DeepSummary
The transcript is a conversation between Josh Johnson, Kat Radley, and David Angelo, who are correspondents and writers for The Daily Show. They discuss their experience transitioning from standup comedy to writing for a topical late-night show. Key topics include the adjustment to pitching jokes in the writers' room, writing for different hosts and correspondents, and bringing lessons from the show back to their standup material.
Kat Radley shares her perspective as a new mom, noting the challenges of balancing the show's schedule with performing standup and spending time with her twin babies. She also mentions feeling like herself again after the postpartum period and rediscovering her comedic voice to potentially create a special focused on her experiences with pregnancy and parenthood.
David Angelo talks about his recent self-produced YouTube comedy special "New York Legend" and his experiences working on The Daily Show compared to other short-lived talk shows he wrote for previously. The group also touches on the differences between standup and TV writing, such as the disposable nature of topical jokes and the ability to rework material in standup versus having one shot in the writers' room.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Transitioning from standup comedy to writing for a topical late-night show requires an adjustment in terms of pitching jokes in a writers' room setting and understanding the disposable nature of topical humor.
- Writing for different hosts or correspondents involves modulating the setup and wording of jokes to fit their specific voices and comedic styles, rather than relying on distinct jokes for each person.
- The collaborative writers' room environment at The Daily Show encourages pitching ideas freely, even if they don't initially land well.
- Working on a show like The Daily Show can instill confidence in one's joke-writing abilities and a stronger work ethic.
- Experiencing major life events like becoming a parent can impact a comedian's perspective and comedic voice, both in their TV writing and standup material.
- There are challenges in balancing the schedules and demands of working on a late-night show with maintaining an active standup career and personal life.
- Self-produced comedy specials, even shorter ones, allow standup comedians to present a focused perspective or theme drawn from their recent experiences.
- The transition from writer to on-camera correspondent adds a new layer of responsibility in terms of delivering jokes effectively and being accountable for the material.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I feel like there's, that usually is to me, in, like, a setup or just the wording of whatever the joke is. But I feel like you could package any joke into anyone's voice, kind of. At least that's what I'm doing. Maybe I'm bad at it. I should be doing something different.“ by David Angelo
- “And just a general work ethic, too, you know, like, I mean, being in the show and it's during the work day right now, I think it's rehearsals happening. I don't know. We've been hanging out.“ by David Angelo
- “Do I seem different?“ by Kat Radley
Entities
Company
Person
Product
Service
Tv show
Movie
Episode Information
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Comedy Central & iHeartPodcasts
6/24/24
TDS Correspondent Josh Johnson chats with writers Kat Radley and David Angelo about writing for The Daily Show as stand-up comics. They discuss what it’s like adjusting to a topical late night show compared to writing and performing for themselves onstage, as well as their approach to pitching jokes in the writer’s room and writing for different guest hosts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.