Leslie Jones Reflects on Her Week as Daily Show Host | Beyond the Scenes

host of The Fuckery Podcast, Lenny Marcus. They discuss how SNL prepared her for the Daily Show, what advice Chris Rod gave her before starting the role, why she wanted to tackle men's mental health, and the backstory she created for each of the Daily Show correspondents. If you like the show, check out the Beyond the Scenes podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Beyond the Scenes, the podcast that goes beyond the scenes of topics and segments

that ed originally on The Daily Show. I'm your host, Roy Wood Junior. Very special episode today and what I say special first off of you watching the video of this, you can see where and I knew multi million dollar podcast facility right here in the heart of the Daily Show studios. I can tell you where we are, but then I'd have to kill you. Here's what this podcast, it's like. This is what you have to think of this podcasts. This podcast is like you're not in school.

You got your school teacher who give you the information. That's the Daily Show. This podcast is the substitute teacher who comes in and go yo ya, ain't got to do none of that. Ship today was talking about Today we're willing in the TV and we're about to watch Faces of Death and a couple of R rated movies. I don't know if that analogy completely connects. Joining me today though a two wonderful wonderful guests. First up, he is one of the co hosts of the Fuckery podcast.

I don't know if I'm supposed to add that you in there, because I know that y'all like for search engine optimization, you can't spell fuckery all the way out, so the care it's still pronounced like that, the no, no no, no yes. He is acclaimed stand up comedian and writer Lenny Marcus. Lenny, how you doing, Thanks right, thanks for having it. We took out the vows for the kids, but we we still pronounce it but the kids and that voice you here is a wonderful, wonderful stand up

comedian or do we just do comedian? And snell alum. But more importantly for the sake of this podcast, she was the first guest host of the Daily Show when we came back after Trevor Noah's departure and uh, y'all Knowah also as a co host of The Fuckery Podcast Leslie Jones. Nice, nice see. I used to hate comedian. Now I actually like it. Why, I don't know, I think you earn it. Oh that's interesting comedian or you're

in comedian comedian. Yeah, it's like a little acoustic crown right on top because you can just say you're a comic. You know what I'm saying, you know, yeah, but comedian comedian is by something when you call me a penny ask for now and call me a penny us you know what, what I'm okay, what I'm going to do is violently attack you first, and then I'm gonna say all that and that chemistry that you see between these two right now, that is what they have been for years.

These two. Also, what do I call, y'all, is it writing partners? Is it producing partners? Because you do so many projects together and I know that there's a lot of what Leslie touches that Lenny Marcus's fingerprints are on, and least I know it's vice versa, so like, because I don't know if it's a writing duo, I don't know what the hell y'all are. All I know is that when you two are together, it is magic. And

when you came into this whole situation. First off, give us a little bit of the backstory last of how you and Lenny met, because it's important that people understand your dynamic, and then how that dynamic came into the Daily Show. Because I'm telling y'all, you two or some shit we never had in this build that that that makes me emotional. I'm gonna be honest, that makes me a little emotional inside. Um. You know, I always I always had a vision of my career because that's you know,

Virgo is just like that. I always knew what type of steps I wanted to take, and when I got good enough, I was like, if I get a writer, I want to be like one of those writing teams that's like you know that, like when we go down in time, they'd be like, you know, these two people wrote together and they created this, this, this and this,

and I had that idea in my mind. And when you really try to force an idea, you end up either force it or either you think it, and you have to go through what it takes to actually get that type of partnerships. Like I've had a lot of people that I've wrote with and it didn't work out or it just it they wasn't even secure, it just

it just didn't vibe. And to find Lenny, and it's so crazy that everything that I used to fantasize about, I used to fantasize having this writing partner and we would just be like writing everything together, doing everything together, doing all the jokes together, righte. Movies and stuff and and do. And it's like to hear you say that, it just it's like, oh shit, Like the fucking dream. People need to understand the dream that you have. Don't go through the fucking path that you think is going

to go through. It's like a circuit. It's like you make the wish and then it goes out there and finds its path to you. So it could be anything. It can happen any type of way. Me and Lenny met at the Seller. I came in there one night, Yeah, comedy seller. I think I came in there one night. He was sitting at the table, and I think people were this is how I remember, but Lenny's going to tell probably because Lenny doesn't smoke weed, but this is

what this is. The fragments of the story that I remember is that he was sitting there and there was ragging him about him marrying his girl. And I was like, oh, what is your girl? The comedians will attack you for being in love. Yeah, well, they were just ragging him. They were ragging him and saying, yo, you should marry her,

like she's hot and woo. And I think he showed me a pitch and I was like, oh, yeah, motherfuck you stupid, like marry or whatever, right, And then I think I left a year, came back the next year they had got married. I performed and Lenny came down and gave me some notes. He was like, Yo, you know these are some good you know tags, I got some tags to your jokes. And I was like, oh yeah,

let's go around the corner and do him. And he was like like right now, and I was like, yeah, fuck that, let's go, like and we went around and I was like, like, I think it was like shit, maybe like at least seven of them fucking hit. I think it was like all of them him. I was like, Oh shit, this dude, this dude like and then I saw his set and I was like, oh fuck, this motherfucker's hilarious. And then we went to a Yankee game and I'm telling you, Roy, I don't fun I didn't

fuck with baseball before Lenny. We sat there there and Lenny made me love baseball. And I'm telling you, I and me and my assistant was laughing like NonStop, like it was so like he was saying funny shit that was just like so grown it grown jokes, like I've hung around people before, you know what I'm saying. I've hung around people before and they'd be silly and you go, I gotta laugh at that goofy shit, you know. But

Lenny was grown. So that's And for the people who don't understand comedy, Lenny, Yeah, what you did that night at the comedy Sellers fucking insane. Yes, you could have got cussed the hell out because just so just so I could describe you to the people we all know. You know, Leslie Jones sixty three six Flourish, Lenny looks

how he sounds. Lenny's taller than me. But you know what was so crazy, Roise that he wrote the jokes down so per ically, And I was like, this motherfucker is a nerd too, and it's like fucking love nerds. And that's connected to day we Okay, So, Linda, how much of that? How much of Leslie's story? The the It might be a little out of order, but it's very It's close enough, and I'll take it. And because when she tells it every time, it kind of changes,

like the events change every time. Yeah, yeah, but it's it's pretty close. And yeah, she took me to this Yankee game. And you know this, I don't, I don't. You don't want to give lines to somebody coming off stage right, you know they're not in the space hears how to do your job better twenty year veteran. Yeah, I got to know that person really well. But she

took me this Yankee game. I don't think you know those seats right, they're right behind home play Michael seats all right, Yes, seriously, that's you know how she says the circuit comes to you and the whole thing, that whole mess, which she was talking about circuitry and spirituality. No, I that's not me. I was just like, one day, I'm sitting those fucking seats and she's like, hey, you want to go to the game. I was like, I know those seats and it's happening right in real time.

So you manifested the seats. Is that great? So I manifested the seats. So I get to the seats, I am a tear is like rolling down my eye, and I'm like, how do I how do I pay this woman back for this? And the only way I could think of, you know what, I'll stick my head in, I'll watch the set and if I have anything to say, you know, maybe I'll just say hi, you know, and I go and to watch the set. I'm like, I think I can. I think she's got a couple a lot of stuff here, And so I started taking out

a pen and started writing stuff real quick. I wrote like ten things down. She comes off, and I'm waiting for the punch in the face roy I say. I literally had to say, hey, I know it's gonna sound hey good. She's like, hey, good to see I go do you want a couple of lines? Maybe? And she's like, I was waiting for get the fuck out of my face. No, she goes yeah. I'm like really, She goes yeah, you

all meet, you go to the baseball games. You have this wonderful journey over the next seven eight years of just making dope ass content. Right when you get the call for the Daily Show and Lenny being the words Smith and I would say, less, you're probably a little more jazz commedically, And I don't say that as an oh no, you're very much. You have an idea, you play around with it, but in TV you have the

constraints of time. Now you also know what you want to say, but you're trying to figure out the funniest way to say. What was your expectations, what was your approach? What was you all's plans? Because you're also you also have the burden of being the first mother, the first person to guess host. It mean, the first person to come back to kick down the doors, to re establish this brand. This is the twenty five year brand dog Well.

First of all, First of all, Lenny the first time Lenny saw me on the road, Roy, I did an hour in twenty minutes. You know how black comics do, right, And I really thought I was the shit. I was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna come off stage and Lenny's gonna be like, oh wow, I didn't know that you was walking Messiah. I literally you know, you know, you know that's how cocky. I was like, oh yeah, he's gonna be like, I don't know why you you hell hell

comedians should hell you. They should have made a statue at you. So I come on stage and I'm sweating and shit just knowing I ripped, and Lenny was like, what the fuck was that? He was like, why the fuck you even get off stage at fifty eight minutes? What the fuck? Nobody wants to see you? After fifty eight minutes he was like, you said, motherfucker like seventy two? What the fuck? Like he went off on me, like off on me. So it was like, well, that's what

it felt like. I was laughing because I was laughing. I was like, I was like, I was like, this is motherfucker, Like no, this motherfucker ain't telling me. I know the fuck I've been doing comedy. Whoo whoo. But see what I what one thing that I will admit about myself that I've always admitted to people is that I am a wild, bucking horse. Like I'm not afraid to kick the fucking French thing down and run in the field. I'm not afraid to buck off a motherfucker

that I don't want on me. I will jump feet first from the building. That's who the fuck I am, you know. So Lenny is the guy who is the lion Tamer's that's what I call him. I call him the lion tamer. He knows what I am and it he'll put it down and go stick to this like this is this is the script stick. And that's an important dynamic because the thing about the Daily Show is that the structure of the show. We also don't have a lot of time. The morning meetings at nine, rehearsals

at three, you don't have a lot of time. So you have to figure out very stickily how you want to do stuff. So Lenny, when you come into the building and I feel like you having that more of a sense of structure, but you also don't want to lose. We don't want to lose what Leslie does right, what did you anticipate coming into this, Like, what what did you heard about the show? What did you hear about? Well, the show. It's a brilliant show. I know, I've watched

it when John did it. You could tell how funny the writing staff is. They get it. And my expectations were pretty high, and I was like, can we meet your level of expectations because you know, she's she doesn't do a lot of prompt to work. There's a lot of prompt to work in that she doesn't do, you know, like we we have. We've worked with other production companies before that we didn't like. So anytime you go into a new arena, there's so much to happen within, you know,

getting to know people and working with people. And then you know she's got to do Like with the correspondence, you got to do like a two person thing here. So there was a lot coming in. I was like, wow, this is a lot of bells and whistles are you know? But with her there's always two things that play. One is she's going to bring everything she's bringing. She is bringing way more than you. A bomb is coming in. You guys don't even know that this explosions about to

go off. When I come in, I'm thinking, okay, just I have to let her do that thing, let her explore with the talent, and let me just figure out how to make it all work around her. That's that's what that staff did. And you know S ANDL. Of course, my experience doing the updates with SNL was very helpful, yea, being behind this desk, and he's right. We didn't have prompters. We had Q cards, So whenever you do the prompter, you gotta get that person on the same rhythm as you.

And I always feel stupid when I read out loud, so I always try to memorize a lot of stuff. So I try to tell them not to change too much. But I try to memorize a lot because I don't like to look like I'm reading and it's just it's it was a lot of shit. It was a lot of shit. But I'm gonna tell you that fucking that fucking writing staff, that crew, it's so much different than anything I've ever experienced. It was the first time I

was able to come in and actually be talented. I didn't have to write, I didn't have to direct, I didn't have to point I didn't have to do none of that shit. You did right, And we wrote for yourself, well you know we could they can. We could lay it out for her and then she'll lesliefy it. You know what I mean? How we're like, can I ask to a degree, how your preparation different for SNL versus the Daily Show? Okay, well y'all, y'all both have that schedule.

But what I would say for the Daily Show is we know everybody I know from SNL. They'd be texting me at three thirty in the morning on a weeknight about hit at Home. I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's I'm saying. I'm saying for the day of show, it's like your days start to like three. Yeah. And then the SNL is six days a week, six days a week. It's six days a motherfucker week. We only get Sunday off. And they give you the thing of like mentally like

you need to forget last week. It don't matter what the fuck happened to you, you need to forget last week. And it's it's a brutal hard, it's a hard. Like I didn't feel that at the Daily Show. I didn't feel like it was such a hard schedule to where I'm just like, okay, I'm gonna die, like I'm gonna die like we was home every night by eight. Yeah, it's very efficient here, very I don't even know if you guys appreciate how efficient, because I don't think that

y'all even understand how efficient y'all are. They waste resources, nobody knows what's up. Yeah, but here everybody seems to know every you know, it is a tight ship. I would say the experience at the desks and learning how

to cut jokes and stuff. I think SNL got me prepared a little bit for the Daily Show for that because it was so easy, Like I think I think Jim was like so surprised every time she would come up and go, okay, so we're gonna cut this and then we're gonna put this, And I was like, yeah, that sounds about writing. She would be like, oh okay, so yeah. Because people get attached to joke, I think

it's funny. No, And we've been there, jo Roy, we've been understand I've had jokes that that people be like. I'd be like, I'm retiring to joke. It's like what you're gonna put it in the glass thing, like on top of your fucking on your wall or some shit like you know, jokes be like baby stuffs. When I first started s ANDL they was cutting them jokes, I was like, you're killing me. But then you start loving the cut. The cut, just like the clean jokes. Are

not your children. They're your step children. You gotta love them but a little while, and then before a little while, and they're not even your step children. They just kind of like you, Like you said the substitute teacher, These motherfuckers, don't you don't really want you Guys also write. I mean the writing here is so strong. Yeah, if you cut something, it's like, great, you already have ten killers beforehands. And y'all wrote for me like y'all wrote for me,

like not at me. Okay. So then to that point, the topics that were thrown at you, um during your week you came on the same week at the Martin Luther King Dick Statue in Boston. But from a certain angler looked like a dick of an actual mother. Now it looks like he's going to hide Stephen A. Smith

versus Rhanna. George Santos was in the mix. What did you all discuss, the two of you internally in terms of what you wanted to say specifically, because the show is giving you a little bit of range of going, Okay, this is your chance to say whatever you want to say to America. But then and what did you want to say specifically? And also was there any top of

you like I can't get into that right now. We get well, like Martin Luther King when it came up on the Ford and we went through, and I go, that is in I don't care what happens in the other room. Trust me. She's gonna love this story. That's why the final saven trust me. And then she takes one look at it. She's like, yeah, you know, so I kind of know what she's gonna like. I can get us in the I'll get us in the stadium and very close to the seats, you know, get us

in the seat. And then she'll take it and say, yeah, I like that one. And it's so it's way, it's easier for you guys if I just do that, and she can sleep Broy whenever I'm doing stuff like that, which has been like the nemesis of the I don't know the core of what I've been trying to do on stage and everywhere with my comedy. I want to I want to actually say what needs to be said to you, but still make you laugh about it. That does that make sense? Like like like this is some

horrible shit. Like our job as comedians is to make you laugh, you know what I'm saying, But it's also to be very real and honest, Like to take that real and honest shit and really make it funny. You know. I really like, how can I how can I explain it? Like, whenever I talk about somebody in the audience, I try to make them laugh harder than everybody else. Like I'll be talking about them, but I'll be making them laugh

at themselves harder than everybody else. The only time that I hit a person so hard is that they're doing some fucked up shit like or you know, cackling me or whatever. But most of the time I'll start hard on you and by the end of it, you'll love me because I've made you laugh about yourself and you take a joke. Now, you take a joke to work and you go. Man the comedian last night, he really got me. He said that I and I sho do that.

That does how I tell you those comics that you know what I mean, Like, he's part of the like the I I like brutal ass whoopings, but I like them to be ass shoppings. That makes sense. It's part of her talent for sure. That's that's God given in some ways, like what she's saying, and a lot of comics don't figure that out, and she not. She does it in a really fun way a lot of the times. But we also she definitely keeps her ear to the ground, you know, to the ground of issues that happen in

the world. So we've been trying to write this bit for her interact about men's mental health, and so we've been talking about this a lot on the podcast whatever, And when we came in here, they're like, hey, is there any long piece you want to do? And immediately she's like, I always I want to talk address men's

mental health. And because that doesn't get addressed so little topic topics like that, like just whatever we're going through in our lives in that specific time, it bugs her for weeks, you know, and months, and mean it's like, yeah, they should get help. I'm done, you know. But she will stick to this and then when we come in and we get it, and we have this huge, amazing, brilliant writing staff that will help her make what she just said. It's she's not done in a mean way.

It's done in a helpful way and a really funny way. And the two of us were just blown away with, Yeah, this is what we've dreamed of for her. You know, our writing staff that's really bright and can actually play the play tennis with her, hit the ball back over the net. You know other writing staffs that we've worked with or anything. They don't they have They wouldn't have the first idea what to do. And everybody here was

psyched when she said that. They're like, yes, Well, after the break, I want to talk a little bit about um, you Thurst and over moist chestnut ass and we got to talk a little bit about you and guests. We're gonna talk a little bit more about Leslie Jones, the first guest host on The Daily Show to start twenty twenty three. This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back beyond the scenes. We are back Lenny Marcus and Leslie Jones of the Fuckery podcasts and also so um

part of the team. You're now in the Daily Show history, you're now part of the IMDb page. Do we technically call you the first black woman to host The Daily Show? I feel like you're black history now. I feel like you get a stamp. Oh shit, I don't even am I. I am trying to think of anyone, even in a guest host capacity, and unless Jessica Williams did it there, I can't think of another person. Wow, I'm the first

to do some shit. Yeah, you don't put that into history books and run to Santas to take it out. Let's talk about about the guests. Ye, Now you had Charlemagne the God yet, Morris Chessnut, Yeah, Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Playing Parenthood. When it came to preparing for these conversations like playing Parenthood, that's not that's not a light conversation. You can make it funny, but the issues that they're addressing with women's reproductive rights is

a very serious issue. Did you all because like Charlotte Mane, not moist Chestnut, we already know what it is. You was just chocolate head trying to see in person. Emma Tennis was in his face, singing, we're gonna edit that out because I'm sorry, melt moist chest and his wife. No, that's like having That's like having a chocolate cake on

account and going people don't like that cake. What was the what was the balance of serious to silly that you all that you know, Leslie that you and Lenny sat down and decided on with your approach to the interviews, Because I find interviewing to be to me, I don't think it's anything that everyone can do, but I think that an interview was only as good as the curiosities of the host. And that's where that's why your hall our sit of youall hall one on one. That's the

way you interview somebody. You interview them like everybody at home is thinking the same question everybody at home. Everybody at home. It's like, you know, you make you make those questions like that's what I would have asked him, That's what I would have asked him, you know what I'm saying. Like and then to having like some actual interest in what's going on, like you know, you know, Marris Chestnut has been around forever son like, and I

don't think nobody really ever given him flowers like he should. Yeah, does that make sense? Like he's been still working, still working hard, always on the show and always looking good. So I just and and I don't think people give enough credit to beautiful black men like that. I don't think that. I just don't think they get a lot of credit. But also positive right right, yes, drama, yes, yes, And then what he did for that, the best man,

that role that he played, it's just it's great. I just I thought that that needed to be I wanted that to be my first show on the show. For the planned parenthood. Linear tell you, it's another subject that I'm always talking about. I'm always talking about planned parenthood because people don't People don't understand women in their bodies. You men, you will never fucking understood. This is a

whole factory going on over here. We understand that you gotta dick, and you got seemen and all that bullshit to deal with, but we got a literal baby making machine inside of us, like and and and those things. If they're not if they stink, you're not around for that. You're just around to take our shit away instead of being around to help us clean up the stadium. Do you get what I'm saying, like I don't understand. Yeah, yeah,

like like like like I give this example. All the time, truck drivers come to the factory, they drop the shit off and they get the fuck out the factory. They don't stay and try to run the factory. No, they don't. They get the fuck out. They go to the next factory with electric Republicans. Basically, Okay, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, that's right. He's right, That's exactly what you're trying to say. What I've been finding, too, Roy, is such obviousness that I didn't you know, I am smart

and grown. I didn't know a lot of people ain't smart and grown. Like I didn't know that men didn't know that you can go to planned parenthood. Do you know how many men didn't know that they were allowed to go to planned parenthood? And that is four men. So that was the real angle I wanted to take, because I was like, if y'all know it's for y'all too, maybe y'all wouldn't be so quick to fucking X out our shit. You know what I'm saying. It was very personal.

We've talked about this. She had mentioned somewhere along the line like we know people don't even know. It's like people think it's an abortion, that's it. Yeah, and they don't even know the services. So literally, the first question I was asking, and I have it on my paper, is what other services do you provide? And like, let's ask that first, Let's get that. I mean, let's say the obvious things like people people, we think that everybody know everything. People, a lot of people don't know shit

like these are the stuff. A lot of planned parenthoods don't even give abortions, and and the ones that that do give abortions, they also give a sectomies. They also do other medical shit, like the one that's in fucking Brooklyn and New York. Brooklyn was my motherfucking jam like I could go there when I was actually sick, sick, like that was a hospital that planned parenthood there is fucking incredible. So it's it's like people don't know that shit.

And she's had experience with this, so now and my will, I'm leaving them in my trust. That's how much I think far as a guest go, that's a slam dunk. And then and then Charlemagne was she's been talking about mental health like we have a guy and he was men need therapy. I don't give a fuck. And me and Lenny talk about Leny always rose his eyes when I say this, my eyes, you do it? You fucking

roll your eyes? Like when when? When when guys going to a fucking appointment And I'm saying this to mail doctors to use for you to say to your mail patients. One of your questions, like when you said this to Lenny, one of your questions should be, Hey, how are you doing mentally? Yeah? Hey, how are you feeling mentally? Do you get what I'm saying? I mean, that's nothing wrong with that, but like because it don't care, Yeah, but

they're supposed to. And that's the fucking problem. They're supposed to because if a woman came into that doctor, that same doctor and acting up, they would be like, how is your mental Do you get what I'm saying? No, that's real fucking talk, though, Roy, Why I did that piece was? I honestly, and I tell Lenny this all

the time. I always look on the other side of the joke, you know, I always look on the other side of shit, Like men literally are fucking going through it, like y'all motherfuckers are going through it, And honestly, I don't think that you have been given the permission to get help for that. Whenever I say to Lenny or when I say to another man, the first thing men think is like, I'm not crazy. No, this has nothing

to do with you being crazy. This has to do with you being able to talk about what the fuck is going on with you, just like for a woman.

You know, I really don't think men understand that women do understand what you motherfuckers are going through, like you are going through it, like just to be put into this story that we have of the prince and the damns are in distress, and then you're supposed to save the women, and then you're supposed to be the manor house and you're supposed to Oh, you're supposed to be so god and damn mascoment. That's a fucking lot without

the dance, But do you give what the fuck I'm saying? See, see you can't even dance, But do you get what I'm saying? Like, I honestly feel like if we start putting that out there more that I think that dudes would, would would fucking be like, Yeah, maybe I need to go maybe I need to go take care of that. But he was great. That was the point. Yeah, yeah, Charlemagne. No, and Charlemagne was surprisingly great because I thought he was gonna be I thought he was Ever thought I thought

he was gonna be mean. I really did thought it was gonna be mean. I don't know why Ever met him. I thought you've done, but I had not. I think I maybe met him in other places, but I always see those clips and I'd be like, oh, I don't want to argue with Charlemagne because I don't want that to happen. I thought that was gonna be like that, but he was actually fucking awesome to me. Breakfast Club Charlemagne is different from any other show. Charlemagne, especially if

you're talking about mental health, which he didn't. Wrote two books on the ship, so that's his that's his ministry. So I love he said. So from the conversations you've had with the guests, let's switch over to the conversations you had with the correspondence. Now setting up those chats because now you're dealing with different personalities in a way. Sorry she doesn't Roy, because I don't said us. Y'all called correspondent tess because in the real news world, the

motherfucker leader was called co stars. No other show. You're on a fake nude shows reporter. You act like I watched you watch the watch the way you'd be yelling at MSNB, they was called correspondents. I just send people up on the screen. Never read the ship at the bottom. When the mother I'm dealing with they always say. They always say minister far Con or represent executive director, CEO of the correction. They don't say corresponded. Okay, so now

I know correspondent. So in preparing the desk chats, let me talk to Lenny. Talk to me. How were you trying to figure out the dynamic of how Leslie would navigate this because the people who don't know you know it's it's the fake live hit of the reporter out on the location. This was important to me personally. I don't know if I Leslie and I kind of went through, but I definitely had an idea coming in what I wanted Leslie to have relationship. She knows you for years.

I know you fears right, we don't know who DESI, but what if we did know them? What if Leslie has been doing this like what if she had another level of this where she had a relationship and and I helped him with this too. Yeah she did listen to me, woman, listen no, But it's always I always like to make up a whole story of what the fuck is going on, like with me and the person. So with Desi, I was just like, that's the sist.

Let that bitch go. Like I was just because they had us going back and forth, and I was like, absolutely not, let me come in, say what I need to do, and then let Desi do her thing, because I want the sister to have a dance. Bam, there it is, right, don't say no, don't say the first, don't say I'm so, don't say And then with Desi, I really just wanted to treat her like this little silly white girl that's my friend that I really want to help, this white girl wants to help. I want

to help you so much because you really are in trouble. Well, we had that, that was his idea, that we have a friend that we did this on supermarkets. Yeah, and she's and Desi's very similar. So I was like, and we couldn't do it in that short time. But I'm like Leslie, what if you could actually try and help her? Now with with with Costa, Costa was like I wanted opposite Colin. I knew because the first thing that people do is go, oh, you're gonna be in love with

the white dude. No. I want this to be a hate. But I don't want it to be because we fucked around. I wanted to be because he fucked one of my home girls. Yeah, and then me knowing Costa, yeah, and me knowing Costa and knowing how like arrogant, Like not arrogant, He's not arrogant, but he's just like his comedy presence is a fucking my Costa. Like you can y'all go back to the LA clubs. Yeah, I feel like, yeah, yeah, I want to treat him, but I want but I

wanted to be not to where we hate Costa. I want Costa to have a rope of Like, No, the bitch he was fucking with was crazy too, So like why is Costa the way he is because he's fucked with bitches like this? Does that make sense? So like it's a whole story and we're friends, like because it's like I wouldn't be mad at him at him if we weren't friends. Let's just talk about the eggs, okay, Because, as I was saying, the shortage is severe. But if you look closely, you'll find that it's not all it's

cracked up to be. You so in Corny Costa, you know she was gonna break up with you because you're a Cory mother, right, you know that? Right? Look, Look, I'm trying to be a good sport here. I came all the way out here to this farm that you sent me to. I got feathers all over my suit. It stinks, you know what. You know what I tell you what stinks. My girl had to go to therapy after you. Yeah, because she has multiple personality disorder. Yeah,

that's what we loved about her. She's like ten friends and one after the break, I want to bring it home. I want to talk a little bit about mentorship and what advice you got from people outside of The Daily Show, about your journey into guest hosting The Daily Show, Round and third and Hit It for Home with Leslie Jones and Lenny Marcus. This is beyond the scenes. We'll be right back beyond the scenes. We are bringing it to

a close. Here a wonderful conversation with the first guest host of twenty twenty three on The New Daily Show, Leslie Jones and her partner that's my NPR voice you like, but I like the whole introduction of the first You have a great ease behind the microphone for sure. You

know just this young woman is. I'm gonna talk a little bit Leslie Jones about her struggles and her time and to ghet O, man, you gotta tell him when you when we use in Alabama and you took me to this comedy that was That was one of them one times when I was like, thank God, I am a comic, like and I'm not scared to do this, like you know what I'm saying. Seven Lounge in Fairfield, Alabama. So Lenny, Yeah, for whatever reason, Leslie is in Birmingham.

When christ lived there, I ain't know. She had no times to Birmingham. And this is how much of a comedian Leslie is. On some fearless I don't care where I perform any time, any place. She just wanted to go. Hey, let's just go hang is there a mike. I'm like, Leslie, this is Birmingham on Christmas Eve. There is no comedy club both, but it just so happened to be one hood spot over in Fairfield and it's literally there's a shopping plaster and you can google earth this ship from

Aaron Aaronov Drive. In front of the old pizza Hut. There was a spot called the Seven Lounge. It was the only open spot within that shopping plaza of every other store is out of business. Seven Lounge holding a line out the door on Christ full of black people and we're just going to watch stand up and then one of them come up to Leslie. You want to go and bless the people with a little bit of time.

It would be your honor day. You know. She's not trying to perform, but you know the comedian and you, yeah, let me go on up there. She goes on stage and it was raining the whole night, and it's fucking leaking is leaking on stage and people are breaking buckets up where she's mid joke. I'm Tarny's motherfucker's up too. She roasted the room. She didn't even do a joke. She just went up there and said this shit raggedy

good night, yo, and they loved it, y'all. Let me tell you the one thing that I have learned about this game is that I think I might be a little crazy, especially when it comes to the mike. I remember going to San Bernardini, or had a gig in San Bernardini, and we got there and that nobody showed up. So the man paid me, but he was like, we ain't gonna have no show. Man. I got in the car. I was like, Yo, let's drive around. Let's find somewhere to go up. We found this karaoke club. I went

up to the bar. I gave a lady fifty dollars. I said, listen. I was like, let me have some time. She was like, we don't do comments like we're doing karyokes. Like, let me do some time. If I'm not funny, you can have his fifty dollars. Right. Yo, went up and I fucking When I say, the dude that was with me, he was like, my balls went inside of me. I was like, you have taken He was like I didn't have no balls now. He was like what you just said. I went up, grabbed a mic and when I say,

ripped that fucking club in half. I went back to the bar. That bitch gave me fifty dollars and gave me fifty more dollars and then bought us all drinks. She was like, anytime you ever want to go up, I was like, you got to be And if I ever had a comedy contest, that would be one of the fucking things is that I would drop you in Arizona. Go get a set, show up, and go up. Find some create a microphe because if you really do, if you're really about your shit, you will do your shit.

I have performed on the street. I have performed in the hallway. I have performed in barbershops, beauty shops. I have performed in churches. I have performed in halls. I have performed in actual hallways. I have performed son So how does that translate then into the hosting, Like, what are the skill sets Lenny and Leslie that like from stand up, that role naturally into being in that chair because there's a lot of the aspects of stand up.

You cannot use your batman without the tool belt to a degree low key yeah, when you're in the chair, So what tools from stand up kind of translate. I think the timing translates immediately. You know she has a great ear for it. You know time. And also she plays off the crowd. Well, you know when you cut back from one of those packages and it's ridiculous. Just her face. She's so expressive with her face, so you can get a laugh, you can get a laugh off

your face, you can get a laugh off just waiting. Yeah, because it's just it's not without the two of Beth Roy. If you got your face, like when I first started, I would do an hour of mirror time. I just like it's some lucille Ball ship. Watch lucille Ball, Watch Cariburnette. You know exactly what joke they're telling without them even talking. Cariburnette could literally have you hollering for fifteen minutes and not say a motherfucking word. That's face. That's face, and

then plus two, Like again, the world is in an obviousness. Now. This is what I told my friend the other day. I say, I feel like we're in the matrix and they haven't updated us because the same stuff keeps rolling around and it doesn't seemed like people are not understanding that this is the same thing. The thing that I will say about that night at the Seven Lounge, like it was a hood spot. It was a very it was. It was ghetto as hell, but everybody who was there

came to laugh, and they laughed. Every comedian that was there was appreciative. And then I'd be damned if Leslie Jones did not stand out on that sidewalk on a rainy Birmingham night and chop it up with them comedians for an hour. Because comedians, and this is me being a comic from Birmingham, we don't get access to comedians like you at the level that you were, because this is this is peak SNL at this point. We don't get access to comics like you at that level where

you are in the game. You're not even invite You can't even get backstage of the comedy club in Birmingham to talk to somebody that's on your level. So that level of mentorship and just get to and I mean as less comics still talk about it to this day. They still talk about that Christmas Eve at seven Lounge.

So when it was time for you to get it vice for this show, and I know Chris Rock is kind of popped in and out, like I don't know what relationship you and Chris Rock have on some friendship shit, but I know professionally. He's always been somebody that's been a fan of your craft. Was there anybody you talked to outside of the Daily Show that helped you to prepare for what would happen once you were in the chair, Well,

you know, I did talk to Chris. Chris was one of the first people that I was like, how do I And he was like, he was like, this is literally what he said. He was like, he just laughed. He goes, I never worry about you, dude, Like, I never worry about you. He was like, just be yourself, don't try to be John, don't try to be Trevor. Just be who you are. He was like, it's you'll be fine. And he was like, I don't worry about you. And when you hear that, it just puts you. It's like, oh,

how can I put this? Lauren could do that to me? Really good to Lauren was good at that. Like I love coaches. I love coach I love coach talk, Like like when I when I did my first update, when I did my first update, man, I ripped that fucking that that dress show. Oh homie, you think the fucking live was the dress is always better than the live

To meet the dress for the people. Oh my god, I didn't address that shit just I'm talking about like fucking rattling motherfuckers was running through the building like, oh fuck, who is this bitch? Who was this bitch? Who was this bitch? Lauren called me in his office. He called me in his office because he knew that my fucking head son. I was like, I didn't came in. I didn't found my motherfucking spot. Bitch. You motherfucker can't tell

me shit right. He called me in that office and he was like, I'm so glad that you did good doing a dress. Now do that shit live. Get the fuck out. I tell you something. Let me tell you something. I went in the hallway and I can't. I almost felt like I had on a uniform because I was like, all right, coach, let's fucking do this. You want to live,

so let's go. Motherfucker Like it was like you had just let me fucking like that's so I like like when he said that, it was just like you're my star player, go play like that's that's that's gets me repped up, you know what I'm saying. And Lenny's good at it too. Lenny's always just like, just do what you do, boss. Yeah, I mean I'll give her at the table like between the things, like she's asking me if what can I do? I'm like just sometimes very

little tweaks or you know whatever. But I'm not the Bobby Knights school of yelling at people. Lenny goes too yelly. I like that you're yelling. You're yelling too much. Bring it down? Do this? Hey, Like I that's that's the shit I like to Okay, but then how did you How were you able to be in a place where you could accept criticism or critique. Accept critique, not criticism, because that's a hard thing as a comedian because for twenty first twenty years and your shit, it's just you.

You are your writer, you are your editor. No one can tell you done because my jokes and my instincts got me to this point. And then here comes this throwny dude, but a comedy with a slice of Pieta in his hand to it. Na, it's not like that, honestly, honestly, you if you're a real comic, and I'd say this to everybody that does this this craft and even the old heads or whatever. If you're a real comic, and

you really love this craft. I mean, you do this craft like I would do this craft even if they weren't paying me roy if they I would do if it came down to the world and I'd be the world comic like not getting me, I would do it because that's how much I love comedy. And if you really love doing it, you always want to get better. So yeah, after twenty years, I was like, all right,

I didn't. I didn't wrote the joke every which way I could write it, like like I am not I make myself laugh, but shit, I want to make myself. I would see other comics and I would see the direction that they're going, and I go, see, I'm not there yet. That's why I'm not. So I need someone

else other than me to come in. Now. It wasn't about me not picking another black female or another And this is no, I don't know shade on black comics, but I do believe that we all kind of think of light because I would get tags from them and they would be the same tasks that I would have come up with. So when you have someone and this is why I tell black comics all the time, you need to do white clubs, go do the mainstream clubs

because you're different type of comics. You're gonna give different tasks to these white comics. These white comics gonna give different tags to you, They're gonna give you different branches. So Lenny's a whole different person outside of my bubble. That's gonna show me something that I'm not even seeing. So that might be even way funny. You're like, oh shit, that's how you take it to the next level. So the way that I get to being able to take a critique is that because I want to be so

motherfucking good, and you cannot do that by yourself. Jesus, until people understand to reach out to the motherfuckers that are going to help you. Until you make a t you can't. There's no eye in making it. Well, there is two eyes, but okay, there's no I in success. I should say that you can't do that ship by yourself. I know you think you can, but you won't be

the best like I would. I don't even want to say this, but whenever I see certain people and they post, going, I look what I did, whoo whooping, and like, okay, well who helped you do that? Like yeah, like make it. I can't explain it. It's just like we need to learn how to grow, and the only way to learn how to grow is to actually depend on someone else could help you. This am I making it perfect, but

also she what she's saying now is so rare. You know this, Like stand up comedians very lonely people not lonely, but they like to work alone. You're your own writer, director, producer, everything, And I struggle with that to help to get help. Trusting yeah, trusting you for sure. Rodney Perry. Rodney Perry would give me tags and I would get mad at him, like because because he would be like, yeah that tag Burke, Fuck you, nig I thought of it. You know what

I'm saying. Like, you go through that stage, but then you get to the stage of like, yeah, I want to see something else other than this joke to go outside you. Most of the time, you got to get something for somebody you respect. You know what I mean. If somebody says something to you, If Chris Rock wants to give you a line, you're gonna try that line the next time out right. If Joe Shamu tries to line. But you know what I always said, you should be

open to anything. And believe me, if people are taken full advantage, I've had open MICUs give me lines, you know what I mean, like thank you very much, you know what I mean. It's like you just have to be nice about it. But she is so open in a different way to me, and I've had a lot to give out there and nobody tapped into it for all those years and she's like, why what is going on? And she did it and it's been successful. So points for Leslie. The podcast is the fuckery and what y'all doing?

The fun We're gonna end. We're gonna end the list that fulray um where you won't talk about a lot of different current events. And it's actually a really good podcast because it gives a really good winding to the dynamic of you two, but also politically how you too tend to see the world and current events. So we're gonna do a little couple of fucker reads of the week here. Let's do it all? Are we doing? We had a week here? Well, we're just you know, we

just want like a crossover episode like Chicago Fire Chicago PD. Okay, okay, first up, Rihanna's Have Time performance. Okay, well, I okay. First of all, because you went on you went in on stephen A. Smith, for say, and but Rihanna was wonderful. I still wouldn't say what stephen A. Smith said. I

still wouldn't say that, but I I was. I was surprised that she was pregnant because she had just had the baby, so I thought the baby was like two months old, and I was like, oh, wow, is she getting rid of the baby fat or something like that. But then she holds pregnant and then all the little white dudes in the white suits look like that was some point of it. Yeah, oh, somebody, somebody broke it

down and they said that Rihanna's performance. If you look, she's walking out in the red with all of the background dancers looking like sperm. And by the end of the performance she is alone away from the sperm, and we see clearly that she has the seed in her So the entire performance she got it bregnated. Okay, okay,

which means which means somebody bustus. Somebody was roll dog in the stadium exactly busted in the middle of the Not only that, I don't know my thing on that is like multiple billions of points for shit, I would never do. Okay, they raised her. How high is she? She was way high in the air? Are you kidding me? Like if you just said, you know what, she can't

be here right now, can you just step in? I'd be like, oh, thanks, No, I mean because they can't raising And I was like, oh my god, that's the reason she's not moving, because she's up in the fucking the hair. She's gonna fall. Leslie and I talk about all time. Both of us would fall off that platform. I don't know how it happened. They would have to change, they would have to change wrap me to that for me,

not the restumers have died from half that height. Yeah, exactly, yes, I'd be like, get me out of get me out of here. I'm out of here, Like oh, black, black, black, look at what you got last fuckery? What say you? Since y'all missed this topic on the show, because it came up in the new cycle after your week at Coming Gone All, Rod Descantis putting the end to African American ap history of courses doing Black History Month Mine. He's trying to get rid of the stop the Wokers.

They have a stop Woke act. Well, anything that makes white people feel bad. You gotta make that shit illegally, That's what it fucking is starting to feel like. It's just like your obviousness, your obvious racism is just so disgusting. It's fucking disgusting. So you, oh, it's then you don't need to learn this what we don't need to learn while fucking little white kids is still going around calling kids nigga and school like we that shit's still going on.

Like I'm telling you that Michael Max and Martin Luther King literally can walk into this world and not see a motherfucking difference. So you fucking tell me that, like you used to be a history teacher, you are fucking racist. You are a racist. You are a motherfucking racist. And please pronounce, please announce this shit while he's doing a speech. You are a fucking racist. Ron the shit toast. You

are a mother fucking racist. I'm not following that did though. Okay, you know, well the podcast by the way, we'll be in Florida for two shows saying about it. My fuck Florida fuckers need to just float the fuck off to the fucking water, like fuck y'all, man. But after we perform so we'll be in Tampa and s come get that we can't smoke, Come get the smoke. To be fair, it's only one Florida by like two points. There's a

lot of good people, you know. But and then you know what, and that's what makes me mad though, that there are good a lot of good people. There's a lot of good people in this whole fucking United States of America that don't believe in half the ship that's being done. But you fucking lazy, You sit your fucking ass, your complacent, fucking ass and think that motherfucker's is gonna straight and shit off of you. Get up off your ass,

because we are the motherfucking people. We are the motherfucking people. If you're paying fucking income tax and you're not voting, use a dumb ass motherfucker. I said it. That sounds like a political campaign. You're a dumb ass motherfucker. Sick of it. I'm sick of it. They need to be told straight out how you pay taxes and not and not vote. What kind of that don't make you smart? That makes you a fucking idiot. Wait one more, one more, sorry more, No you on the floe. I'm letting you flow.

I know when to be quiet. Please, last one. Welcome to my world. Roy Chinese spy balloons fair a foul? How dumb are we? Fucking stupid? Oh? Wait, let me tell you something, right a Reagan president Carter would have shot the ship. They would have shot it. What they all shotgun? But they all fucking gun and shot that fucking balloon down. How fucking dumb are you? Dude? I mean, do you know how many countries think that we are fucking complete idiots? Oh it's just a balloon. It's not

doing enough, and they're mad at us. Now like the girlfriends, they're gas lighting us. They're gas lighting us. Want they're sitting back to them, sitting in the pieces and send some bullets that's inside of that motherfucker. Don't listen. I couldn't be the president. I'm telling you right now. Yo, let me tell y'all, motherfucker something. If you've seen another balloon over this motherfucker, see what the fuck happened? You

see what the fuck happened? They've been shooting them down now apparently now this is just an influx of a bunch of unidentified flying whatever they How are we not smart? Enough to know that that these motherfuckers listen. And I'm not trying to be racist or anything, but the technology comes out of fucking China, like the best cameras, all that shit. You think they can't build a goddamn camera balloon, it's bizarre. They're shaped like fortune cookie, So it's really

obvious China. What is racist about that? Marcus, Please don't come and band me check. Please the fuck up real quick. Yeah, yeah, talk about ship. Yeah, that wasn't that wasn't appropriate for him to say. I do not back up that joke at all. Yo. When I say I love y'all, man, Broy, you are fucking the best man. That's so funny that you've been through my life periodically and just great. Yo. We used to let Leston and I used to live in the same apartment complex. Oh my god, No, no, no, no,

German way, that's right, German way. I think I maybe saw you twice as you still with that girl. No, yeah, I just I didn't think that was gonna last night. I saw y'all in the elevated once and I was like, damn, that nigga looked like a prisoner. Okay, and now it's time to go. No, it's time to go, lady situation, tell him my business business. The podcast is the fucking Catch Leslie Jones and Lenny Marcus on tour. It is one of the best stand up shows out there right now. Leslie, Lenny,

thank you for going beyond the scenes. Thank you for taking us beyond the scenes. Baby to the girl in Los Angeles, Leslie said that not me. Hey, listen, I ain't trying to fuck up nobody's ass man. You know, you know what I he probably was fucking up. That's probably why he You know, I was fucking up. I will on that. Just stop talking. They're playing the music.

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