'The Daily Show': Writers On Trevor Noah-Led Comedy Say Lockdown Had Specific Effect On Material

As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, "The Daily Show" has had to alter its daily operations in recent months to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Now, writers who work behind the scenes of the Trevor Noah-led Comedy Central show are talking about the positive and negative aspects of amending their schedule due to the spread of COVID-19.

When speaking to Deadline, head writer Dan Amira joked that "staying in, not talking to people" during the lockdown had actually worked out "terrifyingly well" before elaborating on their new routine more seriously.

"It’s working. I mean, we’ve had to change a lot of things, but we’ve found a way to adjust to these unprecedented times, this unprecedented situation. I think we’re doing a pretty good job of adjusting to it," he said.

Prior to the change, writers would have collaborated in a small room, but now the in-person discussions have been replaced with FaceTime calls with both Noah himself and "Daily Show" producers. The move to the virtual world has not been a welcome change to all, however, including writer Kat Radley.

"I definitely miss being in the room with people, and riffing, and making jokes, because we’re all doing the jokes on our own, now, but I feel like you kind of miss opportunities, for maybe different, or even better jokes," Radley elaborated. "When you have two or three people riffing off of each other, you might come to a joke, or an idea, that you wouldn’t have thought of, on your own, and also, it’s just more fun, to be in a room with everybody."

These sentiments were echoed by their colleague Josh Johnson as well, who discussed the disadvantages of working remotely with the comedy team. After sharing that he would periodically stop in the offices of other writers, Johnson added that not having the opportunity to do so prevented the team from getting real-time perspectives in person.

While social distancing has also affected the pace of the jokes due to the fact that Noah is no longer delivering them to a studio audience, Amira says that the new format does, in fact, have a few positives as well.

"There’s a type of joke that you wouldn’t get a big laugh from an audience, but it’s a good joke. It’s well-written, or pointed, or clever, but in audience days, you wouldn’t really get a big laugh out of it, but there is no audience, now. So, I think we feel a little more comfortable, making that joke," he revealed.

Even with the new flexibility in terms of the jokes they write, the writers are still looking forward to the day when they can return to the studio in New York.

"It’s going to be a great, whenever that is… in a year, or two years, or fifty years from now,” joked Amira.