Editor’s note: College Media Network gave student newspapers across the country the opportunity to have an exclusive conference call with Rory Albanese on Friday.
When anyone watches “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” it is easy to see who the star of the show is. Even though Stewart is the “boss” on the show, the material is put together by more than 100 writers and staffers who work endlessly behind the scenes to create consistently hilarious and engaging shows for the viewing public &mdash including Rory Albanese. The four-time Emmy winning executive producer of “The Daily Show” has recently recorded his first ever stand-up special which airs on Comedy Central this Friday at 10 p.m.
Albanese started on the show as a production assistant in 1999, the same year Stewart joined the show. However, this is his first time in front of the camera.
“I haven’t really tried to do anything on TV before,” Albanese said. “I was always interested in being on the creative side of things . I love doing ‘The Daily Show,’ but stand-up gives me an outlet to express my own stuff. It’s an exercise in staying sane, for me.”
Albanese said the difference between working for “The Daily Show” and stand-up comedy is clear.
“When you’re writing for ‘The Daily Show,’ you’re hiding behind the guarantee that Jon will make it work,” he said. “The stand-up process is more trial and error.”
Even though he has been working on “The Daily Show” for more than 10 years, Albanese has certainly had years of experience to develop the craft of stand-up.
“I did a show with Lewis Black at a club in New Jersey,” Albanese said. “If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Road House,’ it was just like that. It was the longest seven minutes of my life. After my set ended, I went backstage and Lewis was laughing as hard as he could. I was like, ‘Why are you laughing? I just bombed out there?’ He said, ‘I know. You were supposed to.'”
Albanese, along with other “The Daily Show” stars such as Rob Riggle (“The Hangover”) and John Oliver (“Community”), has taken his comedy set across the country, including multiple sets at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival last summer.
“Bonnaroo was a great experience,” he said. “I mean, we got to see Springsteen and then do a show after that. It was crazy to be in the Comedy Tent and hear Warren Haynes outside ripping on the guitar. The only bad part was the hot port-o-potties. That was harrowing.”
Albanese said he is now able to interact with college students.
“The best part about doing the special is that now I get to talk at colleges. College-age kids will come up after the show . We’ll talk about ‘The Daily Show,’ go out to the favorite sandwich place in town, just hang out,” he said.
Albanese was born on Long Island, N.Y., near Manhattan. He said the diverseness of the area combined with the attitude of his peers growing up was definitely an influence on his career.
“Growing up on Long Island, people make fun of you for some reason,” he said. “But at the same time you get exposure to an incredible kind of city that has different cultural things to do.”
In recent years, “The Daily Show” has become a very important entity in American culture. The show itself is gaining more respect across the country as one that reports on serious issues while simultaneously exposing political stupidity wherever it is found. Whether Albanese likes it or not, “The Daily Show” is how many young adults in college get their news.
“What I would say to that is that it’s a short amount of news,” he said. “I would try to take in all of what’s out there, watch all the networks. Pick up a newspaper. There are all kinds of ways to get the news, just as long as you don’t get a slant.”
In today’s economy, students on the brink of graduation are faced with many difficulties regarding life after college. Albanese said he had plenty of advice not only for those people, but for every college student.
“Things don’t get easier when you get out of college,” he said. “When you graduate, go after what you want to do. If you’re in college and you think you want to start writing, start writing. Create a blog, do something. Nothing will come of it if you don’t try it.”
Even though Albanese is in the enviable position of making people laugh for a living, he has spent years working his way up from production assistant on “The Daily Show” to writer and executive producer. Those years of hard work have now resulted in a Comedy Central Presents special.
“I love my job. I’ve always wanted to do this. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t do this, but I know I wouldn’t enjoy it as much . my backup plan would be to be the world’s greatest action star,” Albanese said. “I’ve always thought if you make your backup plan really unachievable, then you’ll be more likely to go after what you really want.”