Desi Lydic on Hosting The Daily Show, Having Conservative Parents & Puppy Getting High Accidentally

0:00 Our next guest is an Emmy winner, and one of the hosts of The Daily Show.

0:03 Watch it and her weeknights on Comedy Central.

0:06 Please welcome Desi Lydic.

0:09 [music] [applause and cheering] [cheering] [music] [music]

0:29 How are you?

0:31 [cheering]

0:31 Desi, I didn't I didn't mean to interrupt your Guillermo moment.

0:34 I know you were headed to him, and then I popped out and ruined the whole thing.

0:38 I can't, but we we were we had a moment.

0:40 There was the chemistry was palpable, and I could see that.

0:44 Yeah, he was glowing when you came out, and vice versa.

0:48 Are you excited to be in Meryl's seat right now?

0:52 [laughter]

0:52 It's got to be good luck, right?

0:53 You know what?

0:54 I got a bone to pick with you because

0:56 What?

0:56 First of all, every week when I host, I have to follow Jon Stewart.

1:00 And now I come here, and you're going to make me follow Meryl Streep?

1:04 Oh, listen, you follow the greats, you know?

1:06 That's how it goes.

1:07 That's how Yeah, you uh By the way, you do a great job on the show.

1:10 I think you do a great job following Jon Stewart.

1:13 You Did you meet Meryl, by the way, or no?

1:17 I did not get to meet her.

1:19 Did not get to meet her, but I will tell you,

1:21 my very first TV job that I ever had, it was a hidden camera prank show.

1:27 Don't think too hard about it.

1:29 Okay.

1:29 And when the show was about to premiere,

1:31 they asked all of the cast members to put together a bio,

1:35 but they said make it funny.

1:36 And at the time, I had zero credits to my name.

1:38 I was waiting tables.

1:39 I was doing bit parts here and there.

1:42 So, I thought it would be funny to just take Meryl Streep's bio,

1:45 and copy and paste it under my name.

1:48 And I did that, and they were like,

1:49 "This is great." But the joke The joke is now on me because every now and again,

1:54 people will come up to me and be like,

1:56 "Oh, so how What was it like going to Yale Drama School?" And I have to be like,

2:02 "Funny story." You were You're a three-time Oscar winner now.

2:06 "You were nominated for 21 Oscars?

2:09 That [laughter] Yeah, so I like to apologize to Meryl.

2:13 You started before The Daily Show,

2:15 and before that prank show, or maybe not before it.

2:17 You won't You came out here to be an actor, to act.

2:20 Yes.

2:20 And were you in any like big movies or anything like that?

2:23 Well, I hate to break it to you, Jimmy.

2:26 I I was in a movie with your nemesis.

2:30 I was in We Bought a Zoo.

2:32 Oh.

2:36 He's our nemesis.

2:37 Oh, you were in We Bought a Zoo?

2:39 in We Bought a Zoo.

2:41 Oh, and is that why you decided to stop acting?

2:45 Yes.

2:45 New York, and beyond The Daily Show.

2:47 Oh, I'm so sorry he did that to you.

2:52 [laughter]

2:50 I I played I played Lasagna Mom.

2:54 Really?

2:55 You You all remember Lasagna Mom, right?

2:58 [cheering]

2:58 Why was it Was Lasagna Mom She was offering Matt Damon a very heavy lasagna.

3:02 [laughter] As one does.

3:04 So, I played eat it?

3:05 He probably ate the whole thing.

3:06 ate the whole thing.

3:07 You know what?

3:08 I I love Matt Damon, but for the sake of this, I'll pretend like I don't.

3:12 Thank you.

3:12 I'll pretend like I don't.

3:13 I'm going to make you a shirt that says

3:14 Lasagna Mom on it if you agree to wear it.

3:17 I will wear it.

3:17 If you invite me back, I'll wear it on the show.

3:19 Okay, great.

3:20 Okay, good.

3:20 Yeah.

3:21 It's going to be like XXL cuz I think that's the only way

3:23 to to make a Lasagna Mom shirt is to make a big one.

3:27 It's the only way you can do it.

3:29 Yeah.

3:29 You I mean, you like Were you into interested in politics

3:33 in in a in a big way before you started hosting The Daily Show?

3:38 No, I don't know what I'm doing there.

3:40 [laughter] I have no idea.

3:41 It's something that came Well, it was the same for me.

3:43 I was like I wasn't super focused on this stuff.

3:45 And then it it became something that you cannot ignore.

3:49 You certainly can't.

3:50 You You cannot ignore it.

3:52 You [laughter] You can't.

3:54 Oh, man, they're both going at You got Melania and Trump going after you.

3:58 Yeah.

3:58 Yeah.

3:59 I will say it's kind of sweet the way you've unified them.

4:01 You really brought them together.

4:03 You know, I tried.

4:06 [applause] That's why I did it.

4:08 [cheering]

4:09 You You have done what no marriage counselor has been able to So, good for you.

4:16 [applause] I'm happy for them.

4:17 You Do your parents watch The Daily Show?

4:19 They watch Fox News.

4:20 They do?

4:21 I know that about you.

4:22 They do, but they also watch The Daily Show.

4:24 They're very

4:25 That's got to be difficult for them.

4:27 It is It is.

4:28 It It shows how how much they unconditionally love their children,

4:32 cuz we don't we don't always agree on a lot of things.

4:35 Your parents are conservative people.

4:37 They are They Do they get mad at you?

4:40 No.

4:41 No, for the stuff that you say?

4:42 No.

4:42 No.

4:43 No.

4:43 They They have a good sense of humor, and they

4:47 Uh we No, we have interesting conversations.

4:51 Okay.

4:50 We have interesting conversations with, you know,

4:53 over cards and and a little bourbon.

4:55 Uh-huh.

4:56 Yeah.

4:57 But No, we we We navigate it okay.

5:01 But I do I'm sort of passive-aggressive about it.

5:03 Like when I go home,

5:05 I'll kind of sneak into their phones and delete their Fox News apps.

5:09 Like I'll do things like that.

5:12 [applause] Take it off the TV.

5:14 Yeah.

5:14 Off the clicker.

5:15 Just delete all their episodes of You're hosting next week.

5:19 Yes.

5:20 So, you host Jon hosts Monday, you host the rest of the week.

5:23 That's right.

5:23 And then again in June.

5:25 Mhm.

5:26 So, you guys cuz you're on a rotation there with the other hosts.

5:28 Did Do you Do you get jealous?

5:31 Do you hope that you get the good stories?

5:33 Are you mad if you miss one?

5:35 How does it work there?

5:36 Yeah, yeah, we get We're very cutthroat over there.

5:38 We just like one another deeply.

5:40 No, we we we roll with it.

5:41 You obviously you can't control it.

5:43 You never know what kind of week you're going to get.

5:44 But yeah, you hope for a good funny like

5:47 the I I happened to get the Kristi Noem husband shot.

5:54 [applause]

5:54 That's big.

5:55 That's good.

5:55 a gift.

5:56 That was a gift from God.

5:57 And my first hosting week, my first hosting week,

6:00 I got uh Tucker Carlson getting fired, getting let go from Fox News.

6:04 So, that was that I was blessed.

6:07 a very funny segment that I will watch on YouTube called Fox Explains,

6:11 where you you Fox Explain the and um it is really

6:15 good because you take these the often misunderstood Fox News anchors,

6:19 and you explain to the world what they mean, what they're saying,

6:24 and it's very Is that something your parents

6:27 like because you're really digging in there.

6:30 Well, I first First of all,

6:31 I have to correct you because now by executive order, it is the Donald J.

6:35 Trump and Desi Lydic Fox Explains, presented by Donald J.

6:39 Trump.

6:40 Oh.

6:40 So, that's a new thing.

6:43 He's sponsoring the segment now?

6:45 now.

6:45 He put his name on it.

6:46 So, Has Is he Is he paying for that?

6:49 I have not seen a dime.

6:50 getting a check.

6:51 he will, but I have not seen a dime.

6:53 No, my parents my parents do get a kick out of that.

6:56 How do you Are you able to, when you're not working, detach from the news?

7:02 Well, I you know, for me,

7:04 I feel like my coping mechanism was either going to be to get a puppy,

7:08 or to start a sports gambling addiction.

7:12 After a lot of deliberation, and a lot of money lost on the Jets,

7:16 I decided to get a puppy.

7:18 So, we have a new We have a new puppy at home.

7:20 Oh, and how's that going?

7:22 She's Her name's Murphy Brown.

7:25 All right.

7:26 Yeah, she's got a mind of her own, and she might be a recovering alcoholic.

7:29 I'm not sure.

7:30 She's adorable and insane.

7:33 What kind?

7:34 She's She's a I'm going to This is going to sound She's a Lagotto Romagnolo.

7:39 Oh.

7:39 Yeah, I know.

7:40 It's annoying.

7:41 Italian truffle-sniffing dogs, right?

7:44 For what?

7:44 In New York City?

7:45 What does she get There's just like She's not going to Oh,

7:46 she'll find some stuff.

7:48 Well, she did.

7:50 She definitely did.

7:51 What'd she find?

7:52 We So, we I I brought her to work

7:55 one day cuz The Daily Show's very dog-friendly.

7:57 There's probably 10 dogs running around.

7:59 his dogs.

8:00 Brings his dogs.

8:01 Everybody brings their dog.

8:02 She came in, and she was the life of the party.

8:05 Loved it.

8:06 Everyone was loving on her.

8:07 She was having a great time.

8:09 So, I take her out for a little walk, and we're in Hell's Kitchen.

8:12 So, I take her for a walk, and I bring her back in, and about 40 45 minutes,

8:17 she starts acting weird, like oddly well-behaved.

8:22 She was quiet, and she was just sitting there,

8:24 and she was just kind of staring off.

8:27 And I'm looking at her, I'm like, "Something's going on." And I put my hand down

8:30 to pet her, and she kind of moves in slow motion,

8:32 and she goes like this, and she's looking at my hand.

8:36 And I I go to pick her up, and she vomits all over the edit.

8:41 Oh, great.

8:42 Yes.

8:43 Yes.

8:43 Apologies to Jordan Klepper and his piece.

8:45 It will never air.

8:46 It was the It was the one that was going to save democracy.

8:49 Now, no one No one's going to see it.

8:51 So, I'm freaking out, and I pick her up, and I take her to the vet,

8:54 and I'm like carrying this 30-lb dog 10 blocks up,

8:56 and I rush in, and I The vet comes out,

8:59 God love her, and I'm like, "I I don't know what's going on.

9:01 I think she got into something, but she's acting weird,

9:04 and she's not acting like herself,

9:05 and she threw up, and she's she's kind of dazed.

9:09 Like she just seems out of it." And the vet looks at her, and I go,

9:12 "I I I I don't know any other way to explain it,

9:14 but she seems" And the vet goes,

9:16 "High?" "She seems high?" And I was like, "Yeah, she seems high." And she goes,

9:23 "I think Murphy Brown is high." And they gave her a test in the back,

9:28 like a drug test, like she was applying for a job.

9:31 And she was very high.

9:33 She was.

9:34 She was very She's totally fine now.

9:36 She The vet was like, "She's just got to ride it out,

9:38 like everybody else." Was she out smoking in the alley?

9:41 How did this happen?

9:42 I think she picked something up off the sidewalk,

9:44 like a gummy, maybe, or something.

9:46 I don't I don't know.

9:47 Or was she in the office?

9:49 Who knows?

9:50 Yeah.

9:50 I don't know.

9:51 like an in-the-office type situation.

9:54 I mean, I'm I'm saying it was Jon Stewart's stash, but it could have been.

10:00 It could have been.

10:00 And you know what?

10:01 That's all we need to accuse him.

10:03 Well, um So, I'm coping by getting a puppy and she's coping by getting high.

10:08 Yes.

10:08 Yes, okay.

10:09 All right.

10:09 Yeah, you got a high puppy.

10:11 That's nice.

10:11 You got a little Snoop Dogg.

10:15 It's really good to have you here.

10:18 [applause] Desi Lydic, everybody.

10:18 Watch The Daily Show weeknights on Comedy Central and Desi's

10:21 hosting next week and the week of June 8th.

10:23 We'll be right back.