PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYFEST NY 2016: THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's PaleyFest New York 2016. This evening celebrates "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," the series of nightly comedy shows which take a skewed look at current events and feature field stories about any topic. After a series of clips from recent episodes, host Ron Simon (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces Alex Wagner (senior editor, The Atlantic).
Wagner moderates the following panelists: executive producer Jen Flanz; writers Steve Bodow and Adam Lowitt; host Trevor Noah; and correspondents Jordan Klepper, Hasan Minhaj, Desi Lydic and Ronny Chieng.
The panelists touch on such topics as: whether Donald Trump's likely loss in the presidential election will create a "comic desert"; Noah's belief that Trump's true goal was "a spectacle" rather than the actual office of President, and why he has "won either way"; the challenges of last-second rewrites to include up-to-date breaking news and bombshells; the cathartic nature of a satirical news program; the biting response from The New York Times' legal team in response to Trump's demands for a retraction; how Trump's absurd antics are "catching up to their jokes"; why comedians must "detach" when reporting upsetting content and use humor to "dismantle" the situation; Minhaj's "whiteface" appearance at the Republican National Convention; Lydic's views of the strong gender divide in the 2016 election, including the sudden presence of a certain anatomical epithet used by Trump; how Noah's South African origins inform his ability to critique American politics and culture; whether the show is "too referential" to its young, liberal fan base; Klepper's experiences at several Trump rallies and his discovery that extremist rhetoric and paranoia have become more "normalized" over the course of the campaign; Chieng's reaction to Fox News' racist "Chinatown" segment and amusement that his colleagues were "outraged on his behalf"; how social media has affected the pace and immediacy of the show's content; Noah's view of humor as an "anesthetic" to tragic situations, with references to his own troubled childhood; why the team does not "manufacture outrage" when reporting on serious stories; why most South Africans are generally very politically involved, particularly given the end of apartheid in 1994, and how race has "defined" Noah's personal story; their shock at the extreme viewer scrutiny and fact-checking applied to "The Daily Show," more so than to non-satirical news; why "feelings are more important than facts" in this election cycle, and Minhaj's desire to "meet in the middle" of the two opposing sides; and how political extremism has created "a false middle."
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: the team's agreement with one another on "ninety percent" of their content; their work with an intelligent fact-checker who approves or vetoes various jokes and stories; why Trump has "the charisma of a car crash," with comparisons to manipulative African dictators; Bernie Sanders' role as "the yin to Trump's yang" in terms of connecting with his audience's feelings; the show's online popularity and Noah's belief that television is "becoming à la carte" in terms of availability; why the 2016 Presidential race is "the world's election," and America's need to "course-correct" recent harmful developments like Brexit; Noah's personal educational background, including South Africa's racist former policies regarding black children's schooling and his interest in learning from his co-workers; and his upcoming book "Born A Crime."
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 127665
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Alex Wagner … Moderator
- Steve Bodow … Panelist
- Jen Flanz … Panelist
- Adam Lowitt … Panelist
- Jordan Klepper … Panelist
- Hasan Minhaj … Panelist
- Desi Lydic … Panelist
- Ronny Chieng … Panelist
- Trevor Noah … Panelist
- Donald Trump
- Bernie Sanders