Standup and former SNL writer Michael Che is set to make his debut as a Daily Show correspondent tonight. He’ll be doing a segment on current election news. Che was hired by The Daily Show in April, joining Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Aasif Mandvi, Jessica Williams, Al Madrigal, and Jordan Klepper as the latest addition to the show’s news team. Che is the second new correspondent this year, following Klepper, who debuted in March.
In a recent interview with us, Che discussed joining The Daily Show:
My agency was like “They’re looking for somebody. Would you be interested in taping?” so we sent in an audition tape and then they said they wanted to give a test offer, and I auditioned on set with Jon and they told me I got it. It was really quick … it was like “Wait, what?” Like, people ask me if I’m excited and I’m like, “Agh…I guess?” …
It doesn’t feel like I even work there yet, because I don’t … I have no idea what it’s gonna be like. I talked to Wyatt [Cenac] about it, and he was saying that you get your nights, which is great cause I get to do standup, and for the most part I don’t know how much they’ll give to me, I have no idea. So it’s exciting in the sense that I just don’t know … I feel like it’ll be fun. Jon’s great, he’s hilarious. I don’t know a lot about politics or anything… [laughs] I really don’t know what I could do. It might be a terrible decision, but even if it doesn’t work out it’ll be one of those fun things that didn’t work out.
Che joins The Daily Show after having spent the last season-and-change as a writer on SNL. His Comedy Central Half Hour special premieres this Friday.
