Though Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show on August 6 ostensibly to spend more time with his family, he’ll likely continue — in perhaps a more erratic capacity — to be an incisive, working comedic (or directorial? or presidential?) presence. Since he’s not yet made any announcements about a big next step — perhaps because there is no big next step — it’s been said that only time will tell what form our former Daily dose of Stewart will turn into. And last night, time may have (or may not all have! helpful, right?) told: he appeared at New York’s Comedy Cellar with Louis C.K. and did a surprise 10-minute standup routine.
It’s a testament to Stewart’s overachieving that he had time to refresh a standup set amidst all he must be doing to finish up at The Daily Show, and that he was bold enough to perform just after C.K. And according to an account by Sean L. McCarthy, who, as Gawker reports, was in attendance, it was “fascinating to see and to know that a star goes through the same emotions before, during and after shaking off the proverbial rust of not having gone onstage as a stand-up in far too long.” Allegedly, by the time Stewart got offstage, he was heard saying, “I could do this again.”
Roy Albanese, former executive producer of The Daily Show and current executive producer/showrunner of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, Instagrammed the event, saying, “I took this guy to the @nyccomedycellar tonight and he couldn’t resist the mic. The Cellar is where it all began for Jon.”