How Viral Videos Brought Grace Kuhlenschmidt To The Daily Show

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Hey, Daily Show Ears Edition listeners. This is Sarah Hamblin's segment director for The Daily Show, and I'm here with one of the newest members of The Daily Show news team, Grace Cool and Schmidt. Welcome Grace Hey, Thanks, yay yay, Welcome to that family.

The studio audience is going wild. You can't hear them, but they are losing it. The rat that lives in the corner of our building is absolutely dying in a glue trap. Grace, did you ever imagine that your Daily Show debut would be debating with Michael Costa about whether you should take five hundred thousand dollars or have lunch with Jay Z?

It's crazy.

I've always had this vision that it would be that. No, I definitely not, but I was like so thrilled, and working with Costa for my first piece was really really fun. He is like actually unbelievably kind and made me feel so comfortable and I felt really really grateful.

Would you also take the money?

No way, you definitely have lunch with jay Z. Look at his list of accomplishments.

He married Beyonce, he dated Beyonce, He probably has Beyonce's phone number, So yeah, definitely lunch.

Screw the five hundred grand. I'd pay that much to have Beyonce spit on me.

Yeah, yeah, of course we'd all pay half a mil for Beyonce to spit on us. But that's not the question, Grace. Between jay Z or half a million, you gotta take the money.

So what was your first day at the Daily Show? Like, like, what were you Did you have an expectation of what the Daily Show office was going to be like or were there things that surprised you?

Yeah, I mean I spend very little time in offices, just like by trade, so I immediately clocked the free soda, I immediately clocked free snacks, and I thought I could really find my home here.

So when you walked in, you were like, this is just like an episode of the Office.

You guys, look at your cute death even like just having a conference room with like glass windows and doors around it.

I was like, this is like so cool.

And like everyone's off I truly spend no time in an office ever, so I'm having fun.

M m O. Great.

But then my first day, like on set, like the first day.

I walked onto the actual set I was like, this is unreal. It's so just like detailed and beautiful, and all the lights are like dope, and like there's so much equipment. And also there are so many more people who work here than I could have ever imagined.

It's really cool.

Yeah, I'm curious. Did you seek out advice from any current or former correspondence for the show?

I really kind of went and blind.

But I that with most things in my life, honestly, like I don't think about the future too much.

I kind of just I'm very good with the flow.

You gotta stay in the moment.

Yeah, exactly.

By the way, I did talk to Ronnie the other day and he was like, oh, I got to call Grace because I think when he started John Oliver gave him a whole speech. Yeah, so he's been trying with like new correspondence to give them a whole speech. Okay, I did it for Troy, but I haven't done it for Roy.

Did send me an email?

Oh yeah, it was really sweet. Can you give me like a highlight? I mean obviously cone of silence, but.

Yeah, I'm like, for some reason, I'm like I kind of think I can't say the like coolest thing about it, but it is like notes from past correspondents and like tips O nice and Roy had like unreal advice. Yeah, I felt like I was like reading like a constitution.

It was really cool.

That's really sweet. Okay, So before seeing Grace on The Daily Show, you probably saw Grace's viral sketch videos on Instagram TikTok Grace, How would you describe your brand of comedy and the types of content you make?

Hmmm, I guess very character based. I mean I think I'm like goofy first, Like I do think all my stuff is like very silly. I don't take myself too seriously. I don't take my comedy too seriously. I'm typically not trying to make a like political statement with any of my stuff. But also I do think like any of my stuff will reflect like my views and how I see the world. But yeah, I mean definitely character based.

Yeah. I remember when they told us that you were gonna be starting on the show, and I went and watched a bunch of your like videos, and I was like, oh my god, this girl is so funny. Like, I think one thing we were trying to figure out what like doing your first field piece was you know, like when Costa came in, it's just you see him and you're like, yeah, news guy totally, but you are not like fake journalists, Like what's your voice going to be?

It was really fun.

Working with josh Spodek was so fun because we are definitely completely opposite people, but like there was like a huge mutual respect, Like I think what he's doing is unbelievably cool.

So it was really fun.

So, yeah, we got to do your first field piece. I got to direct you in your first field piece about living off the grid in Manhattan, where you sat down with astrophysicist and NYU professor Joshua Spodek, who's been living without electricity for over a year now.

So what is your problem with electricity.

Did it kill your family or did it because I'm now realizing that's kind of something that could happen.

I do use electricity. I have my solar panels that to take up to the roof and charge the battery.

But that's it. I try to minimize my footprint as much as I can.

Now what exactly is electricity, and I know the basics. It's the stuff that's in the air.

Electricity actually a very complication.

When people think it's simple. I'm like, are you dumb?

In one sense?

It's simple and that it just works because that's how gravity gravity. So we've learned to control this power through wires and batteries and things like that.

So almost always you're going to be proud, and I don't want to.

I'm curious too, Like, as we were working on the piece and getting closer to shooting it, like, how are you kind of balancing celebrating what he's doing and then also like poking fun.

You know, it did feel hard at times. My biggest thing was making sure that he didn't feel made fun of. And because I think, like to the audience, hopefully it's clear I'm not making fun of him and so I wanted to make sure it was clear to him. You know, like so much of like sarcasm and satire can like kind of border on like making fun and that's not something I've ever done.

If anything, my comedy is making fun of myself.

Yeah, it was funny too, because you guys both have this like earnestness. But he is just such a straight man and I'm so so serious. He's like a scientist. And then that just like you're you playing this like person who doesn't understand anything. Was so fun with him because he was so patient with you and explaining everything.

He kind of was like the perfect like I did for so many years, and you know, improv can be so many things, but it is like a common thing for there to be like a goofy character and a straight man. And he did like fit that bill perfectly because every time he was just like it was like an alley up. He just dunked it right in where I would like say something absolutely ridiculous and he would respond with sure, you know, and it's like it is

And then there was the bit in Times Square trying to get people to eat the stew that you made, the raw stew.

Yeah, I like, did I try that stew? I can't even remember.

Oh, I wanted That's what I wanted to ask you too, because I feel like in the segment we see you make a face when you try the kombucha. Yeah, And I felt like, I mean, I also tried the kombucha, and I felt like I remember Josh talking a lot about because he had been living this lifestyle for so long, he couldn't even eat like a piece of candy would be like poisoned to him, and his taste buds had completely changed. But to me that kombucha, it was like

As like one of one of the less good juices I've had in my life, but not the worst.

Yeah, so the he has sugar.

Yeah, sugar, that's what it's missing.

Okay.

I I think there are places are skills were taken off the market for being so healthy.

That's so effed up, dude.

I want to just come back to like TikTok and social media. And I remember when we talked a little bit about how getting on TikTok really changed things for you as a comedian. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Sure?

So I almost wish I had like the stats of like how my career started written down somewhere, but I don't. But before the pandemic, I probably had like three thousand followers on Twitter, so like small, but like honestly it felt big to me. That's how my career started, was like fully on Twitter. I probably got like thirty thousand followers before I ever started posting on Instagram, and then I had my first manager, Kathleen. She was like, you need to post on TikTok, and I was.

Like, I do not want to. I don't know why.

I mean, frankly, it was probably some of the best advice I've ever gotten, and I think now it is just like, if you want to be in this career like you do, just have to say yes to these things or you have to accept the fact that you're not gonna go viral.

You know.

When I was posting on TikTok, it was like, uh, June of twenty twenty was when I first started posting on there. So I was like happily unemployed because I hated the restaurant I was working at before the pandemic, and I was like, oh my god, I can make videos all day long, and so I was, I was making like three videos a day.

Now I do not have that stamina.

But I'm like so glad that I like saw an opportunity and like went for it. And also, like I kind of said earlier, like I didn't like anticipate anything happening. I was living in Chicago, and I like was doing but Chicago is like such a weird comedy place because there's no industry there, you know, I was doing shows every night for like five people, and those five people were like also performers.

I'm interested to know. Like, so much of the work that you do on social media is kind of about making fun of social media, making fun of content creation, which is really fun. So how do you balance using your platform as a space for comedy while also, you know, doing that social commentary about social media usage.

I mean it's incredibly hypocritical, and I just have to embrace that, you know, like I'm in my twenties, like on TikTok, Like I just have to take it at face value. And yeah, I mean I'm doing I'm like working towards my hour of stand up right now. It has been like so fun thinking like more long term about a stand up hour.

So I have this like.

Ten minute bit right now that I like literally hired to send a photographer to help me do. And it's like a video and I'm just like parrotying a like influencer like my day in the life as an influencer in New York City, And I mean it's goofy because half the things are kind of true for me as well,

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Well you have such an earnestness about it that it never feels mean. It just feels really like accurate, right, but it doesn't feel like you're like punching down or like, oh no, that's so interesting. I feel like about your comedy.

Yeah, and also like I am basic at the end of the day too. I can make fun of influence, but at ten pm, when I need my brain to shut off, I'm on a YouTube channel watching an influencer.

So what are you gonna do?

Guys, I'm just trying to live my life.

I remember seeing your Daily Show audition. You showed it to me and it was so funny, Like what was that audition process like? And what do you think it was about your audition that got you the job? Or maybe you got some feedback where they were like we loved this, Yeah, it really was so. I mean it was like basically an entire year ago. I was asked to like basically write my own like one to two minute segment. So I wrote this like really stupid segment about how I was at the Spy.

Museum in DC and I just needed like a few more bucks to get some more like freeze dried ice cream. I rewatched it with you. I've rewatched it since then too.

The hell is happening. But now I'm like, this is so cool. I feel so lucky to be here.

And like just yeah excited for excited to like bring in a new voice and bring in like my own spin on things. And also I love like collaboration. That's something that I don't get to do online.

You know.

I'm just like writing, directing, filming my own stuff, and so that's something that's been really cool.

Yeah, working with you on that piece, Like we worked on it for so long.

I feel like we both like had to adapt to so many new things and like I learned an unbelievable amount and it was really fun.

Yeah, that was so much fun, like coming in and doing like all those joke meetings and getting to bring the writers in.

I know that's some of my favorite part is working with the writers too, Like it's so fun.

Do you feel like coming here and being able to bring that queer perspective to field pieces or what stories you cover chats? Are there certain subjects you're excited to go into.

Yeah, I mean I'm like game to do anything gay obviously, what if I was like, I really like don't want to be pigeonholed.

No, I like I love being gay.

Well, I'll just say that, like my favorite comedian, Like I could name ten comedians right now who are my favorite. I think every single one of them is queer. I'm biased, I guess, but I also think like being in comedy, there's something about it where it's like you're not explicitly trying to be political, but it always is. And I think being gay has a huge factor to that too.

Yeah, I feel like also a lot of the characters you do in your TikTok and you know other videos, are these like heterosexual stereotypes. Can you talk about like playing with that? That's just like the comedy of heterosexuality, which feels like something a little bit newer to make kind of sure.

Which is fair, And I yeah, I think it's like reminds me of like how silly like the low blows are for like gay characters in TV for the past, like however many years where it's just like, oh, you gave this like gay character one personality trait, and I'm like, why don't we do that? That's fine. Actually, let's do that. We can keep that, and let's also do that to straight people. Also, it's like I was closeted.

For so long, and not in a sad way.

Honestly, I was like so high in high school that I didn't know I was gay. But it's like I just I think it's so easy to It should be easy to make fun of heterosexuality. It should be easy to make fun of homosexuality. None of it needs to be like punching down. I just think there's like obvious things about people culturally that like we can all agree are funny, and also like none of that needs to

Yes, yes, you have this girl. I'm trying to remember this one video you have as like the lesbian girl drama video and the woman who's just like going on this like rant about what's going on in her circle and like if you knew, And that was one of my favorites ohs.

So basically everybody's been wondering what I know, and it's a lot. Now if y'all are wondering, do I know these girls? Yeah, I know them actually very well. Do I know them personally? No, but we hang out in the exact same circles. I'm just outside of that circle. I made so many videos at one point, like in twenty twenty that people will like say to me all the time, oh, my favorite video of yours, and I'm like, I think I did that.

I don't think anyone can remember anything about twenty twenty that is a good like try making sour dough bread, yeah, exactly. Do you have thoughts on you know, you're talking about playing yourself as your like Daily Show Kara, but do you have ideas on how you want to build that persona as you know the Daily Show Grace, Kool and Schmidt make the character your own?

I think every year that I've been doing comedy, which I kind of since maybe like twenty fifteen, because I started doing comedy in college and then I moved to Chicago for three years, Like I do think like my comedic voice changes and gets more like refined every year. I also think in every segment that I've done here, like I've gained more confidence, like truly in a way

And that has kept growing.

And also I think like working with the writers here has been like really inspiring and really fun. So I'm kind of excited to see how my comedic voice you know, evolves as well, like through this show, which I think it does with any job that I take.

I know, one thing, like just working with you as a director. You know, a lot of the correspondence that we work with come from like an improv background or

I mean, I do think it is a combination of like my social media background, but also like I did improv for so long, and I did it like an insane amount. In twenty nineteen, I was doing improv like five nights a week, and it was like my life. In improv, you have like one split second to make a decision. So that's like a really interesting way of like which I guess I have.

Used with like a man on the street stuff.

I've learned through both improv and social media to like trust my gut first and foremost. And I think that my brain honestly is going the fastest, is like at its highest capacity when I'm like acting, and every other time of the day it's going at a truly glacial pace.

You're just saving it up.

Yeah, exactly.

We're going into an election year, so it's going to be like a lot of political stories. Are there any twenty twenty four election stories or races or you know, sort of even bigger ideas about politics in America that you're interested in exploring. Dude, I want to go to a Trump rally.

God, I don't. I don't know. If I'm like I think i'd be truly scared. I don't know. I mean it's interesting.

I've obviously been at Pride so many times that I've been around like super fucking crazy protesters whom are scary.

I also like, okay, I went to a liberal arts school.

Now I live in Brooklyn, and so it's like I am in a like total and in this industry.

A total liberal bubble. So I think it would be interesting.

And I'm just like so curious to see what's gonna happen election wise. I mean, like I can make a guess what I think is gonna happen, but I think it's gonna be like a crazy year.

We'll see.

I mean, I'm excited to like make fun of every single politician. So many of them are dumb. And I'm not saying I'm smart, I'm just saying they're dumb.

Yeah. Yeah, I feel like, yeah, we should do something about like that. Don't say gay bill stuff and oh yeah, because that is so wild.

It's truly ridiculous. There are absolutely like bigger things to worry about.

Yeah, Like a teacher could get fired for having like a picture of their partner on their desk.

Right, but then they also need to carry a gun. So that's awesome.

Yeah, exactly as they're doing their like active shooter drill hiding in the road. It's truly art closet.

Yeah, it's it's a horrible time to be alive, and yeah, we just have.

To enjoy it and see what happens.

Yes, yes, I guess maybe, Like same question back at you, like what do you want to focus on in the next year, Like what is like feeling?

What are you compelled to bring in to the show?

Oh?

Yeah for twenty twenty four. I mean, I feel like reproductive rights are such a huge issue, like thinking about what just happened with that poor woman in Texas. I mean, I'm a mom, and you know, it's I can't imagine going through that kind of heartbreak where you're so excited to have a baby and you find out it's not viable, and you know, you have politicians who are saying like, no, you need to carry this baby to term and give birth to it, and it could you could not be

Yeah, or you.

Know, and again with like I was so happy we got to do an environmental story. I'm always trying to get any kind of environmental story on the show because because The.

Daily Show doesn't believe in climate change.

Yes, I'm like, guys, Hello, can't believe you asked me a question. Crazy. Usually nobody asked me questions except like how's my light?

Well, this is fun. Thanks for having me on.

Welcome to the show. It's so exciting you're here.

I am excited and excited to work with you again too.

Yes, it'll be fun. Well, thanks so much for joining me and Grace and thanks for listening to The Daily Show Your's edition, Bye Bye.

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