Jon Stewart is bringing his stand-up act to Clusterfest.
He’s a headliner at Clusterfest — but gig won’t just be about Trump
The interview hasn’t officially started yet, and Jon Stewart is already being topical and funny.
Informed, jokingly, that recording without permission might be a federal offense, he has a perfect “The Daily Show” one-liner:
“Is that true?” Stewart quips. “I thought there was no such thing as a federal offense in San Francisco ...”
But Stewart’s next gig, and the seven after that, has little to do with television, or the pacing of a TV show. The comedian, host and film director returns to the Bay Area on Sunday, June 3, in a headline spot at Comedy Central Presents Clusterfest — his first West Coast stand-up comedy appearance in 15 years.
Stewart left “The Daily Show” in 2015, replaced by host Trevor Noah, another Clusterfest guest. Since then, he has worked on an HBO animation project that didn’t make the air, continued to pursue filmmaking projects (his screenwriting/directorial debut “Rosewater” was released in 2014) and partnered with his wife, Tracey, to start an animal sanctuary in New Jersey.
Reached by phone in New York last week, Stewart said that his return to stand-up is more than a lark and that he hopes to continue well beyond the three-city comedy tour he recently announced, co-headlining with Dave Chappelle.
Clusterfest, co-produced by
Superfly and Another Planet Entertainment, returns for its second year Friday-Sunday, June 1-3, in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
Q: I dug around in our archive and checked when you’ve been here before as a stand-up comedian. The earliest I found was 1989, opening at the Punch Line for Bobby Slayton.
A: Oh yeah, that’s right! It was right after the earthquake — a week after the earthquake or maybe even earlier. I remember we weren’t sure if the gig was going to go on because (the club) could have been damaged. I didn’t know anything about that stuff.
Walking around San Francisco with Bobby Slayton was tremendous. He really is a legend there. I can even remember, going to see where the hungry i was and the Purple Onion . ... Walking down there with Slayton, I can remember it was a man who clearly lived on the street. And as we walked by, he turns and he goes “Bobby Slayton, comedian extraordinaire.” … We had a lot of fun.
Q: I’m curious what your stand-up act was like back then. Was it what people would expect seeing you for years on “The Daily Show”? A: At that point, I think I had been doing it for only two years so it was — I mean maybe this is what people would expect — but it was super s—ty. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but you’re still sort of learning and figuring out who you are and what you are. I wish I could tell you, “Man, it was killer.” But I’m not sure if that was the case. You find this early in a stand-up’s career, usually those first couple of years, you are who you are. “Hey man, I’m a Jew, raised in New Jersey!” You go through your family first and maybe your past history. You go through your bio years.
Q: You didn’t tour as a stand-up much with “The Daily Show,” correct?
A: No, I would go out here and there. I would set up stuff so I’d be away a weekend here and a weekend there. Twenty to 30 gigs a year maybe, but nothing like what guys can do. Q: Did you miss it?
A: Oh, sure. There’s nothing more unfettered. And that’s kind of why I’d want to go out every now and then. The structure (of a TV show) helps you be creative, because you have to work within those parameters. It’s sort of like the “Chopped” challenge to some extent — here’s your ingredients, and you’ve got an hour, make me something that’s edible. That’s kind of what the show was. But stand-up is a much different form.
In the same way that going off to do the movie did, it’s sort of refreshing to use some of the same materials, but under a different time constraint, and under a different formula and format constraint. I always enjoyed being able to do that. But I also never felt like I had to do that 150 times per year. I recognized that one was my job, and the other was my pleasure.
Q: How did Clusterfest come up? I’m sorry but I’m a late-night TV conspiracy theorist and just assume everyone napalms their bridges on the way out.
A: It’s a pretty amazing story. So they called and said, “Would you like to do Clusterfest?” And I was like, “What’s that? I don’t know what that is.” And they said, “It’s like a stand-up show out in San Francisco.” I love San Francisco. That’s a great area for comedy, and everything. My wife lived out there for about four years . ... I was like, “OK, let me check my calendar. OK!”
I’d like to say it took more sweetening, but it kind of didn’t. Comedy Central is a very special place. They really do allow people a leeway that you might not get somewhere else. I don’t know that if we tried to do what we did (with “The Daily Show”) in any other environment, that we would have been able to be successful with it. If it wouldn’t have been overly f—ed with.
Yeah, but there was no great “Reservoir Dogs’ shot of me throwing a lighter into some gas pumps and blowing the place up on the way out.
Q: Have you been out testing material in a club somewhere? What should we expect?
A: I’ll go out and do that, and I’m doing some other writing and things like that. When you say what to expect, do you mean nudity? It’s not going to be multimedia. I don’t end with a 20-minute drum solo. Q: The obvious question is political. The country has changed a lot since you got off daily television. Do you have a lot of material built up, or maybe it’s going to go in a different direction? A: It’s so hard for me to say because (stand-up comedy) is such a subjective form. I’d like to be able to say, “Yeah, I’ve built up this reserve of Trump stuff.” I talk about that, sort of my experiences with him and what I think of it. But it’s not exclusively by any means that. I think it’s what it always was: a person working through his confusion, a plea for clarity on certain things.
The fun of it is trying to take a notion and make it into something that is a performance. You’ll have moments where hopefully people will laugh their asses off, and other moments where they’ll think, “That’s an interesting turn.” You want it to be a full meal, but the thing you have to remember is that everyone has a different interpretation of what a full meal is. You try not to get into that head of, “What are they expecting?” It’s one of the things that can really stifle you. I know what the reputation is, in terms of “It’s ‘The Daily Show,’ ” you sit down and show your exasperation at news clips and things like that. Q: I think there’s a lot of people who will say, “Oh great, he’s going to have two years of Trump material building up, that’s going to blow up like Kilauea.” A: That’s right. “And finally we’ll take this cat down!” If that’s your expectation, you’re not going to have a very good time at Clusterfest. If you’re waiting for Wyatt Earp to show up and clean this thing up, you’re in for a disappointment.
Q: You have shows coming up with Dave Chappelle. Is this the beginning of something?
A: Yes. Yeah, we hope so, man. I did leave (“The Daily Show”) for a reason, and that was I needed a better balance in my life. So this is a chance to regain that one aspect of life of doing stand-up, but with a guy who’s just a great hang.
One of the difficulties sometimes with stand-up is that it can be somewhat isolating. You go out on the road. It’s not like a band, where you have you mates. It’s more like, “Do you have a stool, a glass of water? Let’s go!”
Q: I would think Dave Chappelle would be somewhere in the Top 5 good hangs, all time.
A: That’s what I’m saying. If you’re going to pay some money to hang out with a person, Chappelle would be at the top of the list. To be able to hang out with Chappelle and not lose money on the arrangement, that’s pretty nice.
Q: Does this mean we’ll be less likely to see you on television? You have a couple years left on your HBO deal.
A: I’ll probably do a stand-up special on television. I never say never about stuff. I’m not a young man, but I’m not an old, old man yet. I’m still excited about the idea of being able to do different things. There’s a movie I hope I’ll get a chance to direct coming up. There’s a lot of different things I’d like to do. But I like the eclectic nature of it now more . ... I have a great respect having done it for so long of that grind, of trying to keep it special for people and special for yourself. I like the idea now of a variety of buffets. I’m living my life actually like a senior citizen. My life is a buffet. It is the earlybird buffet.
Q: I’m envious.
A: I can hear it in your voice, you are nowhere near my age. Q: I actually saw Slayton at Cobb’s around 1989. I’m a little younger than you, but not a lot. I grew up around here. I just interviewed Will Durst for my podcast.
A: Oh, Will Durst! All those guys! ... San Francisco had such a scene, man. Durst and Slayton — it was just so vibrant — Rick Overton. There were just such comics that came out of that town and that era.
Q: Dana Gould, Greg Proops. But I was young and wanted to get in the clubs, and the only club I could go to was Cobb’s, which was under 18. I thought I was so mature because I couldn’t order a drink drink, so I ordered two Calistoga mineral waters. I thought that was the most mature underage drink.
A: (Laughs) “This has carbonation, does it not?” That’s tremendous. But how great were those shows? I didn’t really get a chance to know (all of the comedians). I was coming out of the New York clubs.
Q: Welcome back to San Francisco. Hope you have a good time.
A: Thank you, sir.
Q: We’ll hope there’s no earthquake.
A: I’m not looking for closure. I’m just hoping to get in there and be on solid ground. I don’t want it to be one of those, “It started in an earthquake and it ended in an earthquake” stories, thank you very much. I’m looking forward to being out there.