♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
( APPLAUSE )
THE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW."
FOLKS, MY GUEST TONIGHT IS THE HOST OF "THE DAILY SHOW WITH
TREVOR NOAH."
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," TREVOR NOAH!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ).
♪ ♪ ♪ >> Stephen: HELLO.
>> OH, WOW!
>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK.
>> WHAT'S GOING ON, EVERYBODY?
>> Stephen: NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> NICE TO SEE YOU.
>> Stephen: PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU HERE.
IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG.
>> IT'S BEEN A VERY LONG TIME.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE SPOKEN, BUT NOT IN FRONT OF A LIVE
AUDIENCE IN A LONG TIME.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ).
>> YEAH, THIS IS-- YEAH.
>> Stephen: NOW, LISTEN, LISTEN, FRIENDO, FOR THE PEOPLE
OUT THERE WHO DON'T KNOW, IN SEPTEMBER, "THE DAILY SHOW" SORT
OF RELAUNCHED IN A NEW STUDIO.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: OVER IN TIMES SQUARE.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: BUT HERE THE THING-- WHEN I HEARD WHERE YOU
WERE MOVING, I THOUGHT BUT THERE'S-- WAIT, I KNOW THAT
STUDIO.
THERE'S NO ROOM FOR AN AUDIENCE THERE.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: YOU HAVE NO AUDIENCE.
>> I HAVE NO AUDIENCE.
>> Stephen: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
>> OKAY, OKAY.
>> Stephen: WHY WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO BE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL
PEOPLE?
( APPLAUSE ).
>> SO, SO -- >> Stephen: I'M JUST WORRIED
ABOUT YOU.
>> LET'S START WITH THIS, FIRST OF ALL, YOU GUYS ARE HERE RIGHT
NOW, SO YOU COULDN'T BE THERE WITH ME.
SO IT'S LIKE TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME.
>> Stephen: THAT'S TRUE, THAT'S TRUE.
>> NO, BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT NO AUDIENCE OR AN AUDIENCE.
IT'S JUST LIKE IN THE PANDEMIC, THERE WERE NO PEOPLE.
AND THEN I WAS JUST LIKE, I'LL DO THE SHOW AND THERE'S NT
PEOPLE, AND THEN YOU GET USED TO EVERYTHING.
I'M USED TO AN AUDIENCE, AND THEN I'M USED TO NO AUDIENCE.
NOW I'M USED TO SAYING SOMETHING I FIND FUNNY AND NOBODY-- I HAVE
TO GET USED TO PEOPLE LAUGHING AGAIN.
I WOULD SAY SOMETHING AND PEOPLE WOULD BE LIKE HA-HA.
>> Stephen: DIDN'T YOU HAVE THAT OCCIPITAL ROLODEX OF ALL
THE REACTIONS TO THE JOKES OF THE 3,000 HOURS YOU HAD DONE AND
HAD THE RHYTHM IN YOUR HEAD AND WENT, I THINK IT WILL GO LIKE
THIS?
>> I STARTED LIKE THAT.
AS THE PANDEMIC WENT I STARTED HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH ONE
PERSON, WITH THE CAMERA.
>> Stephen: WHICH IS LOVELY?
>> AND NOW I'M TRYING NEW THINGS.
YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS, HERE'S THE THING, WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE
CRAZIEST PERIOD HUMANKIND HAS EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY OPINION
AND I'M NOT GOING TO COME OUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT AND BE
LIKE EVERYTHING IS NORMAL.
I'M GOING TO BREAK THE SHOW, REMAKE THE SHOW.
I'M GOING TO TRY THINGS ON THE SHOW.
EVERYTHING WILL BE WRONG.
EVERYTHING WILL BE RIGHT.
YEAH, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF TOMORROW WILL COME.
>> Stephen: NICELY DONE, NICELY DONE.
( APPLAUSE )
YOU HAD THIS EXPERIENCE-- THERE WERE CERTAIN ASPECTS OF DOING
THE SHOW WITH NO AUDIENCE IN A LITTLE TINY ROOM WITH ME AND
CHRIS AND MARK AND OCCASIONALLY MY WIFE, AND THAT WAS IT, IN THE
ROOM.
FOR 15 MONTHS... THERE WERE SOME ASPECTS OF THAT THAT WERE VERY
POSITIVE, THAT I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO HOLD ON TO.
ONE OF THEM WAS BEING ABLE TO DO THE ZOOM INTERVIEWS.
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: AND HAVING NO SENSE OF CHANGING WHAT THE
CONVERSATION WAS BASED ON A PERFORMANCE ASPECT THAT HAD TO
BE FOR A LIVE AUDIENCE.
WE HAD-- I'M NOT GOING TO SAY MORE HONEST BUT MORE NATURAL
CONVERSATIONS.
WHAT WAS IT-- WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU TAKE FROM THAT PERIOD OF
TIME THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO PRESERVE NOW, OTHER THAN THE NO
AUDIENCE, BECAUSE THAT'S SORT OF THE ABSENCE SOMETHING.
WHAT DID IT GIVE YOU?
>> I THINK EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS A GIFT AND A CURSE DEPENDING HOW
YOU LOOK AT IT.
ONE THE GREAT THINGS OF HAVING AN ALDIENCE IS SHARING THE
EXPERIENCE.
ONE OF THE FAVORITE THINGS YOU SAID ABOUT MAKING "THE LATE
SHOW"" IS YOU SAID THE GREATEST JOY OF MAKING "THE LATE SHOW,"
IS THE NOT PERFORMING OF THE SHOW BUT THE CREATING OF THE
SHOW AND WHAT YOU SHARE WITH THE AUDIENCE IS THE JOY YOU HAD
CREATING THIS PRODUCT.
RIGHT?
AND I LOVE THAT.
WHAT I TRY AND DO IS APPLY THAT SAME ETHOS.
LET'S HAVE FUN DOING IT AND CREATE IT AND IT'S FUN SHARING
IT WITH ALL OF YOU.
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE.
BUT THERE ARE PARTS OF DOING IT WITH NOBODY THERE THAT I DON'T,
IT HAS LIKE A SMALLNESS TO IT, IT HAS-- YOU KNOW, THERE'S JUST
SOMETHING ABOUT IT, WHERE IT'S JUST-- WE FEEL LIKE A BAND OF
JUST, LIKE, ROBBERS IN THE WILD WEST.
IT'S JUST 10 OF US, AND WE'RE JUST DOING OUR THING.
JUST, ," WHAT YOU WANT IN THE NEWS?
POW-POW!
LET'S SEE WHAT WE SAY ABOUT IT."
IT'S SMALLER, I THINK THAT'S WHAT I LIKE.
>> Stephen: IT'S ALMOST TWO YEARS, 20 MONTHS, HAVE BEEN SO
DARK AT TIMES.
THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION IS WHAT THESE SHOWS END UP BEING
ABOUT, THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION.
WE DON'T SET THE AGENDA.
BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SO DARK, WE WERE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THINGS
I'M NOT SURE I COULD HAVE SPOKEN TO A LIVE AUDIENCE ABOUT WITHOUT
DESTROYING THEIR ABILITY TO LAUGH OR TO ENJOY IT.
>> YEAH, YEAH.
>>Stephen: I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE ORDER IN WHICH I
TOLD THE STORY OF THE DAY FOR FEAR THAT I HAD TO WORRY ABOUT
WHAT THE VIBE OF AN AUDIENCE IS, BECAUSE WHILE Y'ALL DON'T KNOW
THIS, WE ORDER THE WAY IN WHICH WE TELL YOU THE STORIES IN SUCH
A WAY TO KIND OF HOW CAN YOU FEED SOMEONE WHAT HAPPENED TODAY
TODAY?
IN WHAT ORDER CAN YOU DO IT, AND NOT STEP ON EACH SUBSEQUENT
STORY.
BUT OVER ALL THOSE DARK MONTHS, IT DIDN'T MATTER ORDER I DID IT.
>> IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE YOU'RE ALONE.
THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY-- IF YOU HAVE AN AUDIENCE, YOU HAVE TO
THINK ABOUT THE AUDIENCE.
IMAGINE IF YOU HAVE GUESTS IN YOUR HOUSE, YOU WILL CHANGE HOW
YOU DO YOUR DAY.
WHEN I WAKE UP, I WAKE UP, JUMP UP, GO, DO I NEED TO DO
SOMETHING SOMEWHERE IN THE HOUSE.
GETTING DRESSED IS NOT SOMETHING I THINK ABOUT.
I RUN AROUND IN THE HOUSE AND IF I WANT TO DRINK SOMETHING, I
DRINK SOMETHING, BRUSH MY TEETH.
DO I GET DRESSED?
MAYBE, MAYBE NOT.
THESE ARE THINGS I DON'T WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE I HAVE NO
AUDIENCE.
WHEN I HAVE GUESTS OVER I THINK HOW WOULD I LIKE THIS DAY TO GO
FR THEM SO THEY HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE.
>> Stephen: PROBABLY FIRST WOULD BE PANTS.
>> AND NOW PANTS ARE NOT BAD.
IT JUST CHANGES BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN AUDIENCE.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A BREAK, TREVOR, BUT WE'LL BE
RIGHT BACK WITH MORE TREVOR NOAH.
STICK AROUND.
♪ ♪ ♪