News Satire Roundup: August 13th

Sunday, August 13 – John began, of course, with the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville and the violence that followed.  He hit the horrifying nature of the event hard and paid particular attention to Trump’s damning non-answer when asked to condemn white nationalism.  I loved the line (re:  the alt-right’s support for Trump,) “Nazis are a lot like cats.  If they like you, it’s probably because you’re feeding them.”  The main story was also quite timely, as John looked at North Korea, covering Trump and Kim Jong-un’s recent threats but digging into the situation in general.  He attempted to sort out fact from fiction on crazy stories we’ve heard, showed the anti-US propaganda its people are fed, and examined the motivations for Kim’s threatening stance.  He ended with a direct appeal to North Koreans (in case the episode was smuggled in on a flash drive,) with an assist from Weird Al (given North Korea’s love of accordions.)

No Daily Show again this week.  First of all – goodness gracious, are they going to have stuff to catch up on.  I hope they have time to give the events of this week their due.

This week, I want to highlight the “Between the Scenes” clips on the show’s website.  Periodically, the show posts short clips of Trevor chatting with/riffing to the audience between takes, and while these bits are often less polished than the material we get in the episodes, they’re still funny and insightful.

The between-the-scenes stuff often feels like Trevor “test-driving” bits in front of an audience, and some jokes and observations made there have appeared in a more finished form in later episodes.  For instance, Trevor tried out the notion of comparing the GOP’s attitude toward Obamacare to “playa haters” in R&B – guys who croon about how “girl, I would treat you so much better,” the twist being that, given the reins and the chance to actually do better, they have no real ideas – an observation that later appeared on the show.  Ditto for a comment about the terrifying/ridiculous dichotomy of Trump news, comparing it to a “penis-shaped asteroid” hurtling towards Earth.

Often, it’s continuing remarks on stories the show has just presented in the prior take.  I really appreciate the clip of Trevor talking about Philando Castile’s history of getting pulled over by the police, along with his own.  I’d always figured the whole “flopping his upper torso through the open window” thing from his getting-pulled-over story in his Lost in Translation special was an embellishment for comedy, but his description in that clip makes it sound like that’s something he genuinely does each time he gets pulled over, a conscious decision that he’d rather look dumb and be 100% sure the officer knows exactly where his hands are.

They can also be bits on random stories the show isn’t covering, or just something relevant to what’s happening in the studio at the moment.  I like Trevor’s take on B.O.B. claiming on Twitter that the earth is flat, as well as an audience member’s heritage leading him into a little riff on Trinidadian accents.  On a couple occasions, he’s used the time to clear up misconceptions about the show – evidently, there were fans who thought both Desi’s pregnancy and Ronny’s accent were being “faked” for comedy, and he set the record straight that both were real.  If you’re a fan of the show, and haven’t checked out these clips on their site, I recommend it.  Some good stuff there.