is possible,
Speaker 1: it's something we need to take seriously. So I decided
Speaker 1: to gather Americans in one of our most sacred traditions
Speaker 1: of civic unity, the Corporate Focus Group, bringing together conservatives
Speaker 1: and liberals in Purple Arizona who all think civil war
Speaker 1: is a real possibility, the civil wars tomorrow. What is
Speaker 1: the skill set you bring to the Battlefaild Well, I'm
Speaker 1: good with a gun. Yeah, yeah, okay, James. I have
Speaker 1: survival skills. I was in the military. I know how
Speaker 1: to shoot a weapon hand hand combat. If I have to,
Speaker 1: I could stick you with a knife and not you know,
Speaker 1: cry about it. We're laughing about sticky people with a knife.
Speaker 1: But okay, lansing with skills, leadership, leadership, Yeah, I just
Speaker 1: feel there's going to need to be some leaders. What
Speaker 1: skills do you have? Critical thinking? Jesus for all of
Speaker 1: the liberals, here we have a leader and a critical thinker.
Speaker 1: This is why the blue side is. But if America
Speaker 1: was going to be divided in a civil war, where
Speaker 1: would the modern day Mason Dixon linefall? It was time
Speaker 1: for a state by state fantasy draft, Well, nightmare draft.
Speaker 1: We've terra formed the states that have been red in
Speaker 1: blue to kind of create one land mass who sees
Speaker 1: themselves as conservative part of the red map. Here are
Speaker 1: these the states you would want? Oh? I much prefer
Speaker 1: the red states. What breaks your heart? What are you
Speaker 1: gonna miss? Well, Arizona isn't that supposed to be a
Speaker 1: red state. Let's say we give you Arizona. Where do
Speaker 1: you want to travel to? Well? I love California, but
Speaker 1: it's turned into such a ship hole. Let's be fair.
Speaker 1: As a red state guy, the blue state has the
Speaker 1: best food. Oh yeah, right, bow, what would you miss?
Speaker 1: Not a ton As a liberal, you're feeling pretty good
Speaker 1: about the states you get. Honestly, I feel all right,
Speaker 1: we got Hawaii. You do have Hawaii, James, what are
Speaker 1: you missing? You're gonna be in what this red conglossed
Speaker 1: on the families from back eastern Ohio? So yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean that would be you'd miss Ohio. I wouldn't trade
Speaker 1: Cleveland for anything. I trade Texas for California so I
Speaker 1: can go to San Diego. Okay, any other trades Texas
Speaker 1: for California, Blue side? Would you allow that trade? I'll
Speaker 1: take Austin for Cleveland, but I don't need all of Texas.
Speaker 1: We'll do in Austin for Cleveland. I don't want Cleveland,
Speaker 1: he's in Cleveland. I want San Diego. Oh you give
Speaker 1: up for San Diego. I would give up Florida. No thanks,
Speaker 1: there's no takers on Florida. Okay, So I guess the
Speaker 1: ocean can have Florida, which is helpful because it will
Speaker 1: probably take it anyway. And now that we have our
Speaker 1: newly divided states of America, we get to draft some
Speaker 1: new constitutions. If there is a new America, you're going
Speaker 1: to need new laws. Are there any laws you would
Speaker 1: want to change? Get rid of the petty ones? I
Speaker 1: mean there's lots of petty laws out there. I mean
Speaker 1: if you pee in public, I mean really going to
Speaker 1: be in the sex crime registry now because you pete
Speaker 1: in public? Stupid, It's a crack in the system. That's
Speaker 1: the first law that comes to head. It's, you know,
Speaker 1: it's the petty laws you get put in the in
Speaker 1: the in the general sex crimes registry, if you if
Speaker 1: you take if you take a leak outside, it's just
Speaker 1: pretty dumb. That's just an example. We just talked about
Speaker 1: a sub a war tearing this country into you finally
Speaker 1: get your way. The first law that jumps to mind
Speaker 1: is peing in public? Does your side not have toilets?
Speaker 1: With the vision of the new Confederacy already collapsing under
Speaker 1: the burden of sewage infrastructure, I thought it was time
Speaker 1: to cut to the chase and ask the biggest question
Speaker 1: of all, which side wins? We all lose? Yeah, there's
Speaker 1: no winning there. What if one side loses and then
Speaker 1: refuses to concede. Well, I don't know if I feel
Speaker 1: any better about the future of America. But for now,
Speaker 1: at least we still have elections. In fact, check out
Speaker 1: my new half hour special where I dive into the
Speaker 1: mid terms and ask the very important question democracy we
Speaker 1: still cool? If you knew you got fewer votes, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't concede. What is conceding yet? It means accepting laws? Now?
Speaker 1: Is democracy mean tomorrow? If the wrong thing happens, you
Speaker 1: were there anyway, sick. It was the most beautiful thing
Speaker 1: I ever saw. Birds chirping, police officers screaming no, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for that, trying to check out everybody
Speaker 1: before a check out. He's should check out Jordan's special
Speaker 1: next Tuesday at even right after the show. All right,
Speaker 1: stay tuned because when we come back, John David Washington
Speaker 1: will be joining me right here. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Dayly Show. My back tonight was an actor you know
Speaker 1: from films like Black Plansman and Sanna. Here's here tonight
Speaker 1: to talk about making his Broadway debut in a revival
Speaker 1: of August Wilson's The Piano. Listen. Please welcome John David Washington.
Speaker 1: John David Washington, Hello, welcome back to the Daily Show.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. Glad to be bad. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's been a while since you've been here. I think
Speaker 1: it was maybe twenty ninety. It was Black Clansmen at
Speaker 1: the time. And I mean, you have just ascended consistently
Speaker 1: and constantly tenant, phenomenal, absolutely for the past that we
Speaker 1: could understand, because let me let me ask you that
Speaker 1: before we get into what you're doing now, Like, do
Speaker 1: you guys know what what was? Because I love the movie.
Speaker 1: I love no I'm genuine I love all Christomer Nolan's films,
Speaker 1: and I watched it and I watched it again. I
Speaker 1: watched this first time to enjoy it, second time to
Speaker 1: understand what's happening. But then there's like parts people on internet,
Speaker 1: and then you gotta run an internet interview. So when
Speaker 1: you guys are in the scene, do you can you
Speaker 1: hear each other? Do you know what's happening? I don't listen.
Speaker 1: Christopher Nolan's always watching, So I'm gonna say yeah, yeah, totally,
Speaker 1: totally was in control. Knew everything. I knew it. I
Speaker 1: knew every plot point, I knew everything I was going on.
Speaker 1: That's another thing I wanted to do. You understand the
Speaker 1: movie when you're in the movie, Like when when when
Speaker 1: you're doing the stuff and backwards is happening to you
Speaker 1: And because you're you're convincing I didn't watch it and
Speaker 1: go John David Wathington doesn't know what's happening. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you believe me. That means I did, you know what amazing?
Speaker 1: You know? I mean, honestly, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: training that went into it. So the physicality of learning
Speaker 1: how to fight backwards, blink backwards, walk backwards, all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was like backwards fighting school we went to.
Speaker 1: We're trained for like a month and month and change.
Speaker 1: And uh so, once I got it into my body,
Speaker 1: I felt it was actually helping me understand the plot
Speaker 1: a little more and then opening up the world and
Speaker 1: the possibilities of what Christopher Nolan was trying to do.
Speaker 1: That's probably why you were so good at it. So
Speaker 1: that's I feel like, I feel like you're good at
Speaker 1: everything because of just you. You immerse yourself, you know,
Speaker 1: going you know, and in Borders, you were amazing one
Speaker 1: of my favorite parts of the show. And then but
Speaker 1: then I found out you you played football. I did
Speaker 1: gotten was like that cheating, I know, but I'm nothing
Speaker 1: like that guy. Reggie Jeremy or not. I don't like
Speaker 1: it at all, but still don't count Still, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: you you you immerse yourself in your roles in a
Speaker 1: really powerful way. I mean, it's it's why you get accolade.
Speaker 1: Off the accolade. People love seeing you on the screen.
Speaker 1: But now you're moving into Broadway, which every actor has
Speaker 1: said across the board is terrifying. Oh my goodness, why
Speaker 1: would you do this? It's so it's a full contact sport.
Speaker 1: I wanted to challenge myself. It was it was about saying,
Speaker 1: trying to test my abilities, trying to grow as an artist.
Speaker 1: I wanted to keep searching, and I dove, you know,
Speaker 1: I dove head in, you know, I was I was
Speaker 1: going forward. I felt like the words of of August
Speaker 1: Wilson would lead me to the promised Land. There was
Speaker 1: a character that I really loved and enjoyed every time
Speaker 1: I read it. And uh so, I just wanted to
Speaker 1: explore and see how far I can go with my
Speaker 1: abilities and what I can learn. I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: in in grad school really, you know. With with Latonia Jackson,
Speaker 1: our our our leader director and Sam Jackson, who originated
Speaker 1: the role he played Boy Willie seven. So here I
Speaker 1: am with him every night and he's playing the uncle
Speaker 1: Dolker role now. But I'm looking at him across the
Speaker 1: stage like, I know, you originated this role. I'm doing
Speaker 1: my best, you know, but it was it was a
Speaker 1: way that and he's been so supportive and and seeing
Speaker 1: just the entire yes, you know. So it's been a
Speaker 1: learning a very great learning situation for me. And it's
Speaker 1: it's it's been life changing what I'm learning. I can't
Speaker 1: imagine how surreal that must be for you, because, as
Speaker 1: you said, Samuel L. Jackson originated the role. Right, his
Speaker 1: wife is directing and she's making her directorial debut on Broadway, right,
Speaker 1: So this is this is like a family affair, but
Speaker 1: it's legends only you're playing. You're playing the role that
Speaker 1: he originated across from him, but he's now playing the uncle.
Speaker 1: And it's it's this really fascinating story on multiple levels
Speaker 1: about a family arguing about an heirloom, you know, And
Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil it for people, but it
Speaker 1: really is the question of, you know, what does a
Speaker 1: family need to keep in order to maintain themselves as
Speaker 1: a family, and can they let go of those things
Speaker 1: and still respect where they come from. It feel was
Speaker 1: pertinent to you on a on a personal level as
Speaker 1: well as as well as a character because you know,
Speaker 1: you grew up around Samuel Jacksons and you I did,
Speaker 1: I did. Uh. Well, I've re examined the word um. Inheritance,
Speaker 1: you know, and and learning how to work hard for something.
Speaker 1: Learning how to act, I think is something that I
Speaker 1: feel like I've inherited in a way and like and
Speaker 1: through this process, learning how to make choices on stage,
Speaker 1: how to immerse yourself in the role, and to just
Speaker 1: the work ethic, you know, something that you can learn.
Speaker 1: You can learn how to work hard, you know. And uh,
Speaker 1: That's what I've been discovering a lot on in this process.
Speaker 1: Would you would you say? Would you say being on
Speaker 1: Broadway is harder than being on from all? Let me
Speaker 1: ask it to you differently, What are the harder aspects
Speaker 1: of doing Broadway, you know, as opposed to being on camera. Um,
Speaker 1: it's harder in that it's every night, different crowds. You know,
Speaker 1: you got to deliver sometimes, you know, you get two
Speaker 1: shows on Wednesday, two shows on Saturday, so you have
Speaker 1: to deliver sometimes twice a day. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: and and you have to you have to be on it.
Speaker 1: You have to have the same energy every night, you know.
Speaker 1: And it's not like you can yell cut and let
Speaker 1: me start that over crowd, let me wait, it's none
Speaker 1: of that happened. You got to go. They are waiting
Speaker 1: on you. You gotta go. So so you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's something that I think it It builds you up.
Speaker 1: To me, I have more courage and trying things when
Speaker 1: I when I get back to film because of because
Speaker 1: of this experience. You You've always talked about how you know,
Speaker 1: you you were retient when it came to getting into acting.
Speaker 1: You had this you have this idea of like your
Speaker 1: father is Denzel Washington. I mean, we go this is
Speaker 1: one of the greatest actors who has ever lived on
Speaker 1: this planet, right, and one of the greatest to ever
Speaker 1: do it. And then you step into the game and
Speaker 1: you've always said you didn't want to. At first, you're like,
Speaker 1: this is this This feels like a burden. But everyone
Speaker 1: can agree. You've stepped into it. You've made it your own.
Speaker 1: You know, you still have characteristics that remind us of
Speaker 1: your dad because you are his son. But but but
Speaker 1: what's that journey been like for you? You know, in
Speaker 1: finding your own but also accepting your aloom that you know,
Speaker 1: like the piece that you've inherited from him. I'm finding it, um,
Speaker 1: you know with every project. You know, Spike Lee helped
Speaker 1: me find my my my identity. Christopher Nolan helped me
Speaker 1: find my identity. This play in so many ways, it's
Speaker 1: helping me find my identity, what my process even is,
Speaker 1: you know, and and what uh you know, like different
Speaker 1: power spots on stage and how I relate to characters
Speaker 1: and what my way in is all that, all those
Speaker 1: things I'm discovering on my journey and um, and the
Speaker 1: support I've gotten from the directors I just name have
Speaker 1: been you know, UM, just so important for my growth
Speaker 1: and for my confidence and the support I've gotten from
Speaker 1: my family you know, Uh, no handouts, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's I've been working very hard to work very hard
Speaker 1: on this play and UM, I'm proud of what what
Speaker 1: we're doing with it. You see it. You know, you
Speaker 1: can tell when somebody's passionate and when they work beyond
Speaker 1: where they where they ever thought they could. You you you
Speaker 1: always put the effort in. It always comes across the
Speaker 1: play is also fascinating. It's it's a great story that
Speaker 1: is being told by great people, great actors, a great director.
Speaker 1: And one thing that surprised me about the play is
Speaker 1: that it's also you know, as as as the director
Speaker 1: asself says, it's like, this is also a ghost story.
Speaker 1: And I found myself thinking in life, you know, there
Speaker 1: are two types of ghosts. The ghosts we carry, you know,
Speaker 1: almost like and then they're like ghost Coast. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah that actually no, no, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: there's like ghost Coast. Do you believe in ghosts? Absolutely? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Halloween's always I mean, I love Halloween, but I definitely
Speaker 1: sleep with the light on around this time ago, so
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't mess around. I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: play with that ghost stuff. It's really you know, you're
Speaker 1: superstitious like that. Yep, ye, you're you know, like for
Speaker 1: the night light on, I believe in ghosts and uh,
Speaker 1: but it's also it's this this play. Yes, it's a
Speaker 1: ghost story. It's it's also incredibly funny. It's got a
Speaker 1: lot of humor in it. It's I mean, August Wilson
Speaker 1: is a genius, and it's it's loaded with you know,
Speaker 1: family situations and dynamics that are universal, not just the
Speaker 1: African American experience, but a universal experience and uh, family arguments,
Speaker 1: you know, nephew and uncle, sister and brother things. So
Speaker 1: so there's so many things and so many themes in
Speaker 1: this story that are relatable. That which which is what
Speaker 1: I love. I think it's relatable. I think it's a
Speaker 1: continued celebration of black excellence in Broadway, which we've we've
Speaker 1: seen in everything from Slave Play, you know, through to
Speaker 1: Strange Loop, all of the Yeah, exactly, it's time. It's
Speaker 1: really been growing and it's a great time. And I'll
Speaker 1: recommend everybody go and watch it because when will you
Speaker 1: ever get the opportunity to be almost this close to
Speaker 1: John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson at the same time.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, greatfu were do you know? David Watchington, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a quick place over Lack after the
Speaker 1: form the Great We'll not talking to Mike, but before
Speaker 1: we go, before we go, Before we go, peaceful protesters
Speaker 1: in Iran are risking their lives to be heard. The
Speaker 1: Senser for Human Rights in the Iran is helping to
Speaker 1: bring their voices to the important into national stage, and
Speaker 1: it provides legal aid for political prisoners and victims of violence.
Speaker 1: So please, if you can. All you need to do
Speaker 1: is follow the link below to help them in their work.
Speaker 1: Until next time, stay safe out there, and remember, if
Speaker 1: you're really hungry but don't want to spend any money,
Speaker 1: just pretend you're painting and wait. Watch The Daily Show
Speaker 1: weeknights at eleven t Central on Comedy Central and stream
Speaker 1: full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a
Speaker 1: Comedy Central podcast