The event that is "The Daily Show" revved engines Monday night, and that train ripped along the track as host Jon Stewart and his merry band of satirical correspondents plowed through more than one sacred cow in Ohio.
For only the fifth time in the show's decade-long history, Stewart and a crew of 85 hit the road, landing in Ohio's capital for four nights of shows billed as "Battlefield Ohio: The Daily Show's Midwest Midterm Midtacular."
The inaugural broadcast drew 275 antsy-with-excitement,
starry-eyed fans to the Roy Bowen Theatre at Ohio State University,
where they had to hang around for an hour before being ushered onto the
set.
Stewart traveled to this battleground state to do what he does
best: puncture the pomposity of the political process with wry wit.
Perhaps the challenge was larger than expected, as he revealed just
before introducing Cavaliers star LeBron James as Monday's guest. "We wanted to get Ohio politicians. We pretty much asked all of
them," Stewart told the audience. "Apparently many of them plan to
leave office. Or go to prison."
Gov. Bob Taft, gubernatorial candidates Ted Strickland and Ken
Blackwell and Ohio's two U.S. senators, Mike DeWine and George
Voinovich, all said "no thanks" to invites to appear.
But Stewart drew loud hoots when he wondered aloud how far
Blackwell must be down in the fourth-quarter polls to throw a "Hail
NMBLA" pass in his attempt to connect Strickland to the association
that promotes sex between adult men and boys.
The politicians' dodge did nothing to dampen the wild
enthusiasm of an audience that ranged in age from late teens to
card-toting members of AARP, further amped before Stewart appeared by
blaring rock music and the comedy and cheerleading of the aptly named
Paul Mercurio, a former writer for the show.
By the time Stewart hit the stage, the roof was coming off the
place with noise. Stewart makes a strong connection to the audience with
his off-the-wall humor, exaggerated expressions, pregnant pauses and
punctuating gestures.
The assembly howled as correspondents Samantha Bee, Dan
Bakkedahl, Jason Jones and Rob Riggle skewered Ohioan's eating habits
while standing in front of green screens that on monitors displayed some
of Ohio's storied restaurant franchises.
"Ohio is round on the ends and high in cholesterol, John,"
Riggle deadpanned.
Stewart had a blast, too. As Bee took jabs at Columbus in a
video, making fun of its citizens' accents, impulses to chant
"OH-IO," and even its Hooters girls, Stewart, off camera,
leaned back in his desk chair and roared with laughter.
While James isn't a politician, he's high in the polls with the
audience, which cheered wildly as Stewart hopped on his desk to give
James a high five. "I don't mean to offend you, but are you an alien
creature?" Stewart asked, in reference to James' hoops ability.
Just before beating Stewart in a round of rock, paper, scissors, James was asked what could stop him. "I'm not sure anything can stop me," James said. That was clearly a sentiment shared by the audience for Stewart and "The Daily Show."
| Midwest Midterm Midtacular - Why Ohio? | ||||