As host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart takes his comedy seriously. He reacts to serious matters with comedy. And America takes his reactions as comedy that seriously matters.
As a comic, Stewart will make a rare appearance on this side of the country at Las Vegas' inaugural and aptly named The Comedy Festival. Who would have guessed that after five Emmys, two Peabodys, a Grammy and a New York Times bestseller, 2004's Entertainer of the Year (according to Entertainment Weekly) and the New York Entertainer of the Year (sayeth Variety) would still enjoy getting down on a stand-up stage?
As an interviewee, Stewart is a whole 'nother bemused variety of beast altogether. Plastic sheets up, everyone, as, much like a veritable Gallagher, Stewart sends his tongue-in-cheekiness flying hard and fast—and with sharp corners!—as we attempt to lob a few soggy chunks of sarcasm back in his direction.
So we're going to be talking about the big Comedy Festival coming up here.
I'm very excited, you know? I think comedy's the big draw in Vegas, although I guess there's other stuff, too? I haven't been there in awhile, but it's mostly comedy though, right?
Well they have some gaming stuff that's starting to ...
Oh, is that true? They've got some gaming now? You know, that should also help to bring some people in.
How were you first approached to take part in this first annual Comedy Festival?
Originally, I was set to just perform in the Legends show as the Joey Bishop character. But then I decided, "You know what, while I'm out there, why not just do my own stand-up show?"
Makes sense. And then once the organizers saw that you were doing a stand-up show, they decided to plan the whole festival around you?
I believe that was ... not the case. I believe they actually had a festival and they're allowing me to come to it.
In addition to spearheading the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival each year in Aspen, now HBO is branching out in Vegas.
Yeah, they're trying to bring it to every city they want to visit. My guess is that at one point they're going to do a comedy festival in Paris, even though the audiences don't understand English. They don't seem to do a lot of their festivals in, let's say, Rust Belt industrial cities.
As a featured performer, are you doing straight stand-up?
Straight stand-up! Straight stand-up, with a couple of numbers, probably, some standards and some classics. It is a musical theater, after all.
What about your stand-up will surprise people who might only be familiar with you from The Daily Show?
It's all in Spanglish.
Are audiences sophisticated enough to appreciate the cross-cultural presentation?
They appreciate the lyrical nature of Spanglish. I'm the Fat Joe of comedy.
I assume there's a political side to your material?
It's all the general obsessions of the comedy mind: the political, the religious, the technological, the sexual ....
Do you have a separate onstage persona that we may not recognize as the same Jon Stewart from The Daily Show?
I don't dress as nice. That may be the only issue for people. When people aren't picking out my clothes for me, I'm—as they would say—a bit of a schlepp.
Are we talking cutoffs and a wife-beater here?
Hopefully it won't be that, but it certainly won't be a suit and tie. I also think they will find I'm unbelievably short. And once they get over that, hopefully they'll be able to sit back and enjoy the program.
A lot of times when comedians settle down to raise a family and start being happy, it can take an edge off of their material. Have you gotten softer since your son was born?
Now wait a minute, what makes you think that's when I started to be happy? What makes you think that when I was hanging around bars until 4 in the morning and drinking tequila that I wasn't also quite happy? It's a different kind of happiness now. Happiness without the requisite headache.
Well, then, thinking back to the times when you were drinking tequila in the clubs at 4 in the morning ...
Mmmm-hmmm!
How has the comedy industry changed since those days when you were slugging it out in the clubs?
There's not as much cocaine. Yeah, drug use seems to be down in general. People seem to be far more responsible and hard-working. They seem to treat it as a business instead of a vice, which I think is probably smarter. It's a smarter move on their part. It might have something to do with some of the better ones OD'ing. I think that tends to put a bit of chill in the air, as well.
Do you have much of a personal history with Las Vegas? Any traditional hangouts or things you like to do while you're here?
Well, the first time I worked Vegas, I was there for a week at Catch a Rising Star. I pretty much blew my money at craps maybe 20 minutes into the trip and spent the rest of the time just hanging around the employee cafeteria. So the lesson I learned there was get paid when you're leaving, and don't stay too long.
Are you still much of a gambling man?
I still enjoy gambling, but I try and keep it reasonable.
What do you consider reasonable?
For instance, not betting on what floor the elevator will stop at in the hotel. Things like that.
How are Vegas audiences typically different from those in other cities?
Well, it isn't the Vegas from 15 years ago when they were basically waiting for you to shut up so Sheena Easton could sing. They're pretty sweet crowds from what I've seen.
Aside from the festival and The Daily Show, you're also currently occupied with The Colbert Report, which your company is producing. What kind of feedback are you getting on the show thus far?
Really good, but that's from people around here who work on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, and we really like it. I'm really proud of it. I think it's funny and I don't think there's anything else like it on TV right now.
What else is coming up on your horizon? Any other big projects you're looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to just keeping myself as busy and dissatisfied as possible.
So the dissatisfaction is what drives you. A lesson I'm sure we could all stand to learn.
There you go. The more you do, the more you can hide from yourself.