CHICAGO — Here’s how much of a fan Susan Friedman is of “The Daily Show”: In 2010, the Chicago native decided on a whim to drive to Washington, D.C., for a day to catch the big performances by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. real “Rally to restore sanity and/or anxiety.”
“I just drove in, went to the rally and then drove back,” she said. “And when people heard I was going, three more people said they were getting on. They literally got in the car, and we didn’t even know each other!”
On Monday morning, Friedman held up a tea towel from the 2010 meeting (yes, they handed out tea towels at that event!) as he stood outside Chicago’s Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture. The venue, located in Windy City’s Lakeview neighborhood, is home to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” this week, in town to cover the Democratic National Convention.
The Athenaeum is located a few miles north of downtown, where the DNC action is taking place at the United Center and McCormick Place. That’s why it was pretty quiet around the location Monday morning, with few pedestrians around the building — except for Friedman, who showed up hoping to get in to see Monday’s filming.
“I’ve been standing in line for weeks,” she said. “And so I’m kind of hoping that someone has an extra ticket, or that by the grace of God they let me experience this. And the thing is, I volunteer at the DNC, and I took today off hoping that I would be able to… I thought if I show up early, maybe someone will take pity on me.
Friedman said she has been volunteering for the DNC for the past 10 days. “The delegates and everyone arrived this weekend,” she noted. “The demonstrators also arrived this weekend, so it’s really happening downtown.”
Friedman, who turned the 2010 tea towel into a rally sign, also wore a T-shirt advertising Chicago’s famed Second City comedy theater. Friedman says she is a fan of both Stewart and Second City alum Stephen Colbert — whose CBS late night talker “The Late Show” is also in town.
“And don’t forget John Oliver!” she said of the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight.” And she likes Jimmy Kimmel too. “Where’s Kimmel?” she asked. “Why isn’t he here?”
When told Kimmel was taking the summer off, Friedman said, “He could have gone on vacation to Chicago!” We would have taken care of him.”
Considering that Chicago is considered a comedy city – thanks in part to The Second City and other comedy troupes – having both “The Daily Show” and “The Late Show” (which airs live from the Auditorium Theater downtown) is considered as a tremendous blessing to the Laffer community. “People here want to support us supporting the arts,” Friedman said. “We support comedy. Chicago is a different kind.”
By late morning, staffers were rushing through the Athenaeum as production trucks were parked down the street. Security was also busy, although there was still not much to keep an eye on. Next door, the gigantic St. Alphonsus Church and its associated school welcomed children and parents back into the classroom – seemingly oblivious to the commotion of “The Daily Show” next door. (Although the Saint Alphonsus parking lot was full of production vehicles for the program, they must have probably known something was going on with a foot.)
On the steps of Saint Alphonsus sat another “Daily Show” fan, Ric Corns. The Chicago native had arrived early to meet a friend. Unlike Friedman, he had secured a pair of tickets for Monday’s taping, which will be hosted by Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as a guest.
“I’ve seen ‘The Daily Show’ on and off, probably since 2004, since I was in high school,” Corns said. And I’ve always loved Jon Stewart. I loved his perspective and strange shots. I’m still a little miffed about his rant about Chicago Pizza, but I’m excited to finally get to an episode of “The Daily Show.”
“I’m excited to see Jon Stewart live, and it’s great to be coming to ‘The Daily Show’ when such a big event like the Democratic National Convention is happening here,” Corns continued.
Corns said he felt an atmosphere of excitement in the city. “I think it’s very positive. So far I haven’t seen anything controversial, nor demonstrators or anything like that. It feels like a lot of unstoppable momentum has been building now. This is an excellent time for ‘The Daily Show’ to really take advantage of it and provide a lot of great commentary, especially now that we’re so close to the election.”
