Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. I remember my first night
Speaker 1: on the show.
Speaker 2: It was while I auditioned on I think a Friday,
Speaker 2: and they told me come back four days later with
Speaker 2: a suit.
Speaker 1: Because they had no money to pay for the suits.
Speaker 1: And luckily I had.
Speaker 2: One suit because I had gotten married a few months earlier.
Speaker 2: And I came back with a suit, and the day
Speaker 2: was bonkers. I arrived and oddly enough, it was the
Speaker 2: day Crimea was invaded.
Speaker 1: And I know we.
Speaker 2: Actually know where that place is now because I didn't
Speaker 2: that morning. And I showed up and I went to
Speaker 2: this morning meeting, which is an amazing thing at the
Speaker 2: Daily Show, so many funny, thoughtful people in a room,
Speaker 2: and I get thrown in there in such a welcoming place.
Speaker 2: And there's John Stewart, somebody I've watched since I.
Speaker 1: Was very little.
Speaker 2: He's very old and decrepit also very short, small man
Speaker 2: wise beyond his years.
Speaker 1: But many years.
Speaker 2: We were talking about crime and all of these things,
Speaker 2: and they're like, Jordan, you're gonna do a chat. You're
Speaker 2: gonna do that tonight. We're gonna talk about this. Let's
Speaker 2: go and your brainstorm storm ideas for the chat. I
Speaker 2: remember they bring me into John's office, like right after
Speaker 2: the meeting.
Speaker 1: I'm very nervous. I don't know how this day works.
Speaker 2: And we sit down and John starts talking about not
Speaker 2: only what happened, but essentially he's talking about the commentary
Speaker 2: that's been written in the morning, about what already happened
Speaker 2: in that room. And I'm sitting across from him with
Speaker 2: a few other people. Jen flans is over there right now,
Speaker 2: EP show runner, she's in that room as well.
Speaker 1: He's the best.
Speaker 2: And there's a reason these shows can still run like
Speaker 2: they do with a different host every week. It's because
Speaker 2: of the team that we have here at the Daily Show.
Speaker 2: And I remember John's He's talking about all these things
Speaker 2: with crime and I just keep thinking, I don't know
Speaker 2: where Crimea.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: And then we usher off and we brainstorm jokes and
Speaker 2: bits around the Crimea invasion and it's fun.
Speaker 1: It's a wild day. The chat comes up and you
Speaker 1: go into.
Speaker 2: A rewrite right before you come on out there and
Speaker 2: you go one last time over it, and the process
Speaker 2: for a chat. Essentially, the idea of this chat was
Speaker 2: John is throwing to their first time correspondent who's in
Speaker 2: Crimea and he's overwhelmed by the experience. Truth in comedy,
Speaker 2: it's always the best way to go. And I remember
Speaker 2: in the rewrite, you're in this small room and you're
Speaker 2: throwing jokes out there, and John opened up, like, how
Speaker 2: would you react here?
Speaker 1: And I said, I'd say like.
Speaker 2: I don't want to disappoint you, dad, And it made
Speaker 2: him laugh because that's how.
Speaker 1: I was feeling in the room in that moment. I
Speaker 1: don't want to disappoint you, dad. And it was like,
Speaker 1: that's good.
Speaker 2: That was the first joke I got on the show.
Speaker 2: And he was like, all right, we ready to do this.
Speaker 2: And you don't waste time at the Daily Show when
Speaker 2: you like print the script. It's like, great, We're on
Speaker 2: in twenty minutes. And so he comes out.
Speaker 1: I go back. My brain is spinning.
Speaker 2: I've been doing comedy and entertainment for fifteen years but
Speaker 2: never had to break anyone near this. Been living in
Speaker 2: poverty up until this point. I'm like, holy shit, I'm
Speaker 2: on the Daily Show. I'm about to be on the
Speaker 2: Daily Show. I'm looking through the script, looking through the script.
Speaker 2: John comes out, I'm right back there and I'm looking through.
Speaker 1: The script, looking through the script.
Speaker 2: He says like, we have something special happening today. We
Speaker 2: have a new correspondent. We don't have that very often.
Speaker 2: I'm getting nervous and born to run. Starts to play,
Speaker 2: which was the song he always played before he came out,
Speaker 2: and then he's like, guys, ready for a good show.
Speaker 2: They say yes, He says, welcome to the Daily Show
Speaker 2: and he runs back and we just had this little
Speaker 2: one on one moment. He just says, don't fuck it up.
Speaker 2: And I remember like he came back out there and
Speaker 2: right back there, like tears.
Speaker 1: Because it was so much this industry is.
Speaker 2: It's hard, it's tough, and you're rarely in such supportive
Speaker 2: rooms like this, and for every break that you get,
Speaker 2: ten other people don't get it, who are worthy of
Speaker 2: that exact same break. And in that moment, I was like,
Speaker 2: there's so much emotion right now in this space and tears.
Speaker 1: I'm like, you can't grow.
Speaker 2: You're right ta me in three minutes, pulling it all together,
Speaker 2: coming on out and nervously doing my first chat from
Speaker 2: right over there. So to get a chance to be
Speaker 2: here on a day like today with you guys and
Speaker 2: share that it's real special.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any other questions.
Speaker 2: Yep, during some of your field pieces, have you ever
Speaker 2: been friends or do you have security around this?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 1: Sure, great question.
Speaker 2: Sure yes, threatened, Yeah, a bunch of times. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: scoot this way, but I'm gonna I'm gonna maintain eye contacts.
Speaker 1: I got you, I got you, I got you, I
Speaker 1: got you. Getting topper. It's getting tougher to be off perfect.
Speaker 1: This is great. This, This is not gonna affect my
Speaker 1: ego whatsoever.
Speaker 2: I mean, it is crazy. It's there's been an evolution.
Speaker 2: We'd go out and field pieces with no security. The
Speaker 2: Maga movement changed those things, and so I the last
Speaker 2: few big rallies I went to, I had three or
Speaker 2: four security guards. I think at January sixth had four
Speaker 2: security guards.
Speaker 1: Which is bonkers. I mean, I was an improv teacher
Speaker 1: before I did this. You know, usually need security guards
Speaker 1: for those types of things.
Speaker 2: I rarely see aggressive enough behavior like it wants to
Speaker 2: threaten me, and I need to fear for myself. Although
Speaker 2: when Trump lost the election, according.
Speaker 1: To some there was a different energy out there.
Speaker 2: I went to the million Maga march their numbers not mine,
Speaker 2: and there was there was such an energy of anger
Speaker 2: there that we at one point got chased down in Ali.
Speaker 2: Security guards had to like step in, and so we
Speaker 2: had to approach things very differently, where literally we have
Speaker 2: to be careful where we set up interviews and what
Speaker 2: have you. And I don't want to say that that's
Speaker 2: always the case when we go out there, but the
Speaker 2: tone has shifted and people want to want to aggressively
Speaker 2: come up if engage with you in some way.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been almost punched there just at home? Sure,
Speaker 1: Jesus Old?
Speaker 4: I had, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going dark this show. Okay,
Speaker 4: there was one field piece that I did, h it
Speaker 4: was a Trump rally, but it was it was a
Speaker 4: long time ago, was right after he was elected, and
Speaker 4: I just remember someone coming up and trying to grab
Speaker 4: the mic out of my hand and going fake news,
Speaker 4: you're fake news, and they just saw the camera and
Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, we're the original fake news.
Speaker 1: This is what we do.
Speaker 4: And then I was like, I don't want to do
Speaker 4: anymore of these.
Speaker 1: Let's send Jordan.
Speaker 5: It was been your most memorable guests, like so far
Speaker 5: in conversation that you've had over the year, because you
Speaker 5: guys both of Mina for a really long time so
Speaker 5: kind of both of you gets.
Speaker 1: The question as the most memorable guest.
Speaker 4: Oh god, I right when I started the show, we
Speaker 4: had Gloria Steinem on and she was walking through the
Speaker 4: hallways and for whatever reason, she didn't know where to go.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 4: She was just walking around by herself, and she popped
Speaker 4: into the edit that I was in and she goes,
Speaker 4: does anyone know where I'm supposed to go? And I
Speaker 4: was like, I do, and I just started the job,
Speaker 4: so I didn't know where to take her, and there
Speaker 4: were just the two of us aimlessly walking around back hallways.
Speaker 4: But it was just so it was such a cool
Speaker 4: moment to actually get to see her and meet her
Speaker 4: in person and.
Speaker 2: Then hers well, I remember that moment. Then I, as
Speaker 2: a man, stepped in was like you ladies, look loved.
Speaker 2: Follow the dude, Gloria Steinem come over here, I would say.
Speaker 1: One of the fun like it is it's such a.
Speaker 2: Small little building that you see guests wandering around all
Speaker 2: the time. I remember Paul McCartney was here, and I know,
Speaker 2: have you heard him from the Eagles? Great great musician,
Speaker 2: love the Eagles, But he came on. He was one
Speaker 2: of the few guests where we were sort of told
Speaker 2: internally don't be in the hallways, because sometimes you can
Speaker 2: find yourself in the hallway bumping into people and be like, oh, hey,
Speaker 2: President Clinton, I don't want to say hi, And so McCartney,
Speaker 2: they're like, stay in your edit base. And I remember
Speaker 2: hearing Paul McCartney walk through the hallways singing as he does,
Speaker 2: we get it, we get it, and nobody interrupted with him.
Speaker 2: He went out and he did his piece, and I was
Speaker 2: editing a piece in an edit bay and he came
Speaker 2: off the show and he kind of walked through and
Speaker 2: I saw the back of my on the corner of
Speaker 2: my eye, the door was open. I saw McCartney walk by,
Speaker 2: and then he came into our edit bay. He turned around,
Speaker 2: walked into our edit bay, and he was like, so.
Speaker 1: What's this? What are you guys playing with? What are
Speaker 1: you fucking around with him? What is this? What are
Speaker 1: you doing? What are you doing? Did he get notes?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 1: I immediately we jumped into bits like I don't know
Speaker 1: this music, and here sucks. What do you want to do?
Speaker 2: And he started playing the game of making fun of
Speaker 2: everything in there, and you realized. I realized in that
Speaker 2: boat it was like he just wanted to play. Like
Speaker 2: he shows up to places, this creative, fun guy and
Speaker 2: the world like shuts down around him. Not to bother
Speaker 2: Paul McCartney, but he was just like this this element
Speaker 2: of joy that walked through the space, that just wanted
Speaker 2: people to play with him. And so we told him
Speaker 2: to get the fuck out and that was it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I.
Speaker 4: Does anyone have any questions?
Speaker 1: Yes, how did you get started and make your way
Speaker 1: to the Daily Show?
Speaker 2: Because that's like a.
Speaker 1: Wow? Well it all.
Speaker 4: I was born in nineteen eighty one. I'll start from
Speaker 4: the very beginning.
Speaker 1: I grew up.
Speaker 4: Well, actually, I'm sitting here looking at my uncle, who's
Speaker 4: right here. My uncle Jay nots it. It's his birthday
Speaker 4: to day too, thirty five years young. He actually, Uncle
Speaker 4: Jay was truly one of my hugest comedic role models.
Speaker 4: Uncle would make me laugh growing up until I completely
Speaker 4: pee my pants. I still do often, but that's more
Speaker 4: because I had a baby. But I loved I was
Speaker 4: obsessed with SNL. I watched a lot of Carol Burnett
Speaker 4: growing up. My dad used to show me a lot
Speaker 4: of reruns of Carol and the Women on SNL and
Speaker 4: Tina and Amy, and there was something in me that
Speaker 4: really wanted to do comedy. But I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky,
Speaker 4: so that's not a sensible thing to do when you
Speaker 4: grow up there. But for some reason, I've got really
Speaker 4: great parents who are very supportive and supported this insane
Speaker 4: idea that at nineteen I would move to Los Angeles
Speaker 4: and take classes. So I threw myself into improv scene study,
Speaker 4: and I started getting small roles one at a time,
Speaker 4: one line, and pilots that never went anywhere. But when
Speaker 4: I reached my twenties, I was obsessed with The Daily Show.
Speaker 4: I loved John Stewart, watched religiously. It was my dream
Speaker 4: to be on the show. I auditioned for the show
Speaker 4: three times over the years, and finally the third time
Speaker 4: I got the call come out to New York. And
Speaker 4: this was right after they hired Trevor and I had
Speaker 4: just gotten married, and I spent my whole career trying
Speaker 4: to plan pick Okay, I can't go on vacation because
Speaker 4: I might get that Burger King call back, And I
Speaker 4: got to be there for the work. And I had
Speaker 4: just gotten married and we wanted to start a family,
Speaker 4: and I thought, you know what I could. I'm going
Speaker 4: to live my life and whatever happens happens. And when
Speaker 4: I got the call to come here, I was four
Speaker 4: months pregnant living in Los Angeles. I thought, oh boy,
Speaker 4: do I tell them? Do I keep it to myself?
Speaker 4: And I would be starting the job six months pregnant.
Speaker 4: So I pulled Jen Flans, who's sitting right over here,
Speaker 4: our showrunner, executive producer all things. I pulled her aside
Speaker 4: after the audition, and she had this look on her
Speaker 4: face like, oh.
Speaker 1: God, what are you gonna ask me? Like did you
Speaker 1: do a good job? What a needy actor?
Speaker 4: And I said, I said, this is my dream job
Speaker 4: and I will move here tomorrow. But you should know
Speaker 4: I am pregnant, so i'd be starting the job pregnant.
Speaker 4: She goes, great, we can talk about her. We won't
Speaker 4: talk about it. Whatever you want, whatever you're comfortable with.
Speaker 4: And seven and a half years later, I'm here and
Speaker 4: my seven and a half year old is sitting upstairs,
Speaker 4: probably not watching this right now. He's eating snacks.
Speaker 1: My peak, Oh man.
Speaker 5: Usually how it works is they say you're gonna go
Speaker 5: do this on the street in Times Square. Man on
Speaker 5: the street piece at a Trump rally, Biden whisperer piece,
Speaker 5: and for me, usually I get mad immediately.
Speaker 1: I get scared. This is going to be hard.
Speaker 5: I don't know this is going to work. And at
Speaker 5: the end of every piece, I'm thankful I did it.
Speaker 5: I'm better for it. The piece was good. The editors
Speaker 5: at this show, holy shit. They can make you look
Speaker 5: so good. The editor is I will say this any
Speaker 5: chance I get, because the editors make you look really,
Speaker 5: really good. Sometimes I'll watch it and I'll go.
Speaker 1: I don't even think I said that.
Speaker 5: I went to Switzerland to cover Switzerland is gun crazy.
Speaker 5: They're nuts with guns. Everybody gets an assault rifle when
Speaker 5: they turn eighteen because they don't have.
Speaker 1: They don't have a military.
Speaker 5: They have more guns per capita than Americans, and they've
Speaker 5: had one mass shooting in one hundred years and they
Speaker 5: immediately changed the rules as soon as that happened. Somebody
Speaker 5: took a gun to their parliament and killed some people,
Speaker 5: and they immediately took ammunition away from gun owners. All
Speaker 5: ammunition in Switzerland is locked away in these fortresses. So
Speaker 5: that piece was It was pitched and directed by Stacy Angeles.
Speaker 5: That's a really powerful piece. It's on YouTube. It's gone
Speaker 5: really viral and crazy. But the idea of that piece
Speaker 5: is you don't you can still love guns, you can
Speaker 5: still have it. It's gonna be very tough for us
Speaker 5: to change guns. It's in the second Amendment of the Constitution.
Speaker 5: It's the second thing we wrote. The first thing they
Speaker 5: wrote was you can say what you want, and then
Speaker 5: they were like, but you better get a gun if
Speaker 5: you want to do that.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be tough to change that.
Speaker 5: But let's learn from countries that have guns, love them,
Speaker 5: are embedded in their culture, and they don't kill each other.
Speaker 5: So that's one of my favorite pieces. And it's yeah,
Speaker 5: I love that people.
Speaker 3: I just wanted to know what no, what if somebody
Speaker 3: actually what is the audition to the UH on the show?
Speaker 3: As a correspondent, let me see what happened with me
Speaker 3: was I was doing shitty open mics in Australia and
Speaker 3: then and then Trevor asked me to audition for it.
Speaker 3: So if you can find Trevor, I think he can
Speaker 3: help you. And I've got any questions, any questions. Anybody
Speaker 3: questions are not like job offers. Please in the back
Speaker 3: that yeah, well if you were a kitchen utensil.
Speaker 1: Which one.
Speaker 3: I'd rather you ask me for a job is, anyway,
Speaker 3: I don't know, potato peeler on anyway, what's what's the
Speaker 3: least most useful over there? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Do you think that you coming to New York affected
Speaker 1: like your comedy and everything rather than going to l A.
Speaker 3: Or oh yeah, yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah, definitely for
Speaker 3: sure New York. I Actually when I first got my visa,
Speaker 3: I was I went to LA. My agent told me
Speaker 3: to come to LA and do pilot season. And that's
Speaker 3: a that's an industry term for everyone. There's one guy
Speaker 3: in the industry laughing or yeah, my agents, I had
Speaker 3: come to LA do a pilot season. Pilot season means
Speaker 3: you go into audition room with twenty Asian dudes who
Speaker 3: look like you, who all went to like Yale drama school,
Speaker 3: and they're auditioning for like, you know, sidekick two on
Speaker 3: whatever and I and I was. I was in that.
Speaker 3: I was in that for one. I did that one
Speaker 3: time and as in I was in that season one time,
Speaker 3: and I knew, like, man, I'm not going to out
Speaker 3: act all these actual trained, talented people. The only thing
Speaker 3: I can do with my limited skill set is go
Speaker 3: to New York and be a huge asshole and so
Speaker 3: and it walked up about that, So new York definitely
Speaker 3: New York is Yeah, New York for life.
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