Award-winning comedian and former “Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj kicked off his week of guest hosting Monday night. TheWrap was there to catch everything from the taping that the regular viewer at home missed — from the atmosphere of the studio to audience interactions that happened in between takes.
Below is a roundup of the highlights:
Good Tunes
“The Daily Show” used music to help hype the audience up as they entered the taping and in between segments to keep them engaged. Songs played during the taping included “We Want the Funk,” “Rock Steady” and “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
‘Daily Show’ Etiquette
Before getting the taping started, the audience watched a video featuring “Daily Show” correspondents Ronny Chieng, Roy Wood Jr., Desi Lydic, Michael Costa and Dulcé Sloan sharing the ground rules surrounding safety and etiquette during filming.
Rules included asking for visitors’ cell phones to be put away — including flip phones — and not leaning back in their foldable chair seats to avoid accidents.
Audience Warm-Up
Ashton Womack, a writer for “The Daily Show,” was tasked with warming up the audience. His jokes covered a wide variety of topics, including R. Kelly, O.J. Simpson, Disney’s upcoming live-action adaption of “The Little Mermaid,” starring Halle Bailey, and his experience at a George Floyd protest.
He also made jokes about several audience members, some of whom were visiting from outside the U.S., including Dubai, Belgium and Guadalupe.
Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng Audience Interactions
Hasan Minhaj opened the taping by thanking the audience for attending. He added that he was excited to be back at “The Daily Show” and teased that things would go “off the rails.”
Audiences proceeded to watch a segment between Minhaj and “Daily Show” correspondent Ronny Chieng in which the pair jokingly criticized each other. Following the conclusion of the segment, Chieng quickly greeted the crowd before leaving set.
Later in the taping, audiences watched a pre-recorded interview between Minhaj and a group of young kids about various topics, including their thoughts on the Biden administration. After the interview, Minhaj briefly talked to the audience before the next segment started about his daughter turning five, and how he was surprised “how much more mature kids are than adults.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo takes a snack home
During an interview with Milwaukee Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo, Minhaj had him try a Fruit Roll Up, a Hostess Snowball, Reese’s Puffs cereal and a gulab juman for the first time.
Once the segment concluded, Antetokounmpo took a picture with Minhaj while holding the Reese’s Puffs cereal and proceeded to leave set with it.
“The Daily Show” airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central. Minhaj is set to guest host through Friday.
