Joined The Daily Show as a production assistant in 1999. Ran video research department before becoming a segment producer; promoted to executive producer in 2008. Showrunner at The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, 2015–2016. Credits/blames Lewis Black for inspiring him to become a standup. Extroverted and voluble. Family owns a second-generation Long Island toy distribution company.
Earned a master’s degree in playwriting at UC San Diego. Moved home to New York and took a class called “Writing for The Daily Show” taught by J. R. Havlan. Learned well: was hired in 2005. Left in 2008 to become a writer on Parks and Recreation. Playwriting credits include Archaeology and Smudge. Heroes include Stephen Sondheim and Christopher Durang.
Segment producer for MTV’s The Jon Stewart Show, field producer and executive producer for The Daily Show, executive producer for Last Call with Carson Daly. University of Kansas roommate of Paul Rudd.
As a kid in Minnesota, loved Saturday Night Live. As an adult graduate of Florida State’s theater program, moved to Chicago and joined Second City—but cried during an SNL audition (the tears were not part of the monologue). Hired at The Daily Show in August 2005, along with Nate Corddry and Jason Jones. In a strip poker segment, the words “Exit Only,” written by Bakkedahl’s wife in magic marker on his butt cheek, are inadvertently visible. Later costarred as Congressman Roger Furlong in HBO’s Veep.
Born and semihappily raised in Toronto. As child, was either in school or in front of a television; over dinner every day watched Carol Burnett and SCTV, idolizing Catherine O’Hara. As teenager, had an unnerving propensity to steal cars. Thought she wanted to go to law school but instead became one of four cofounders of all-female Atomic Fireballs sketch troupe. Met Jason Jones when both were performing in live action anime children’s theater production of Sailor Moon. Married Jones in 2001; has only recently recovered from trauma of Sailor Moon experience. Joined The Daily Show in 2003 and was longest-tenured correspondent, leaving in 2015 to create and star in Full Frontal on TBS. Mother of three. Takes no shit. Cries easily.
Member of late-nineties New York sketch comedy group The Associates with Aasif Mandvi before becoming writer for Turn Ben Stein On and The Man Show. Joined the Daily Show writing staff in 2001. An accomplished cook, Bines cowrote with Mandvi the screenplay for the indie film Today’s Special. Writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003.
Original and longest-running cast member of The Daily Show. Has been ACLU Celebrity Ambassador for Voting Rights, spokesman for Aruba Tourism Authority, and voice of Anger in Inside Out. Grammy Award winner. Accomplished playwright. Socialist.
Wrote for Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect and Dennis Miller’s CNBC show; hired at The Daily Show in 2005. Through a friendship with White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, began contributing jokes to President Barack Obama’s speeches, especially his appearances at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Went to Iraq in 2007 along with Rob Riggle for Daily Show/USO visit to the troops. Later a speechwriter for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.
Worked as a production assistant at The Jon Stewart Show; hired by Madeleine Smithberg at The Daily Show before its debut in 1996, and pitched the idea for its first field piece, about a woman who channeled the spirit of her dead cat. During Stewart’s early years as Daily Show host, made repeated half-naked on-air appearances, including in a very large diaper. Named the first (and apparently last) Daily Show “employee of the year” in 1999. Has been the show’s primary graphics producer since 2002. Yes, Blog is his real last name.
Cofounder of Yale improv group Just Add Water and of New York theater company Elevator Repair Service. Ex–magazine journalist. Hired as a Daily Show staff writer in 2002. Became head writer in 2007 and executive producer in 2013. Brainy and blunt.
Was working at Outback Steakhouse in Virginia and came to New York to watch a Daily Show taping. Went to a computer lab that night, typed out a résumé, and landed an internship. That was in 1998. Receptionist; talent coordinator; segment supervisor; and, from 2006, coordinating field producer, where responsibilities included finding willing subjects for interviews, assigning correspondents, overseeing assembly of clips, and editing field-piece footage. In 2016, joined Sam Bee’s Full Frontal as a producer.
Went from Second City improv to Saturday Night Live for one season, then made Daily Show debut on December 7, 1999. Appeared as the “Money Bunny” in recurring “Dollars and ‘Cents’” segment and as half of “We” in recurring “We Love Showbiz” segment, with husband Steve Carell. Played sex education counselor in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, directed by Judd Apatow.
Grew up playing hockey, lacrosse, and the fife. Worked briefly as a Massachusetts mailman before moving to Chicago and joining Second City, where he met Stephen Colbert, with whom he would become half of the Ambiguously Gay Duo animated shorts for Saturday Night Live, and Nancy Walls, whom he would marry. First Daily Show appearance: February 11, 1999, in a field piece about a small town Nebraska snake expert. Went on to star in The Office. Oscar nominee as best actor for Foxcatcher.
Born in New York City, raised in Dallas, colleged at the University of North Carolina, wrote for King of the Hill. In 2008, at age thirty-two, hired by The Daily Show as a writer and correspondent; became Senior Meteorologist, Senior Debt Correspondent, Senior Political Image Consultant, the host of the hit game show “Rappers or Republicans,” and the voice of Puppet Michael Steele. Left The Daily Show in 2014. Has recorded a live standup album and a standup special for Netflix, both named Brooklyn, and hosts a weekly standup showcase, Night Train, in Brooklyn.
Was writing for Saturday Night Live when hired as a Daily Show correspondent. Made nine appearances from June to September 2014, then rejoined SNL, this time as the first black cohost of “Weekend Update.” Grew up on New York’s Lower East Side, the youngest of seven children; came to comedy relatively late in life, at twenty-six.
Hired as a researcher at The Daily Show prior to its 1996 debut, his prodigious recall of obscure facts and contradictory political quotes, and his ability to draw connections between them, made “Chods” invaluable, particularly in preparing Stewart for contentious interviews of Bush Administration officials like Douglas Feith and Mitch Daniels. Dubbed “an investigative humorist” by the Washington Post. Tried to stump Stewart with baseball trivia questions. Duke graduate.
A product of the Daily Show–New Jersey–NYU pipeline. As a field producer, 2005–2008, traveled to China and Iraq for pieces featuring Rob Riggle, but also worked on great silly bits (Ed Helms in a Speedo, Jason Jones “drowning” his daughter). Later a segment producer for The Late Late Show with James Corden, and writer of an animated series starring Jones and Samantha Bee.
Grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, the youngest of eleven children. Majored in theater at Northwestern University; studied improv under Del Close and joined Second City, where he was Steve Carell’s understudy. Moved to New York and created Exit 57 sketch show with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. Hired as a Daily Show correspondent in 1997. Left in 2005 to launch The Colbert Report, where he won six Emmys and two Grammys. Author of the best-selling I Am America (And So Can You!). Has testified before Congress and run for president. In 2015, succeeded David Letterman as host of CBS’s Late Show. Can recite the Lord of the Rings trilogy from memory.
A documentary filmmaker who had worked with Albert Maysles and Nick Broomfield, she was hired in 1996 for what she assumed would be a three-month job at a show with the provisional title “The Daily Planet.” During the next eighteen years was a Daily Show field producer, media spokeswoman, human relations coordinator, and executive producer. Also found time, in 2005, to create Making Dazed, a documentary about Dazed and Confused, a movie in which she’d made a cameo appearance as a pregnant teen buying cigarettes and booze.
Toured for one year with the National Shakespeare Company. Member of sketch group Third Rail Comedy, so named “because we’re dangerous!” Joined The Daily Show in 2002 and went on to become Senior Media Ethicist, Senior Middle East Correspondent, and Senior Anonymous Congressional Gay Public Restroom Sex Correspondent. Starred in Hot Tub Time Machine, cocreated the series Childrens Hospital, and costarred in HBO’s Ballers. Older brother of Daily Show correspondent Nate Corddry.
Manager who began working with Jon Stewart in 1987. Other clients include Stephen Colbert, Carson Daly, Jimmy Kimmel, and Bill Simmons. Renowned for driving a tough but fair bargain and for his use of the phrase “baby doll.”
Joined The Daily Show as an intern in 2002, then was hired full-time as a production assistant. Teamed up with his friend Elliott Kalan to write and produce spec segments with correspondents Rob Corddry and Ed Helms, and was promoted to postproduction department. Has a keen eye and ear for CNN tropes and oddities—such as when the network played “Rock Me Like a Hurricane” to accompany a report on Katrina and New Orleans. With Rory Albanese, hosted a radio show parody called Blue and Fish in the Morning from an East Village storefront. Studio announcer for Trevor Noah’s Daily Show.
Started as Daily Show writer on the same day in 2000 as Allison Silverman. Veteran of New York’s nineties downtown alternative-comedy scene. Moved to The Colbert Report in 2005 to, in Colbert’s words, “infect” the new show’s writers with Colbert’s voice. Talented musician, 3-D photographer, and View-Master artist. Brother of actor and comedian Rebecca Drysdale.
Hired as a production assistant at The Daily Show in 1997. Worked her way up through the ranks, assembling graphics and props, wrangling correspondents and political convention logistics, and hiring dozens of staffers. Became an executive producer in 2011. Stylish and gregarious. Cancer survivor and unofficial Daily Show social director.
Grew up in Compton, California. A knee injury sidetracked his Long Beach State basketball career but prompted him to pursue comedy. A chance meeting with former Daily Show writer Rob Kutner at a Los Angeles standup show led to Free being hired as a Daily Show writer five months later, in October 2012. Left in 2016 to write for Any Given Wednesday on HBO.
Executive at MTV when Stewart hosted You Wrote It, You Watch It and The Jon Stewart Show. Vice president of programming at Comedy Central when The Daily Show debuted in 1996; president of Comedy Central, 2004–2016. Close friends with Stephen Colbert since they were students and waiters together at Northwestern.
Was directing commercials and aspiring to become an indie filmmaker when he noticed an interesting comedy show job listing on a TV and film production website. Hired as field producer in 2006; first piece was called “Mini Kiss,” about rival tribute bands featuring dwarf versions of Gene Simmons and company. Became head of field department in 2012 and executive producer in 2014. Frequent collaborator with Jason Jones, who wore “I’m with Jew” T-shirt while walking through Iran next to Greenberg.
Was Daily Show intern during her senior year at Yale. Was then hired as Daily Show receptionist, and took the initiative to display her writing skills by creating short staff bios for the show’s internal website. Spent two years as a researcher in the field department before being hired as a staff writer in 2010. Running inside joke: Elliott Kalan, her officemate, refers to her as “Midwest Hallie.” Haglund, proud and annoyed, corrects him that she is from Colorado, which is definitely in the West.
Standup comic and longest-tenured Daily Show writer, from 1996 to 2014. Creator and host of Writers’ Bloc podcast. Husband of one of Ed Helms’s cousins. Father of two. Head writer for Black and White, an A&E comedy series about race and culture.
Worked as a writers’ assistant for Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect in Los Angeles, but wanted to move back closer to his Staten Island roots. Hired by The Daily Show in 2007 for the studio production staff. Spotted bogus crowd rally footage used by Sean Hannity; praised on air by Stewart, who brought out an elderly actor playing Hedayati to demonstrate the damage from watching too much Fox. Suggested Mystikal’s “Danger” song as soundtrack to Anthony Weiner scandal segments. Supervised Daily Show Podcast Without Jon Stewart. Became a field producer in 2015.
Grew up in Atlanta. Was on the swim team at Oberlin. Hired as Daily Show correspondent in 2002. Later created Andy Bernard on The Office and costarred in all three Hangover films. Gifted banjo player and irrepressible singer; has sat in with Mumford & Sons and performed at Bonnaroo as one-third of the Lonesome Trio.
President of Viacom’s music and entertainment group. Former executive at MTV, USA Network, and Fox. Credited with bringing South Park to Comedy Central. Emerson College friend of Denis Leary.
Earned literature degree from Yale; worked as literary agent; first work of his own literature, The Areas of My Expertise, got Hodgman on The Daily Show as a guest in 2005. Was hired as Daily Show’s “Resident Expert” in 2006, enabling him to dismiss Stewart as “a boorish philistine.” Those appearances led to Hodgman being cast as “PC” in a famous series of Apple TV ads. In later Daily Show years also played “the Deranged Millionaire,” enabling Hodgman to bring Yale’s a capella Whiffenpoofs on to sing his praises. Can grow an enviable array of facial hair.
Hired as a production assistant in 1996. Not long afterward was on verge of taking a job with a new Maureen O’Boyle talk show. Was told by Craig Kilborn, “What are you, crazy? That show is not going to last even six weeks.” He wasn’t far off. Hopf stayed and is now in her second decade as Daily Show script supervisor. Gifted interpreter of cryptic last-minute rewrite instructions by Stewart, Noah, and the writing staff.
A product of northern New Jersey and the Harvard Lampoon, and a second-place finisher, by one dollar, on Teen Jeopardy! Hired for the Daily Show writing staff in 1999 by Ben Karlin, who had been a Jewish summer tour friend. Succeeded Karlin as head writer in 2002 and as executive producer in 2006. Major contributor to America and Earth (the books). Cowrote, with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, eight original songs for the TV special A Colbert Christmas and, for the 2011 Tony Awards show, “Broadway: It’s Not Just For Gays Anymore!” Knows God, with Whom he cowrote a Broadway play, a memoir, and tweets. Curly-haired and sharp-tongued. After leaving The Daily Show, was a producer on The Late Late Show with James Corden and cocreator of Disjointed, on Netflix.
Was working steadily as an actor and comedian in Canada when his wife, Samantha Bee, was hired as a Daily Show correspondent. Two years later, in 2005, Jones himself joined the Daily Show team. First appearance was riding a horse, naked. His 131 field pieces broke the previous Daily Show record, 128, held by Stephen Colbert. Excelled in foreign adventures, including trips to Iran, India, Iceland, Denmark, and Russia, where he was threatened by Mikhail Gorbachev. In unfortunate accident, penis once became stuck in a cantaloupe. Left in 2015 to write and star in The Detour, on TBS.
Wrote for InStyle and People before becoming member of original Daily Show writing staff, in 1996. Subsequently wrote and performed for Air America Radio, The Marc Maron Show, and The Rachel Maddow Show.
A self-described “film school nerd” who had been working in reality TV, where he often copied the style of Daily Show field pieces—good practice for when he was hired as a Daily Show field producer in 2006. Elaborate mini-action-movie segments he produced, with helicopters and stunt men, earned him the nickname “MKP,” for “Miles Kahn Productions.” Became an executive producer at Samantha Bee’s Full Frontal.
A 2002 Daily Show internship began his climb: production assistant, segment producer, staff writer, head writer. Made cameo on-air appearances playing a U.S. soldier in Iraq; Toppington Von Monocle; Doodle Von Taintstain; Steve Carell’s butler; and throwing rose petals in front of Bill O’Reilly. Diminutive, high-spirited, and proudly nerdy; a serious Marvel Comics and Abraham Lincoln buff. Cohost of the Flophouse podcast, which critiques flop movies. Head writer for new incarnation of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
In 2004, wanted to intern at Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn but was redirected to The Daily Show. Became audience coordinator, handling ticket requests, chatting with excited fans waiting in line for taping, and accepting their gifts of oil-painting portraits of Stewart. Proud daughter of south Brooklyn and Daily Show Pizza Correspondent on podcast episode. Recommends L&B Spumoni Gardens of Bensonhurst.
Arrived at the University of Wisconsin thinking he wanted to become a journalist. Spent three years as a writer and editor at the Onion. Hired as Daily Show head writer in 1999; he was promoted to executive producer in 2003. Helped create The Colbert Report; later became a writer and producer of Modern Family. Editor of and contributor to the essay collection Things I’ve Learned from Women Who’ve Dumped Me. Round-faced and forcefully opinionated.
Rose from line producer to executive producer, handling, among other production and business responsibilities, budgets, contract negotiations, convention coverage logistics, and legal wrangles—for example, when a joke uses a piece of music or image without exactly, technically having permission. Knows to avoid the song “One Shining Moment,” though it was a favorite of Stewart’s.
Senior producer who was instrumental in transition from laborious assembly of video montages to SnapStream era, allowing The Daily Show to rapidly knit together damning clips. Became supervising producer at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Second most famous product of Kalamazoo, Michigan, after Derek Jeter. Improv veteran of Second City in Chicago and Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. Spotted by Daily Show producers on web series Engaged, cowritten by and costarring his wife, Laura Grey. Debuted March 2014 as New Senior Caucasian Correspondent. Six feet four inches tall. Was paid perhaps Jon Stewart’s ultimate compliment: “He’s just as funny as a short guy.”
Segment producer on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher for eight years. Changed jobs and coasts in 2001 to help Stewart move The Daily Show’s guest interviews away from celebrities and toward politicians and authors. Married to standup comic Joe Bolster. Mother of twin boys.
Attended same Atlanta prep school as Ed Helms and Jo Miller. Wrote for Dennis Miller Live on HBO before being hired at The Daily Show in 2002. A leader, along with Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, and Jason Ross, of the Daily Show writers during the strike. Left in 2009; later a writer and producer for Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show and at TBS.
Publicist; began working with Jon Stewart in 1994 and represented him until 2008. Other clients have included Judd Apatow, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rob Riggle, Will Ferrell, and Method Man. Started his own firm, Forefront Media, in 2010. Left-handed, as is Stewart.
Proud son of Columbia, South Carolina. A coeditor of Harvard Lampoon, 1993. Writer and/or producer for Twisted Puppet Theater, The Jon Stewart Show, NewsRadio, and The Simpsons. Joined The Daily Show in 2006 as a writer and producer. Author, I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President. As of 2014, showrunner of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Death-penalty supporter, Second Amendment believer, snappy dresser.
Hired in 1996, the only original Daily Show correspondent to continue from the Kilborn era into the Stewart years. Her “Beth Littleford Interview” segment parodied puffy celebrity interviews, and included encounters with Dionne Warwick, David Duke—who recommended Clorox to remove stains from white sheets—and an increasingly annoyed David Cassidy. Masturbated an Iowa boar for a field piece. Left in 2000 for a role on Spin City. Was married for nearly twenty years to former Daily Show producer Rob Fox.
In 2002, while a senior at Florida State became the first full-time intern in The Daily Show’s postproduction department, was hired as a staff member right after college graduation, and helped pioneer the construction of video montages that became a Daily Show trademark. After years as a segment and supervising producer, became an executive producer in 2013. Performs as a standup; married to a writer of children’s TV shows.
Mexican-Sicilian-American. Born on the Fourth of July. Grew up in San Francisco’s poetically-named Inner Sunset neighborhood. Dropped out of college to work in family’s human resources company, where his speciality was firing people. Rebelled against family desire that he take over the company to pursue a career in standup comedy. Hired as a Daily Show correspondent in 2011. Cofounder of All Things Comedy podcast network.
Born in Mumbai, grew up in northern England and Tampa, Florida. Award-winning actor who had appeared in plays by Tony Kushner and Tom Stoppard. Joined The Daily Show full-time in 2007; was Senior Muslim Correspondent, Senior Asian Correspondent, and Senior Foreign-Looking Correspondent. Nearly arrested for barging into offices of Idaho agribusiness while dressed as giant mutant fish for field piece about chemical dumping. Writer of a play, Sakina’s Restaurant, and a memoir, No Land’s Man.
Producer for Frontline and 60 Minutes, with expertise in international terrorism, who joined The Daily Show as a field producer in 2001, one week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Credited with sharpening Daily Show field interviews and realistic look of field pieces. Became head of field department in 2006 and co–executive producer in 2011. Later teamed up with Rob Corddry on Adult Swim’s Newsreaders.
Programming executive who helped launch and build MTV; an early and forceful champion of Jon Stewart. Rose to become chairwoman and CEO of MTV Networks, overseeing Comedy Central, among other channels, from 2004 to 2011. Now runs digital video company Astronauts Wanted and serves on board of directors of Amazon.
Was a Daily Show intern while a film student at NYU. Hired, in 2005, as assistant to executive producer Ben Karlin. Worked as segment producer for four years, then became staff writer in 2012. Officemate and karaoke duet partner with Zhubin Parang. Nicknamed “Stone Cold Sarver” for her deadpan demeanor. Met husband Sam Means when he was Daily Show writer.
Spent five years at ABC’s Good Morning America before joining The Daily Show’s postproduction unit in 1997, rising to head of the department in 2013. Also a talented punk rock cartoonist and guitarist in the band World War IX.
Motorcycle rider. Knitter. Was grad student in Medieval Jewish History. Helped found improv group at Yale with Steve Bodow, who invited Miller to apply for Daily Show writing job in 2009. Knit Jon Stewart a hat and scarf as a going-away present in 2015. Executive producer of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
Spent three years as an associate producer at 48 Hours, on CBS; hired at The Daily Show in 2003 as field pieces took on more of the tropes of “real” journalism. First field piece was a Rob Corddry report about a Jersey Shore boardwalk attraction—shooting paintballs at a guy dressed as Saddam Hussein. Thrived in improvised settings like political conventions. Known as “Smills” to fellow TDS staffers. Left in 2016 to become executive producer at Bill Simmons’s HBO show.
As college student, decided to try standup after watching Chris Rock special. Wrote a Daily Show audition piece that was inspired by Ben Affleck’s argument with Bill Maher about discrimination against Muslims; in it, Minhaj boldly mocked Stewart’s movie, Rosewater, while sitting across from Stewart. Was hired immediately. Debuted as correspondent in November 2014, defending mobility rights for pigs.
Grew up in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, the son of a white father and a black mother—a relationship that was illegal at the time. By the late 2000s had become an international standup comedy star. Was the first South African comic to appear on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. Joined The Daily Show in 2014 as a contributor and made two appearances before being named Jon Stewart’s successor as host. Speaks eight languages. Author of a memoir, Born a Crime.
Grew up in a suburb of Birmingham, England, the son of two teachers. Attended University of Cambridge. Had appeared on British TV news satire show Mock the Week before joining The Daily Show in 2006. Hosted for eight weeks in the summer of 2013 while Stewart was directing the movie Rosewater. Creator and host of Last Week Tonight on HBO; hired former Daily Show head writer Tim Carvell as executive producer. Long-suffering fan of Liverpool FC.
Was working at Good Morning America in 2000 when a cameraman friend passed along a tip that The Daily Show was looking for a new director. O’Neil’s background in network news and sports was indispensable as The Daily Show upgraded its coverage of live events, including conventions and election nights. Is the “Chuck” whom Stewart would call out to during a show asking for a video clip to roll.
Was corporate lawyer by day and comedian by night. In 2007, met Hallie Haglund when they were partners on an improv team at Upright Citizens Brigade—“still one of the worst improv teams UCB has ever had,” he says. In 2011, Haglund encouraged Parang to apply for an open Daily Show writing job. Promoted to head writer in 2015. Karaoke stalwart; ferociously proud Tennessee native. Head writer, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Reformed blogger and print journalist whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Playboy, and Spy. Father is a historian, antiwar activist, and former Communist Party member. Was, for a time, obsessed with the girl pop group Huckapoo. Author of Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture.
A former advertising copywriter and standup comic, Regan was the first writer hired by Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. Creator of “Produce Pete with Steve Carell.” Has also been a staff writer at Family Guy and coauthored a memoir, Shatner Rules, with William Shatner. Possibly big in South Korea, thanks to an acting appearance in a nineties foreign soap opera.
A native of Long Island and a graduate of Cornell. Was hired as The Daily Show’s writers’ assistant in 1999, two months after Stewart took over as host. Promoted to the writing staff in 2001. With Tim Carvell, wrote the judicial branch of government section for America (The Book). Left The Daily Show in 2007; later worked with Daily Show alum Jim Margolis on Newsreaders and Samantha Bee on Full Frontal.
Big Rig. Studied theater and film at the University of Kansas, then spent twenty-three years in the Marine Corps, serving in Liberia, Kosovo, Albania, and Afghanistan, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the reserves. While assigned to New York, joined Upright Citizens Brigade improv group. Spent one season as an SNL featured player; hired as a Daily Show correspondent in 2006. Returned to Afghanistan in 2007 to perform USO shows and shoot guns and Daily Show segments.
Italian-Colombian-American. Harvard graduate and Hasty Pudding president. Toured Southeast Asia in the cast of Grease; wrote and produced Wishbone, a PBS series about a dog who teaches kids about classical literature. Interest in obscure American presidents led to his hiring as Daily Show correspondent in 1998. After leaving The Daily Show in 2003 has been a regular contributor to CBS’s Sunday Morning and is the host of My Grandmother’s Ravioli on Cooking Channel.
Was performing standup and writing for an Internet comedy site when he was hired as a Daily Show writer in 2002. Envied by nerdier Daily Show writers for his knowledge of guns, sports, and the financial industry, the last of which Ross put to extensive use during the show’s 2008–2009 financial crisis segments. Proud of dressing John Oliver in a big foam suit for a “Schoolhouse Rock” parody segment. Left The Daily Show in 2013. Later a writer for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and head writer for Bill Simmons’s HBO show.
Raised in rural Colorado, graduated from Northwestern, moved to New York to pursue a career in comedy. Played a stalker-fan in Flight of the Conchords and Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock. Founding member of the Story Pirates, which adapts and performs stories and songs written by children. Married to former Daily Show writer Rich Blomquist, with whom she wrote The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex.
Hired in 2000 as The Daily Show beefed up its writing staff for the presidential campaign. Yale graduate; veteran of Chicago improv scene. Left in 2002 to join Late Night with Conan O’Brien, then became original executive producer of The Colbert Report. Silverman’s legs doubled for Madonna’s, with Colbert crawling between them, for a Daily Show segment about Madonna’s wedding to Guy Ritchie.
Talent coordinator for Late Night with David Letterman. Producer of The Jon Stewart Show on MTV. Cocreator and first executive producer of The Daily Show. Daughter of academics who later became psychoanalysts; mother of one son. The Daily Show’s “Moment of Zen” was inspired by Smithberg seeing her cat staring at the nature scenes that ended CBS’s Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt.
Has been stage manager since The Daily Show debuted in 1996. Responsible for coordinating all activity in the studio, from wrangling the talent and camera operators to the proper placement of props. Songwriter and guitarist. Son is a Marine Corps first lieutenant.
Like Jon Stewart, a proud native of central New Jersey. Hired in 2005 as a Daily Show field department researcher after working at Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Became a segment producer and senior producer. Has made two documentary films: Twisted, about professional balloon artists; and Tickling Giants, about Bassem Youssef’s harrowing adventures in Egyptian political satire. Can talk backward.
Grew up in Los Angeles. Made her TV debut at sixteen, on Nickelodeon’s Just for Kicks. At twenty-two, was juggling classes in improv at Upright Citizens Brigade with classes in English at Cal State Long Beach. Had to hurry up and finish college exams so she could move to New York to debut, in January 2012, as The Daily Show’s youngest correspondent. Left the show in 2016, ten months after Stewart, to develop her own project for Comedy Central. One of “2 Dope Queens,” with Phoebe Robinson, who host a live comedy show and podcast.
Grew up in Los Angeles as a self-described nerd, heavily interested in science fiction and magic tricks, before trying standup comedy in college. Wrote for sitcoms including Sister, Sister and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; created and/or produced The PJs with Eddie Murphy, The Bernie Mac Show, and Whoopi. Says his move from The Office to The Daily Show as Ed Helms went in the opposite direction was “a prisoner exchange.” Younger brother, Marc, is a longtime writer and producer at The Simpsons. Triathlete. In 2015, took over the Colbert Report time slot as host of The Nightly Show.
Had been a print journalist and the booker for LA’s Viper Room club before spending five years as a Daily Show correspondent, from 1998 to 2003. Subsequently became longtime sex columnist for Esquire; wrote a memoir, I, California; and is a writer for The Democracy Handbook, a web and cable series starring Bassem Youssef.
Was a cardiac surgeon in Cairo before being galvanized by the 2011 Arab Spring—and by The Daily Show—to create his own political satire program, which was initially shot in the laundry room of Youssef’s apartment building and uploaded to YouTube. Its success led to the weekly Al Bernameg (“The Program”) on Egyptian TV. Creator of American cable series The Democracy Handbook and author of Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring.