The first day at any new job can be overwhelming, but the first day at “The Daily Show” was truly terrifying for host Jordan Klepper. But his nerves did lead to a funny moment making it into his first segment.
Stopping by “The Tonight Show” on Tuesday, Klepper recalled his first day on the Comedy Central show, explaining that he only auditioned for the show four days earlier. He was still full of confidence and energy though — at least until he learned he was needed for a segment about Russia invading Crimea.
“Immediately I’m like, ‘What is Crimea? Is it a thing? Is it a place? Where is it?’” Klepper recalled. “I go into the office with Jon Stewart, who knows where Crimea is. He’s written editorials based on what’s happening in Crimea, he has opinions about it. And I realize I’m in way over my head, and we have to figure out a way to make this work.”
That led to a bit specifically about Klepper being overwhelmed. The host explained the writing process for the segment, noting that both he and Stewart worked on it and threw any ideas out to see what might stick. But then Klepper slipped a bit.
“In my nervousness, I called Jon dad,” he remembered. “Because I think I wanted, at that point, to make dad happy! So they put that in the bit, and it’s the first joke I got on the show.”
Klepper also recalled Stewart’s sage advice to him before they hit the stage that night.
“Don’t f–k up,” he said.
You can watch Jordan Klepper’s full appearance on “The Tonight Show” in the video above.
