“The Daily Show” just dropped a massive compilation of audition tapes from its many correspondents over the years to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The Comedy Central late night staple took a trip down memory lane on Tuesday with a 10-minute video showcasing the auditions for many of the familiar faces that would go on to be correspondents opposite hosts Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah, including future late night superstars John Oliver (“Last Week Tonight” on HBO) and Michael Che (“Saturday Night Live” on NBC).
Also among them are never-before-seen auditions for people like Jessica Williams, Ed Helms and Rob Riggle. The show’s current rotating hosts – Desi Lydic, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, Ronny Chieng and Josh Johnson – also got the audition treatment.
Watch the compilation in full below:
In one, Stewart and Oliver riff about having to change names so they don’t double down on sharing “Jon.”
“Now, if you do come work for us, you know you can’t use the name John,” Stewart explains which Oliver follows with, “That’s fine. I’m prepared for that. I was going to take ‘Rico.’”
Che appeared on the show for a mere three months before he made the jump to “Saturday Night Live” where he has been on “Weekend Update” ever since. Samantha Bee’s audition also appears. She was a correspondent on the show from 2003-2015 before she left to host her own show “Full Frontal” for TBS.
For fans of the show, it can fun to look back at the interview process the future correspondents went through. Some – like Oliver and Klepper – were in the full get-up working across Stewart. Lydic appeared to be running lines with a producer in a green room and people like Chiang worked with Noah at a fold-up table that was set down for the test footage.
The show has continued to be a hit 30 years later. “The Daily Show” itself was nominated for the Outstanding Variety Series at this year’s Emmy Awards and hosts Klepper and Lydic each earned individual nominations for their work.
