Hello there. You're about to watch
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That means there's some news and some jokes on the way.
So if you like laughing and news,
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♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show.
Tonight,
migrants go to Washington,
RiRi is showing off her baby bump,
and Jerrod Carmichael.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(cheering and applause)
Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
You are my live studio audience.
Thank you! Thank you so much.
Look at you guys. Live studio audience!
Wow. Is that guy alive? Somebody shake him.
All right, he's alive. We're good.
All right, take a seat, everybody. Take a seat.
Thank you so much for being here.
We've got a really fun show for you today.
One of the hottest comedians, Jerrod Carmichael,
is joining me on the show today. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
And we're gonna be talking about the big story in New York
that's got everyone talking.
But before that, let's jump straight into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
(cheering and applause)
All right, our first story kicks off in Texas,
easily one of my favorite states to visit.
Yeah. The last time I went to Texas,
Ted Cruz took me out to all of his favorite restaurants.
Yeah. And everything had spit in it,
but it was still delicious. It really was.
So I'm definitely going back. But over the past few years,
Texas's governor has been scaling back
the state's hospitality,
particularly towards undocumented immigrants.
He's had them arrested.
He's called out the National Guard.
He even told citizens
to "take matters into their own hands."
Yeah. But last week, Governor Abbott,
he took things to a whole new level
when he decided to start busing illegal immigrants from Texas
all the way to Washington, D.C.
Yeah. As a way to hit back
at the Biden administration's immigration policies.
And now the first bus has arrived.
About an hour ago,
the first bus full of migrants from Texas
arrived right outside the Fox bureau
in Washington, D.C.
NEWSMAN: This bus took off from Del Rio, Texas.
It left Saturday at 4:00 p.m., I'm told,
and has traveled for over three days straight to get here.
There's a group from Nicaragua.
I also spoke to six young men from Venezuela.
I asked them what they wanted to do next.
They said they wanted to go to Miami.
And I asked if they were gonna get there.
They said they didn't know. They're here in this country.
They're willing to work hard.
NEWSWOMAN: We're here in the food court at Union Station,
where a lot of them have been getting something to eat
because this was a 34-hour bus ride.
They said they are very excited to be here.
They feel welcome. They said that they know
that they are a prop in all of this,
but they wanted to come anyway.
You know, I don't care what anyone says.
America's one of the craziest countries in the world.
Because what is happening here, people?
Do you see? Like, what is happening here?
One day, the governor's building a wall to keep immigrants out,
and the next day, he's giving them a free ride
to the Capitol? What are you doing?
Like, I-I also don't think that he fully thought this through.
Because if you're trying to deter immigrants,
don't you think this sends a-a mixed message? No? Huh?
Yeah, because you realize, they're gonna be calling home
like, "Yo, as soon as I crossed the border,
"they captured me, and they took me to Washington, D.C.
"Hey, I think I'm gonna meet the president.
"Oh, man. You guys got to come over as quick as you can.
Say-say Greg Abbott sent you, man. It's crazy."
(laughter)
Also, of all of the places to drop the people off,
you chose Fox News's headquarters in D.C.?
Really? How are you gonna do that to Fox News, man?
Those people are already terrified
of imaginary immigrants.
Now what are they gonna do when the real ones show up?
Those people are panicking.
(applause)
Imagine that, like, everyone showing up to the Fox bureau.
I bet in that office, everyone was screaming like,
"Oh, my God, the caravan is here!"
"What? I thought we made that up."
"I thought so, too!"
(laughter and applause)
It's also interesting that the immigrants know
that they're being used as pawns,
but they're willing to get shipped out of Texas anyway.
I like that. And I like their honesty. They're like,
"Yeah, we get what's happening here, but we're fine."
I guess maybe they just prefer to be in a state
with a reliable power grid.
That's what they were going for, you know?
I also don't think this is actually gonna personally annoy
Joy... Joe Biden. You know?
I don't think it's personally gonna annoy him.
It was like, "We're gonna do this to get Joe Biden."
What-What's it gonna do to him?
What, you think Joe Biden is gonna be, what,
waiting to get into the club?
And then he's gonna be like,
"Damn, I'm behind, 15 Nicaraguan dudes.
Oh, oh, man, I'm never gonna get in."
That's not gonna happen.
Joe Biden doesn't wait in lines for the club.
The man goes to bed after Jeopardy!
Keeps things moving.
But let's move on to our next story,
which is about pregnancy. Yes.
You know, how most of us were born.
For a long time--
You know who you are.
For a long time,
society has had a really weird relationship
with pregnant women.
You know? 'Cause, on the one hand, it'll be like,
"Ah, beautiful mother bringing life into the world."
But then, on the other hand, society will be like,
"Ah! I don't want to see it! Ah!
Can't you breastfeed without your boobs? Mah!"
Well, now one of the world's biggest superstars
is trying to help reshape how society looks at pregnant women.
NEWSWOMAN: A first look at Rihanna on the cover of Vogue,
photographed by Annie Leibovitz,
sharing details of her high-fashion pregnancy,
saying...
The music superstar has been redefining maternity wear
since her pregnancy announcement in January,
telling the magazine,
"I'm hoping that we were able to redefine
what's considered decent for pregnant women,"
adding, "My body is doing incredible things right now
and I'm not going to be ashamed of that."
-Yeah! What? -(cheering and applause)
You tell them, RiRi!
I love that.
You know what? I couldn't agree with her more.
Like, women should show off that they're pregnant.
Like, that's the most amazing thing in the world.
Think about it-- you're growing a person inside of you.
You basically turn into a studio apartment for nine months.
That's incredible.
Like, I-- like, I don't even enjoy having people over
at my place for more than a few hours.
I can't imagine making that decision.
Can you imagine if a friend was like,
"Yo, dude, would it be cool if I crash in your stomach
"for, like, nine months and then leave through your vagina?
"Yeah? No?
"All right, how 'bout I just lean on the couch? Yeah?
I'll stay on the couch, dude."
I actually can't ever believe that women were made
to feel ashamed of any part of getting pregnant.
That's, like, one of the strangest things
you think about in society.
'Cause let me tell you something, man.
If guys grew babies in our balls,
we'd show that shit off everywhere.
Yeah, our maternity pants would just have a hole in the front.
We'd be like, "Four months. Four months.
"You see that? Four months.
We're doing this."
(applause)
So I actually think...
I actually think it's pretty dope to have someone
as influential and famous as Rihanna trying to destigmatize
the pregnant body in everyday life as well.
'Cause whatever Rihanna does,
people will follow. You know?
I mean, look at what she did for umbrellas.
Before that,
we were just getting wet.
In fact, you know what-- you know what should happen?
After pregnancy, after pregnancy,
I hope that Rihanna will pick
another societal issue to destigmatize.
You know? I hope that issue is something important,
like-like picking wedgies out of our butts in public.
No, you-you-you guys,
this-- No, this is a bigger deal than people want to admit.
I don't know about you, but I'm sick of doing that thing
where I put my hand in my pocket like I'm looking for my keys
but then I'm secretly picking my underwear out from my ass.
Why am I ashamed?
Why is any of us ashamed, huh?
Think about-- Statistically speaking, right now,
half of this audience, your-- you-- right now,
you have a wedgie. Right now.
Right now. Yeah.
And you're afraid to take it out.
(applause)
Right now.
So, please,
Rihanna, when you're ready, we need this.
All right, let's move on,
because our final story is about school.
Yeah. It's where you learn important life skills
like how to get hit by a dodgeball.
I actually use that in the office every day.
There are a lot of controversies about schools right now,
you know, from the books that students read
to the subjects that teachers teach
to Meredith getting cast as the lead in the spring musical
when, clearly, Allison is the better singer
but Meredith's mom runs the arts committee
so you know how that goes.
But in Pennsylvania, they don't give a shit
about any of those issues. No.
They're arguing about lunch.
Parents are angry over what they call the lunch police.
A school in Pennsylvania says
they will search students' lunches
to confiscate their snacks.
The district says students have been bringing
an excessive amount of chips, candy and soda.
Students will only be allowed now to bring
one small bag of chips and one soda.
Anything bigger or more will be thrown away.
Parents criticize the decision,
saying the school has no right to limit what a student eats.
They also say students would not have to bring so many snacks
if school lunches were bigger.
Hmm.
This is a-- It's an interesting one.
Look, look, on the one hand,
I-I get what the school is doing.
Junk food addiction is a real problem.
You know? Yeah, I had a cousin who loved Pringles.
And once-once he popped...
That was it. He couldn't...
he-he.. he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop.
He tried, but he couldn't stop... (muttering gibberish)
Oh, I'm gonna miss you, Thabiso.
I miss you so much.
So I get putting some sort of limit on the sugar.
You know, sugar makes kids go crazy.
They can't concentrate. Like, if they're all hopped up on sugar,
how are they supposed to learn that racism ended in 1965?
They can't concentrate.
They can't think.
But I will say this. I also agree with the parents.
This seems like another example of school overreach.
Like, American schools keep imposing all sorts
of crazy restrictions. You know, it's like,
"Oh, which food can you eat?"
"What can you wear?"
"How many guns can you bring?"
And we're in America, goddamn it!
It's not North Korea.
I mean, it's one thing to make the rule,
but searching kids for snacks-- that's a violation of privacy.
Not to mention a health risk.
'Cause now what are the kids going to do?
Probably going to be sneaking cans of Sprite
inside their butts like bags of heroin.
All right, that's it for the headlines, but before we go,
let's check in on the stock market
with our good finance expert Michael Kosta, everybody.
-(applause and cheering) -Thank you.
-Michael? -Thank you. So...
-What's, uh...? -The, uh...
What's going on in the market today, man?
Yeah, so, the markets...
I mean, look, inflation... Actually, that last story.
You know, that reminded me a lot...
-We'll get to this in a second, but the school lunches. -Yeah.
You know, I, uh, I remember
being a kid and feeling this way.
'Cause I used to get beat up every day at school
for my brunch money, right? I went to private school.
But, um, here's the question that no one is asking, right?
These confiscated chips, candies and sodas--
where are they going, everybody? Okay?
I got an answer for you. I bet you
it's the lunch ladies that are grabbing 'em
because they're not going to eat the shit they're cooking.
-Am I right? So, right? -You're onto something, man.
That's another thing. I'll get to this in a second.
But you know, when I was a kid, Trevor,
and I used to have food left on my plate,
my mom would say, "Hey, you better eat that.
Kids are starving in Africa."
And I used to say to her, "Look, Mom,
"someday I'm going to work for an African, okay?
"And I am going to ask that African." So, I'm just gonna...
For a sec, if I got you while you're here, I mean...
When I would finish my mom's tuna casserole, like,
were you feeling that? You know what I mean? Like...
(laughter)
-(applause) -But I mean, it's not...
-That's not how it worked. -But my mom would...
I never... I think it was about gratitude.
-It's not how it worked. -Oh.
Like, we didn't know whether you finished your food or not. It...
(laughter)
All right, so I guess you're calling my mom
-a liar or something, but-but I... -No, No.
Look, look, it seems to me, Trevor, that the only thing
these schools aren't confiscating are guns, you know.
I mean, they're looking through the backpack like,
"Oh, here's a rifle. You can keep that.
"Here's handgun. You can keep that.
"Oh, my God, what the hell is this? Sour Patch Kids?
You know sugar kills, Chandler, right?"
All right, Kosta, what's happening in the stock market?
Okay, okay, this is simple, okay?
I crush it at the stocks, dude. All right, look. This is...
Everyone doesn't figure this out. You need to buy here, okay?
And when you look, take a step back,
and you can see when you buy here, it's going up.
Now, you don't want to buy right here, okay? Right?
Now, the companies in green, Trevor--
and I'm just realizing this.
Buy the green, right?
Red, you don't want to do that shit.
You get it? Okay? It's simple, dude.
Yeah, but you're trying to predict the future.
-This is not hap... -Trevor, if you take a step back...
Like, let's go with this green squiggly line
right here, right? If you buy right there,
you know, and then you sell there,
you see what... you see what I am saying?
It's simple, dude.
Dude, how much money have you invested in the stock market?
Uh, I do crypto, right? So...
Which reminds me. Can I sleep at the studio tonight
-'cause I...? -You know, you said you were an expert.
-Michael Kosta, everybody. -(applause and cheering)
-You said you were an expert on money. -Oh. Okay.
All right, we got to take a quick break,
but when we come back, we're going to meet one of the heroes
from the New York subway shooting,
and Jerrod Carmichael is joining us on the show,
so don't go away.
(applause and cheering)
You said you were an expert.
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
For those who don't know,
The Daily Show is based in New York City,
which is easily
America's most famous pigeon toilet.
Now, on a normal day in New York City,
millions of people take the subway to work.
But yesterday was far from a normal day.
NEWSMAN: The morning rush hour quickly turning to chaos
when police say a gunman put on a gas mask
and opened fire.
NEWSMAN 2: At about 8:30 a.m., Tuesday,
panicked passengers on a Manhattan-bound train
fled for their lives
after a gunman set off a smoke bomb,
then fired more than 30 rounds into the crowd.
(indistinct chatter)
In another car, video shows riders
trapped in a thick cloud of smoke,
waiting for the train to pull into the station.
Passengers were seen dragging each other to safety
or performing first aid
while others fled to the street above.
Some good news is that none of the injuries
appear to be life-threatening.
I get off the train. The first thing I smell...
The smoke that hit me in the face
was not normal train smoke.
This was like, something's burning.
It's thick, it's heavy.
Okay, first of all,
thank God nobody died in this attack.
That's the main thing.
Right? It's honestly a miracle, in fact.
And kudos to all the people who stepped up to help each other
in a crazy moment like this, you know?
'Cause you saw the people helping,
and they were, like, assisting each other.
You know, people always say that New Yorkers are selfish
and rude and won't lift a finger for other people,
and-and that's true.
(laughter)
On a normal day.
On a normal day, New Yorkers are not trying to help anybody.
Like, I'll... I-I actually remember...
I actually remember when I first moved to New York,
I was walking one day behind an old lady,
and her shopping bag broke.
And all her fruits and vegetables rolled out.
Right? And then instead of helping her,
everyone just, like, bounced around the vegetables.
Like, everyone was just, like, Dance Dance Revolutioning
over the vegetables. No one helped. No one.
And as a South African, I was like, "This is crazy.
What are you doing?" Everyone just carried on with their day.
I was like, "Yo, what a bunch of assholes."
So, then I bent down to, like, pick up some of her stuff,
and she was like, "Hey, don't touch my shit! Hey!"
(laughter and applause)
I was like, "Okay, wow."
Welcome to New York.
But one thing I'll say about New York City
as someone who's been lucky enough
to live here now for seven years
is that when shit hits the fan,
New Yorkers come together, man.
Always. Always. Because in that train station,
people weren't just trampling other people.
They were carrying the injured. They were performing first aid.
Others were even looking for the shooter.
Looking for the shooter.
One of the bravest things you could do.
You know? And that's one thing I'll say about this city.
You know, I-I don't know how to explain this energy.
People ask me, "What is New York like?"
New York is the best worst city in the world.
Yeah. It is.
(cheering and applause)
I don't know how else to explain it.
It's the greatest city I've ever lived in.
And look, don't get it twisted.
This was a scary day for New York,
you know, because compared to other big cities,
New York is actually a very safe place,
and a mass shooting is not a regular occurrence here.
They-they just don't happen.
You know? So when something like this happens on the subway,
it affects all New Yorkers
because the subway is the lifeblood of New York.
You know? It connects everyone.
When it works.
Don't-don't take it on the weekend.
Don't-don't even try.
Yeah, man, the subway's, like,
one of the few places in the world
where y-you'll find...
you'll find a homeless person
sitting next to a Wall Street banker,
you know, whose deals
probably helped make that person homeless.
-Like, it's... -(laughter)
No, it's one of the few cities in the world
where you can't ignore the fact
that there are other human beings
living a completely different experience to yours
but in the same place.
That's what I think makes it special.
You know? So, the good news is
today they arrested the suspected shooter,
-who apparently... Yeah. -(cheering and applause)
They arrested the suspected shooter.
Who apparently drove here from Philadelphia.
And, like, can I just say,
do not bring your shit into New York, okay?
Like, I don't care who you are, where you're from--
-don't bring your shit into New York. -(cheering)
We don't need people bringing in more problems from the outside.
We've already got enough going--
We don't even have a place to put our garbage, okay?
We're dealing with things.
Deal with that before we deal with mass shootings.
Like, if you're thinking, "Oh, I'm gonna go to New York
and shake things up," trust me, they're already shaken up.
You're not helping.
Especially in the subway.
I don't know if you've ever been on the subway,
but the subway's one place where, even on a normal day,
you never know what's gonna happen.
Yeah, maybe you just listen to your podcast
and everything is normal
or maybe a rat masturbates on your shoe.
Could be an uneventful ride.
Or you could get pulled in as a fourth member
of a mariachi band. You don't know.
Or, or this could be the day that that liquid on the floor
-finally touches your shoe. You don't know. -(groaning)
Yeah, you know the liquid. You see? You know the liquid.
You know exactly what I'm talking about.
You never know.
Never know, man.
There's a baby selling Twizzlers.
That-- The subway's just happening.
And speaking-- and speaking of the problems we have
in New York City, they probably could have found this guy
even sooner if New York had its shit together.
Because, first of all, the train conductor tried to tell the cops
which way the shooter ran,
but nobody could understand 'cause it was like...
(mimics muffled P.A. announcement)
And then, when they tried to check the security cameras,
this happened.
NEWSWOMAN: None of the security cameras
inside the 36th Street station
were transmitting pictures
as the train bearing the suspect entered the station.
Sources tell CBS 2 that cameras at the two stops
on either side of the 36th Street station,
45th Street and 25th Street,
also had the same connection problems.
The MTA has approximately 10,000 cameras at its 472 stations.
All were operational except those three, sources say.
(laughter)
Really?
Really? Out of 10,000 cameras in the subway system,
the only three that weren't working
are the ones that could have helped? Really?
Oh, that's a crazy stroke of bad luck if it were true.
Look, man, if you live in New York, you know the truth.
The subway cameras never work. None of them. Ever.
Yeah, that's why every station has those signs that say
if you see something, say something.
-'Cause they don't see anything. -(applause)
They know their cameras won't see shit!
We don't even know if those are real cameras.
I bet if you crack them open, there's, like, chocolate inside.
We don't know. We assume it's a camera.
But let's not get hung up on the details here.
The important thing is that those cameras
cost New York taxpayers $800,000 each.
Don't forget that. That's all that matters.
So you might be asking, if the cameras weren't working,
how did they catch the guy?
Well, I'll tell you how.
New Yorkers, we're our own cameras.
NEWSWOMAN: Zack Tahhan, who was installing surveillance cameras
on a business, initially saw James.
He knew that face that had been circling on social media
and he went with his gut, flagging down police officers
on the street on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place.
And I was working and I gashed him. God, thank God.
And he-- I-- When I see the bag and his--
He was walking on street. I thought that he was--
I see the car, police, uh, come from street.
Call the police. "Yo! This is the guy!
"He killed the seven people from the Brooklyn!
"We have to catch him today!
If we don't want to catch him, I kill him!"
Because this is the guy.
Like, he killed seven people. How it's gonna be like this?
And we ta-- we catch him.
Thank God.
-Thank you, guys. -(cheering)
Thank you! Thank you!
(cheering and applause)
Now, that's I'm talking about!
-What? -(cheering and applause)
-What?! -(applause and cheering)
That's what I'm talking about, Zack.
Everyone should be cheering his name.
Zack, Zack, Zack, Zack!
ALL: Zack, Zack, Zack, Zack, Zack, Zack!
-Yeah! -(chanting)
Whatever you do, don't check his old tweets.
-We don't care. We don't want to know. -(laughter)
He's our hero. We're keeping him.
And how amazing is it?
How amazing is this for the story
that Zack is a security camera installer?
That's what he does for a living.
Yes, he was installing a security camera
when this happened. Huh?
So if the city had hired Zack
to fix their busted-ass subway cameras,
then maybe Zack wouldn't have to get them out of this mess
in the first place!
(applause)
Yeah.
And so I say now that Zack Tahhan is a New York City hero,
it's time to honor him the New York City way--
by naming an absolutely disgusting sandwich
-at a deli after him. -(laughter)
It's gonna be like,
"Oh, what? You want a ham and egg and marinara sauce
"on buttered rye? Yeah?
"All right, one Zack Tahhan coming up!
Let's get it right up, people!"
-(applause) -"It's coming, it's coming."
So... thank you.
Thank you to Zack, thank you to all the New Yorkers
who stepped up on the subway yesterday
because this event turned out a whole lot better
than it could have.
And you know whatever this guy intended
to do to New York, it didn't work. Yeah?
Because let me tell you, man, New York is a tough place.
After 9/11, New York bounced back.
After Hurricane Sandy, New York bounced back.
After COVID, people were like,
"Oh, New York is never going to come back.
Oh, get out while you can, Trevor."
It's come back!
-(applause and cheering) -It always comes back.
Yeah.
People were like, "Oh, all the places are going to be empty."
Yo, people have moved back in,
-rents are higher than ever before. -(laughter)
Yeah, I don't know why I said that like it's a good thing,
but still, the point is, this city keeps coming back,
and that's what makes it the greatest city in the world.
-(cheers and applause) -Don't go away,
Jerrod Carmichael joins us right after the break.
(applause and cheering)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight
is the talented comedian and actor Jerrod Carmichael.
He's here to talk about his revealing
and deeply personal new HBO comedy special,
Rothaniel.
Uh, I-I'm very, very thankful
for all of the, uh, the Black ladies in my life,
you know, who supported me through that.
-(cheering and applause) -Through all of it.
All of it.
They're not... They're not homophobic at all.
They're racist as a mother(bleep).
They don't like that had a white boyfriend.
-WOMAN: Uh-oh. -See?
See right there? You see that change?
"You can be gay, but, nigga, what?"
Please welcome Jerrod Carmichael.
-(cheering and applause) -♪ ♪
CARMICHAEL: I wanted to hug with you here.
-(Noah laughs) -I was like,
"I don't want to do, like, a TV hug."
I was like, "Let's do, like, the real thing."
-Good to see you, bro. -How are you, man?
Good to see you.
-(cheering and applause continue) -Hi, everyone. Hi, hi.
Hi. Thank you. (laughs)
Thank you.
Wow, wow, wow.
-That's nice. -Jerrod Carmichael.
What a nice, warm hug.
-I've missed you, man. It's been too long. -I've missed you, too.
Congratulations on, uh, on not just... Man.
You know, you've always been funny.
-Oh, thanks. -I think you know this.
And you've always been one of my favorite comedians.
-Thanks. -And I think you know this.
I don't say this just because you're here now.
But, like, your special
is one of the...
I-It's a tightrope walk.
-That's the best way I'd put it. -Oh, yeah.
You know, where you're watching comedy
and you're watching somebody balancing,
and-and there's a tightrope, but there's no net.
And there's moments where I was going like,
"Oh, Jerrod, maybe you should just stop, man.
-Don't say that. Don't..." -(laughs)
And you say it, and you feel the crowd
-going with you because they're shocked. -Yeah.
They don't know ahead of time, and the crowd is shocked.
-Yeah, yeah. -They've come to see Jerrod Carmichael,
and then you go, "I'm gay, and my name's not even Jerrod."
Yeah, yeah, it's a lot.
-It's a lot. It's... Yeah, it's a lot. -It is a lot.
It's just, uh... Imagine how my therapist feels.
Like, it's like... No, it was...
It-it, um...
(laughter)
Yeah, I don't know. It, uh...
The... Like, I-I felt...
I felt like
who am I to talk about all these other things,
you know, out in the world? Like, you know.
Actually, who am I? Let's start there.
-(chuckles) Right? Like, who... -Oh, I love that, man.
-I love that. -Like, that type of self-exploration,
I think, comedy, uh, stand-up has room for.
-Yes. -You know. Um, and it's so much.
I'm, like, so inundated with other forms of comedy
that, uh, I just felt like a long-form interior story
-would be... -You know, you talk in the special...
You know that part where you talk about, like, your mom,
and I related to that
in that, like, your mom is very religious.
-Yeah. -You and your mom were best friends.
-Yeah. -You come out as gay,
and-and then your mom goes,
"I can't... I don't know how to decipher, 'cause I'm...
"Jesus on the one hand
"and how I've been taught religion
-and then you on the other hand." -Mm-hmm.
But you're processing that in real time.
Wh-Why did you choose to do that instead of going,
"You know what, I'll figure this out and then,
five years down the line, I'll do a special about it"?
Well-well, it's something I-I...
When, you know-- For all of life's problems,
you don't know if or when you'll ever have the answer,
um, using the profession that we chose.
-Mm-hmm. -Like, I talk about my life.
I don't know. I-I have a opportunity to go
and make it into, uh, a show.
(chuckles): And so I did it.
Yeah, like, it-it-- Uh, in real ti-- I mean, to me,
that's what makes it...
I mean, it's interesting, in a-- i-in a way.
I mean,
you know, it's kind of like music, I think,
in that, like, it captures a moment.
Like, just like a-a-- It's--
The-the emotion is more specific
-because it's happening i-in real time. -Mm-hmm.
Because it's actual things that I'm feeling and going through.
Like...
Yeah, I think I-I kind of thought of it like an album,
in a way.
I-I loved how it felt
not just like you were processing it.
It-it felt like you made us, the audience,
process it with you at the same time.
That's what I loved about it.
-Yeah. -Because-because, you know, sometimes you watch
-a show and it's neatly tied up in a bow. -Yeah.
And then when I was watching this, I was sitting at home
going like, "Ah, Jerrod, how do I help you fix this?"
-Because it's happening. No, really. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
By-by the way, hold on. I-I think it's funny, too,
and I should say that because I can feel--
If you haven't seen it, like, people were just like,
"Jesus Christ, he just tells us all of his... problems?
And then it's my problem?"
You know, like, it's like... (chuckles)
I think it's kind of funny.
(laughing)
It's also amazing though, because you--
we're in the thing. You could feel it in the--
-in the room, for instance. -Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You-you could feel the audience with you.
I-I-- You know, even-even how you...
In-in, honestly, the most natural, seamless way,
you even delve into homophobia
just, like, in the Black community, for instance.
-You know what I mean? -Yeah, yeah. You trying coming out
to a room full of Black people. That shit's hard, bro.
Like... (laughing)
It was like, "Ooh." (chuckles) There was a lot of...
Yeah, no, no. Just going into it,
because you can-- you can feel, like, the reaction
is kind of shocking, you know,
people who were fans of mine or people who knew me.
Some people in my-my personal life didn't know.
-Uh, and so... -Did tho-- did those people feel like
you betrayed them in some way?
Did they feel like you tricked them?
Yeah, well, here's the thing.
Uh, how much time we got? Like...
like-like, it's... (chuckles)
Yeah, in-in a way, I did, right?
Like, I was-- I was in the closet
and... a bit duplicitous by nature
of, like, I was lying about certain aspects of my being
just out of-- I mean, I could justify it
and say it's for self-protection
and it's definitely because I was scared.
But, you know, there-there--
I-I think my friendships are able to be
-actually actual friendships now. -Mm-hmm.
Like, my relationships are actually real now
because I'm not hiding anything.
Because I don't have, like, a hand behind my back.
-I love that, man. -You can't give someone a full hug,
you know, if you're, like, concealing something.
-So, yeah, for what that's worth. -That's beautiful. Wow.
-(applause and cheering) -Yeah. -The, um...
I feel like the special showed us a different side of you.
I've seen that side of you as a person before.
But it was almost like that was the side
that you just chose to fully expose.
What I was really intrigued by
was the fact that you kept in the moments
where you spoke to the audience in the special.
-Mm. -'Cause there was a point where...
-I mean, we saw that in the clip. -Yeah.
But there's literally points where the audience just goes
"Hey, man." Like one of the most poignant things--
-and I wanted to ask you about that was-- -Yeah.
the audience member said to you, "You say it took you time
-"to accept yourself and to come out." -Mm-hmm.
And they said, "Have you thought about maybe
"you should be able to give your mom time
-to accept what is happening?" -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
And you gave a very beautiful answer.
People should just watch it to get it.
What I wanted to ask you off of that was,
has your mom watched the special?
Has your family watched? Has anyone watched the special,
and then had, like, a different perspective?
Or have they said, "Man, I didn't think of it that way
until I watched you say it like this"?
Um... my niece reached out.
So I guess I made the special.
Um, a lot of what's in the special is that I'm gay.
And it's a thing that's... that goes largely unacknowledged
in my family, right, for whatever reasons.
Religious reasons.
Um...
and my niece texted me.
Probably I guess it came out at midnight.
By 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., she sent me a text, uh,
just saying, uh, uh,
"I'm very happy for you.
"Thanks for saying how you feel.
I'm glad you did it so I don't have to wonder."
Um, and it was very... It was really beautiful.
It was the kind of sense of acknowledgment
-that I think I was seeking in many ways. -Mm-hmm.
Um, and that was really beautiful.
And I'm focusing on that, because you know,
the rift with my family is real, and it happens,
and it's something that you learn to kind of deal with.
Life kind of sometimes can be a bit bittersweet,
um, because at a time in my life
where I'm receiving a lot of love,
there's a certain amount of isolation
-that I'm enduring, I guess. -Mm-hmm.
Um, I'm saying all of that to say
that my niece's love and response was very beautiful,
and it gave me a lot of hope,
and, um... and I'm very thankful for her.
I'm very, very thankful for her.
-(applause) -Yeah.
-I'm thankful for you, my man. -Thank you, bro.
-And I mean that. -This is nice. I'm really happy for you.
-This is really nice. -It's been so long.
-I'm glad to see you again. -Thank you.
Congratulations on everything. Congrat... SNL was amazing.
-Oh, thanks, bro. -Congratulations on the special.
-Thank you. -People, if you haven't seen it,
you need to go and watch it.
Jerrod's comedy special, truly a special, Rothaniel,
is streaming now on HBO Max.
We're gonna take a quick break,
-but we'll be right back after this. -Yeah.
(applause and cheering)
Well, that's our show for tonight.
Thank you so much for tuning in, but before we go,
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Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, and remember.
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-(applause and cheering) -Now here it is-- Your Moment of Zen.