Early this morning (November 1), Migos member Takeoff died at 28 years old after being fatally shot. Reports indicate the incident took place outside of 810 Billiards & Bowling in Houston, during an altercation spawned from a game of dice. Takeoff was apparently hit in or near the head and was pronounced dead on the scene. Quavo was also present but was reportedly unharmed.
As the news has started to spread, figures from the music world and beyond have shared their thoughts about Takeoff’s passing.
Lloyd Banks tweeted, “Rest In Peace Takeoff my condolences to his family and close friends,very dope artist gone too soon.” Boxer Chris Eubank Jr. also wrote, “I remember @1YoungTakeoff being a very down to earth, cool dude. Cant believe I’m having to say this again about another young black star being killed for no reason, something really has to change in the industry, it’s sickening how easy & often people are dying. RIP Takeoff.”
Rest In Peace Takeoff my condolences to his family and close friends,very dope artist gone too soon. pic.twitter.com/lNqkkNzzAx
I remember @1YoungTakeoff being a very down to earth, cool dude. Cant believe I’m having to say this again about another young black star being killed for no reason, something really has to change in the industry, it’s sickening how easy & often people are dying. RIP Takeoff pic.twitter.com/VBguVkzBJ7
Takeoff rose to prominence as a member of Migos, with Quavo and Offset. The trio is best known for its hit 2016 No. 1 single “Bad And Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. Takeoff and Quavo also just dropped a collaborative album, Only Built For Infinity Links, in October.
Sierra Nevada/Alaskan/Aecht Schlenkerla/MIA/istock/Uproxx
If October is the spooky, haunted month where we’re focused on outdoing each other with the costume du jour while indulging in more chocolate than our bodies can possibly handle, November is a warm, turkey and gravy-covered hug. It’s the gateway to the holidays with Thanksgiving taking center stage on the third Thursday. It’s also a great month to enjoy beer. Since the changing of the seasons is in full swing in the northern part of the US and it’s at least a little chillier in the southern part, the time is ripe to sip darker, maltier, more warming beers.
With the month kicking off, we figured the time was right to once again see what the professionals were drinking. We asked a handful of brewers and craft beer experts to tell us the beers they’re looking forward to drinking this November as we head into the holiday season. Their tastes run the gamut from Black IPAs, Belgian-style ales, porters, and barrel-aged beers.
MIA Big In Japan
MIA
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
Big in Japan by M.I.A is light in color but heavy on the ABV. The sake yeast used on this beer gives it soft notes of rice and pear. The alcohol has a little bite to it, similar to the crispness of a November morning breeze. I look forward to the warming sensation of the alcohol, but the drinkability of a classic ale.
Cabin Boys The Hallows
Cabin Boys
Jody Valenta, co-president and COO of Roadhouse Brewing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
ABV: 9%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
The change in the season calls for a trip down to the beer cellar, where a bottle long anticipated can be pulled and shared with friends. This year, it was The Hallows from Cabin Boys Brewery, a Belgian-style Tripel gleaming with honey and esters and finishing with subtle spice and a lingering and warming 9% alcohol on the breath.
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous
Stone
Daniel Gadala-Maria, brewer at Finback Brewery in Glendale, New York
Definitely black IPA (or Cascadian dark ale). It’s not an easy style to nail; balance is key. Deceptive in appearance but just as hoppy as its pale counterpart. Stone Sublimely Self Righteous is a great example. This Black IPA is a nice mix of toasted malts and piney hops. Definitely, a bold, unique fall IPA well-suited for November drinking.
Without a doubt, it’s Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA. We’re big fans of balance over here, and this beer has it in spades: its appeal of course is that it’s fresh-hopped so it has amazing levels of bright hop character – but it’s also pretty malty as well with those roasted malts and amber color. And at 6.8% ABV, it hits the sweet spot between guzzler and sipper.
When the calendar hits November that doesn’t deter me from continuing to drink Octoberfest beers. The weather isn’t cold enough for me to suddenly change course from drinking these exquisite lagers. I try to sample as many of the classic German versions as I can find but one of my local favorites is Counter Weight Fest Bier. It’s brewed less like a Marzen and more like the domestic versions served at the Munich Octoberfest. Bready and malty but not cloying.
The Smoked Porter from Alaskan Brewing Company. As a young 21-year-old, this was my first memory of a beer absolutely blowing my mind. The pronounced, but not overbearing smoke flavor compliments the complex malty, roasted, and toasty character of the porter base beer in a way that makes your taste buds say, “Ooh, I get it… I finally get it.” It marked the start of my understanding of what craft beer actually is and everything that it can be. It opened my mind to the endless possibilities of flavors and styles that lie within – it was a game changer.
It’s November and the cooler weather has finally set in. No more unexpected balmy days that come with early fall trickery. As I welcome the crisp, cool weather, I look forward to my usual autumn shenanigans – throwing on my Bean boots and jean jacket, chopping wood (or watching others chop wood while I have a beer and provide emotional support), and building a fire. What better beer to pair with this fun fall activity than Schlenkerla Helles – a beer with the perfect combination of malty sweetness, lager crispiness, and just the right amount of smoke.
Miami weather in November could be decent enough to enjoy a proper Stout. I’d have to go with Goose Island’s Bourbon County Coffee Stout. In my opinion, Bourbon County is great as it is, but the addition of coffee provides, well, coffee notes that truly speak to me and my palate.
I always look forward to drinking Bell’s Best Brown. It’s one of the best brown ales out there and comes out around this time of year. Just the perfect balance of malt, chocolate, and hop. Love it.
Founders KBS
Founders
Chris Spinelli, co-founder and brewer at Roc Brewing In Rochester, New York
I don’t have a specific beer for November. Bourbon County does come out in November, but there is also a glut of other barrel-aged beers well-suited to warm you up on a chilly November night. A great choice is Founder Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This classic, warming beer is barrel-aged in bourbon barrels with coffee and chocolate. What’s not to love?
The crime underworld rises to the surface this month on TV. This not only includes a show with Sylvester Stallone playing an exiled mafia boss but also a returning AMC series that plunges us deep into London gang warfare where the old-school rules no longer reign. As well, Netflix will bring us some true-crime drama that revolves around a bodybuilding couple in a marriage gone bad. Don’t worry, though; some residual October spookiness will surface with Tim Burton’s Addams Family offshoot series.
We’ve also got royal drama and a sci-fi opera coming with new editions of The Crown and Manifest, respectively speaking. Mythic Quest also makes a grand workplace-comedy comeback, the punchy Dead To Me ladies return with more homicidal intrigue, and Kumail Nanjiani is here to help dudes take it off (also with murder) in a historical Chippendales dramatization. The body count will be steep this month, which will lead us into bingewatching delights while warding off too many Thanksgiving pies.
Here are the must-see shows for November.
Killer Sally (Netflix limited series streaming 11/2)
In the wake of Bad Vegan, Sally McNeil is here to say, “Hold my protein shake.” This limited series arrives in a true-crime heyday for the streaming service, which is riding high upon Jeffrey Dahmer twin shows and will also soon see Joe Berlingers’s Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields arrive. In the case of bodybuilder/wrestler Sally, the show explores how she endured a troubling marriage and eventually killed her husband on Valentine’s Day. Don’t expect a standard retelling of events as they occurred because this one has a few tricks up its steroid-pumped sleeves.
Blockbuster: Season 1 (Netflix series streaming on 11/3)
Netflix famously helped bring Blockbuster Video down, so it’s wild that this series even exists. Randall Park portrays an idealistic manager of the world’s final Blockbuster store, and he’s crushed to learn that his beloved store could soon be an analog dinosaur. What follows is a mad dash to keep things together and help people realize that they need the store’s sense of community to maintain some human connection. Walking into a store to sift through sticky rental tapes (ew) is certainly a different experience than bingewatching entire seasons on streaming. It’s gutsy as hell for Netflix to tackle this subject matter, and we’ll see if audiences are here for it.
Manifest: Season 4, Part A (Netflix series streaming 11/2)
This sci-fi soap series never made much sense, but the soap operatics of people vanishing off the face of the earth doesn’t get old. That’s especially the case since these troubled souls returned to loved ones who had understandably moved on to different romantic relationships. Meanwhile, callings are swirling, and the Death Date still looms as Cal is inexplicably five years older than the last time anyone saw him. Flight 828 yields no easy answers, but showrunner Jeff Rake still aims to bring this in for a turbulent landing after Netflix rescued the show from the NBC graveyard.
The Mosquito Coast: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 11/4)
Justin Theroux returns for more of this adaptation of the 1981 novel from his uncle, Paul Theroux. The show’s a moderately engrossing study of a brilliant scientist’s descent into insanity. However, this season picks up with his wife (Melissa George) having had enough of his exhausting sh*t. They’re in real danger now, given that they’re deep within the jungle and searching for refuge with an old Allie Fox friend. Man, these kids simply need a normal life, and instead, they’ve got a terrorizing dad and no relief in sight.
The Crown: Season 5 (Netflix series streaming 11/9)
British Royal drama heats up even more than this show is accustomed to doing. The Windsors are steamed about this season, since it makes Charles look even worse and more resentful than the last round. Dominic West picks up with the heir who waits decades longer to be king, and it’s wild that this season will arrive a few months before King Charles III is officially coronated. This officially-“fictionalized” season will see Elizabeth Debicki pick up the Diana role as the marriage fully crumbles, and Dodi Fayed is on the horizon while Camilla Parker Bowles has been there all along. The monarchy’s in utter chaos, which also closely resembles our current times when the “spare” will soon tell his story to the world.
Down To Earth With Zac Efron: Down Under (Netflix series streaming 11/11)
No one can be mad to see more of Zac Efron being the purest lover of science and sustainability on TV. He’s witnessing truly “sick” revelations while having his “mind blown” in Australia. This venue seemed most convenient during the pandemic, given that the Aussies did things better, and Darin Elien is back to cuddle with koalas, too. Also, good food and good people are both good things.
Mythic Quest: Season 3 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 11/11)
Rob McElhenney’s workplace comedy about video game developers returns for a third round after Snoop Dogg got viewers stoned. This batch of episodes picks up with the GrimPop Studios offshoot with David navigating boss territory, and Carol has no idea how to fill her new role. Dana must be the peacemaker, and Brad’s attempting to feel his way through a post-prison life. As always, this show illustrates how achieving workspace harmony can be a trickier task than the actual work at hand.
Tulsa King: Season 1 (Paramount+ series streaming on 11/13)
Sylvester Stallone portrays a mafia capo who’s not swimming with the fishes. However, he might as well be on Mars in this Taylor Sheridan-created series that takes him to Route 66 and the land of the Golden Driller. Tulsa’s experiencing a hotspot-like effect these days in the midst of Reservation Dogs and following Watchmen, but it’s going to be quite pleasurable to see him as the O.G. who’s dropping a “nice little place you got here” in a weed dispensary. This show looks to be full of 1980s-style one-liners that could put the Sly and Arnold movies of yesteryear to shame.
Yellowstone: Season 5 (Paramount+ series streaming on 11/13)
I recently overheard someone brag about being able to sell a horse at an astronomical premium due to this show’s immense popularity, and I kind-of believe it. Kevin Costner is back in his cowboy hat for this show that has already spawned spinoffs and an upcoming prequel starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. Taylor Sheridan created this empire, and boy, is it ever prospering at breakneck speed. Power struggles with livestock on the side against the backdrop of an ever-shifting political landscape: it sounds like Succession in Big Sky Country, and people can’t get enough.
Dead To Me: Season 3 (Netflix series streaming 11/17)
Finally, the black comedy dream team of Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini is back together, and does James Mardsen live (and die) again? I love that this series showcases the unlikely but incredible friendship between these two messy women, and hopefully, we’ll get more headbanging to Caliban, too. This kind of buddy dark comedy is exactly what we need going into the time of year when people are posting even more face-forward group selfies on social media. In contrast, this duo lets their chaos hang out while not even bothering with the picture-picture perfect falsehoods. Gotta dig it.
Gangs Of London: Season 2 (AMC/AMC+ series returning on 11/17)
If you’re missing the recently departed Peaky Blinders and haven’t yet caught this AMC show, then you’re missing out. Fans of Marty Scorsese’s flicks should be chuffed, too, while this season plunges into even darker power struggles. Warring gangs find themselves in disarray while paramilitary forces are on the scene for one of the more merciless gang leaders. This is a straight-up dictatorship that lacks the courtesy codes of typical gangsters while the soul of London’s underground hangs in the balance. This show’s not only a collective character study but also includes brutally gorgeous choreography during action scenes.
Ziwe: Season 2, Part 2 (Showtime series returning on 11/20)
Chet Haze’s visit with host Ziwe Fumudoh did not go over well when he refused to apologize for his long-running cultural appropriation. This season, expect Ziwe to continue skewering the Karens and have hard-hitting discussions with guests including Drew Barrymore, DeRay Mckesson, Julia Fox, and Michael Che. The former Desus & Mero writer’s show outlasted her former stomping grounds, and she’ll be keeping it real in an unreal world.
Welcome to Chippendales: Season (Hulu limited series streaming on 11/22)
The Pam & Tommy creators are all over this one while taking viewers into the bounty and destruction wrought from the 1980s stripper empire. Kumail Nanjiani portrays the group’s founder, Indian immigrant Somen “Steve” Banerjee, who foresees the joy that women felt while flocking to these ridiculous shows. Unfortunately, greed rears its head after The White Lotus great Murray Bartlett seizes attention and (with it) power. Drugs, murder, and drama will rule the day while Juliette Lewis and Annaleigh Ashford also hop on board this excessive ride.
Wednesday (Netflix limited series streaming 11/23)
Yes, it only seems natural that both Rob Zombie and Tim Burton are all up in the Addams Family resurrection, but while Zombie veers into wild kitsch, Burton decided to reinvent his character’s mission a bit while creating a “eight-hour Tim Burton movie.” Call it a passion project, of course, while Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán step in as Morticia and Gomez, respectively, and Jenna Ortega slides into view as the title character. Don’t expect a typical reboot feel. Rather, Wednesday is on some missions here, and the show justifies its existence as a separate entity.
Willow: Season 1 (Disney+ series streaming on 11/30)
Seemingly, every other franchise has been revisited lately, so why not this one? The wild part about this series is that Warwick Davis is returning after 30+ years to play Willow Ufgood once more, so expect a whole new adventure-quest and plenty of trolls and sorcerers, too. The challenge here is to keep things fresh while still banding around the spirit that made the O.G. film so beloved. Expect fans to take this very seriously.
Getty Image
Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne: Season (Hulu series streaming on 11/29)
The supermodel with loads of famous friends will (as the title of this series suggests) explore all things related to sexuality and the relationships and dynamics that revolve around it. She recently told Variety that making this series made her feel slightly prudish, if that tells you anything at all. It’ll be sheer, awkward fun.
Takeoff (real name Kirshnik Khari Ball) is reportedly dead after being fatally shot in Houston, TMZ reports. He was 28 years old.
Baton Rouge’s WBRZ-TV previously reported that both Takeoff and Quavo were both on the scene, as police officials confirmed, and that one person was dead while two others were injured. Per TMZ, it happened at around 2:30 a.m. today (November 1) at 810 Billiards & Bowling. An altercation apparently broke out during a game of dice and somebody fired shots, including one that hit Takeoff in or near the head. The rapper was pronounced dead on the scene. Quavo was reportedly not injured.
KHOU-11 notes security guards were in the area but they did not see who did the shooting, which happened on a balcony outside of the bowling alley, which is on the third floor of a building on San Jacinto Street and Dallas Street. The Houston Police Department noted they are not releasing the name of the deceased “until his family is notified & ID verified by Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.” They also reported the two other shooting victims were transported to the hospital in private vehicles.
UPDATE: 2 other victims taken in private vehicles to hospitals.
Media partners: We are not releasing an identity of the deceased victim until his family is notified & ID verified by Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Takeoff came to fame as a member of Migos, alongside Quavo and Offset. The group is best known for it’s 2016 No. 1 single “Bad And Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. Takeoff and Quavo also just released a collaborative album, Only Built For Infinity Links, in early October.
O.G. The Karate Kid Ralph Macchio has been pulling hard for an announcement from Netflix for a sixth Cobra Kai season. For sure, tons of people will be disappointed if this doesn’t happen, given that the revival series charted 1.74 billion minutes viewed in September. We want more of every character, including Hawk, especially because Macchio revealed that Jacob Bertrand can pull off a feat previously accomplished by Pat Morita. And we definitely need more of still-a-bad-boy Johnny Lawrence, who has big changes coming his way in life.
Speaking of original bad boys, William Zabka had a very special Halloween message that’s a direct throwback and proves that Cobra Kai “will never die.” Sure, Terry Silver is down for the count, but the rebellious dojo’s spirit lives on, as Zabka proves with this caption: “Happy Halloween from the OG Cobras #Halloween2022 #CobraKai.”
All because of that menace running around in a shower curtain, right? That’s what some corners of the Internet would like us to believe. The responses soon flooded with themed costumes to honor the franchise, and this pumpkin rules, too.
In September, Metro Boomin announced his new album Heroes & Villains, his follow-up to 2018’s Not All Heroes Wear Capes. He revealed that the release date was Nov. 4, but it’s been delayed — similar to Drake and 21 Savage’s album Her Loss, which was supposed to come out that day as well. Metro Boomin was clear, though, that this had nothing to do with that.
“I couldn’t get all the samples on my album cleared in time for next week so I’m dropping on Dec 2nd now so I have enough time to make sure you all get this masterpiece as intended,” he wrote on Twitter. “I promise it’s worth the wait!! P.S. I would NEVER move my album date because of anyone else [laughing emoji].”
I couldn’t get all the samples on my album cleared in time for next week so I’m dropping on Dec 2nd now so I have enough time to make sure you all get this masterpiece as intended. I promise it’s worth the wait!! P.S. I would NEVER move my album date because of anyone else
This is likely a reference to fellow rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie delaying his album to December after the new Drake and 21 Savage album release date fell on the same day as his. “Sorry but album dropping in December now,” he wrote, “Drake was dropping the same day and I’m not with that.”
Heroes & Villains is out 12/2 via Boominati Worldwide and Republic. Pre-order it here.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
For months, Dr. Oz has been relentlessly and creatively dragged by his opponent for Pennsylvania’s vacating Senate seat, John Fetterman. Fetterman has accused Oz of being Dr. Nick from The Simpsons. He dragged him over that “Wegner’s”/crudité debacle. When Oz’s team made light of the stroke he had in May, Fetterman slammed him for that, too. But perhaps his most frequent Oz line is about his decision to run for a state that he only moved to in the last couple years. He’s a Jersey boy, Fetterman has said, a carpetbagger. On a recent Fox News appearance, Oz did himself no favors in that department.
“Pennsylvania’s too important,” he said. “We do not have a Republican senator north of North Carolina on the Atlantic coast, until you get to Maine, if I don’t hold this seat.”
Problem is: Pennsylvania is not a coastal state. Now you could say Oz simply misspoke. You could argue Keystone state is coastal state-adjacent and one could argue it’s close enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be considered close enough. You could also — if you wanted to play dumb — say he technically never said Pennsylvania was on the coast. Which it’s not.
You could also argue Oz does not know a whole about the state he’s hoping to represent. That’s the position many people took when they came for Oz’s strange argument.
Dr Oz: ‘We do not have a Republican senator north of North Carolina on the Atlantic coast until you get to Maine, if I don’t hold this seat.’ https://t.co/Zb3i8lmjKk
— HawaiiDelilah is Voting Democratic Blue! (@HawaiiDelilah) November 1, 2022
Dr. Oz just said he’s running for Senate because we “don’t have a Republican senator north of North Carolina on the Atlantic coast until you get to Maine.”
Pennsylvania is not on the Atlantic coast.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) November 1, 2022
Ah yes the famous Atlantic beaches of Pennsylvania, with the famous boardwalks https://t.co/c2HIIp8sTt
The midterm elections aren’t until next week, and while polls have long had Fetterman ahead of Oz, it’s still close — close enough that Donald Trump is already planning on sowing chaos over the results (if Oz loses, of course). But hey, at least those fundraising emails currently clogging up your inbox will dramatically drop.
When we first see Michael Imperioli in the season two premiere of The White Lotus, he is leaning on the railing on the back of a boat in Sicily. He looks hotter than ever (not that this matters, but it should be stated and maybe this is because everyone looks hotter on a boat?). He’s wearing chic rectangular sunglasses, a black tee, and a jacket, so he’s just as moody as ever. His hair has grayed but it’s still as lush as it was when The Sopranos premiered in 1999.
Imperioli, playing Dominic Di Grasso, is on a special vacation at The White Lotus in Sicily with his father and son. Seeing him back on HBO is as refreshing as a 7-day luxurious trip to Italy (not that I would know). Imperioli has an excited look on his face, which makes sense within the context of the show: most people look forward to vacations, particularly ones like this. But it also works as a meta moment. Imperioli is as excited to be back on HBO as we are to see him on HBO. Imperioli has changed since The Sopranos days. He’s older, presumably wiser, years past his days as Christopher Moltisanti. But his gift for making impulsive, selfish wrecks irresistible and funny remains the same.
Between The Sopranos, which ended in 2007,and season two of The White Lotus, Imperioli has appeared in films and various television shows (including The Office, Californication, and Lucifer). He has even returned to HBO in a 2012 episode of Girls and, more recently, in a small role in the limited series Watchmen. But his role on The White Lotus feels more major than anything he’s done since The Sopranos. Christopher Molisanti, a loyal but careless younger generation mobster struggling with addiction was destructive, but he was infuriatingly sympathetic thanks to Imperoli’s performance, which won him two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Imperioli captured a desperation, sadness, and fear you could feel and occasionally laugh at (Moltisanti’s screenplay era and his intervention resulted in some of the best comedy the world has ever seen). By the end of the series, Moltisanti, despite being pretty annoying, was the emotional center of the series and as a result, his death in the final season remains one of the most gut-wrenching in storytelling history.
On The White Lotus, Imperioli is playing someone completely different than Moltisanti, but using his same brilliant tricks to pull you into his psyche. Straight away, something about the Di Grasso family trip to visit their homeland isn’t quite right, a dynamic communicated in the dialogue as well as Imperoli’s body language. Dominic is the kind of guy who, normally, probably holds himself quite confidently, but there’s something solemn, tense, and lonely about him, particularly when he’s around his son, Albie, played by Adam DiMarco. In contrast, he has incredible chemistry with F. Murray Abraham, who plays his flatulent and flirtatious father. After a strange, rather empty encounter with Albie in the hotel hallway, Dominic (still in that perfect black tee) goes into his room and calls his wife who wants nothing to do with him. His daughter also doesn’t want to talk to him, either.
During the phone call, Imperoli barely moves. Instead, he lets his eyes – which can shift from puppy-like to menacing in between blinks – do all the work. Imperioli is apologizing to his wife, longing for her forgiveness, but his eyes and his eyebrows, which are absolute units, tell the real story: he knows he’ll never get it. By the end of the episode, Lucia (Simona Tabasco), an Italian sex worker, comes into Dominic’s room, revealing that he’s the client who contacted her online.
In season two of The White Lotus, Michael Imperioli brings a heaviness, an intriguing emotional weight that makes you want to be his big spoon despite how disgusting his behavior is, just like he did with Moltisanti over two decades ago. It is so, so good to have Michael Imperioli back on television.
Good Morning America shared a tweet with a video of the singer. The caption reads: “TOMORROW: We will have a special announcement from @taylorswift13 only on @GMA tomorrow!” The video just shows Swift saying the words “Good morning, America,” so really there’s not much she’s giving away there. Surely fans must be making theories already. However, most are in the replies saying that their bank accounts are not ready.
A popular theory so far is that a new music video will come out, which would follow the recent releases of the videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Bejeweled.” Others are begging for a tour, which is possible considering she discussed the idea on The Tonight Show last week. Jimmy Fallon mentioned that it’s been a while she last toured and she said, “I think I should do it,” which obviously prompted cheers from the crowd.
These aren’t likely questions anyone would answer in this situation, but credit to Roy for being upfront about the broader realities of the situation as they pertain to matters of career growth, work-life balance, and this crossroads moment in a career that could capitalize on any number of wins from the last few years as an actor, podcaster, producer (The Neutral Ground), comedian, and Daily Show correspondent. This in addition to talking about the ways Confess, Fletch challenged him as a performer and his thoughts on the state of politics heading into the midterms.
How are you doing?
I’m alright. How you been, bro? It’s been a minute.
Good, man. You’re the rumor mill du jour now.
Yeah.
I got to watch what I say. I don’t want Comedy Central lawyers to come swoop in and knock me out.
Yeah. I don’t know what they expect. I mean, we got to talk Atlanta, I know, but it’s like, the show is going to change. Into what? I don’t know. I know I just want to be a part of it.
I saw people talking about you for the Corden slot a few months ago. And I know from the last conversation we had, you’ve got a lot of things going on. And so I think about Trevor’s announcement and I wonder if these jobs are a bit of a gilded cage. Because, to me, having to host these shows seems to take away a lot of other opportunities. And so that’s where my mind goes. Trevor’s done well with still doing stand-up, but I think back to Jon when he was on it and he had to stop to do the movie (Rosewater).
Yeah. He had to literally stop to finally go and direct. I spoke with a former late night host, I can’t say who, but I spoke with a former late night host and they basically said that if you’re going to do late night, then you have to commit to that and that becomes your day-in, day-out. You can try to executive produce other stuff, but you can forget about acting, you can forget about movies, regular television-type stuff. Because a late night show, be it weekly or nightly, is time-consuming. It’s rewarding, but it’s time-consuming and it sucks all the air out of your life and the only thing you’re going to have left time to do is be a parent. And if you’re lucky you’ll figure out how to be a good spouse during that same time. (Laughs)
I feel like maybe it’s a little easier to have kids and actually do that stuff now. But I feel like traditionally, it hasn’t been.
I think every career in entertainment though, regardless of if it’s scripted or late night, a lot of that boils down to what kind of person do you want to be off camera. I’ve heard stories of TV actors who have adjusted rehearsal times so that they could go pick up their children from school every day. Now you got to have a little bit of clout to be able to do something like that, but there are definitely people that care about parenting more than anything else.
I just think that late night, regardless of how things play out with The Daily Show, it’s still a grind. Even as a correspondent to a degree. But at least as a correspondent I get the freedom to sneak off. I can go get a month off to go do Confess, Fletch or, “Hey, can I go to Long Island on Tuesday to shoot Only Murders In The Building?” “Sure, Roy. We have five more people who do your job. One of them can cover your shift.” And that’s the other thing about late night, ain’t no backup host. Jimmy Kimmel’s figured out a way to create a two-quarterback system [with guest hosts]. He’s the only one who has kinda hacked that code.
I’m trying to ask this without putting you on the spot too much.
No, man. Fire off, bro.
You like your life, right? You like that balance, the work-life balance where it is right now, right? How important is that for you to push that if you were to get an opportunity?
I think with growth comes sacrifice. So if I’m asked to grow in any capacity, there’s also still the option of being able to maybe try and create something of my own. I’ve given that some thought as well too. I don’t know which avenue is the best to remain a part of. I don’t know which plant to try and water, but I’m in a good position to have a couple of plants here. I do think that you have to figure out how to reconfigure your life if there is growth. So when I say growth, I could be offered a hosting slot somewhere, I could be offered a chance to do my own thing, I could get one of my scripts green-lit and have that go to series, and now I’m making a television show, and that too is a slog. And low key, that’s even worse because now I might be out of town depending on the script.
Through the pandemic, you launched the podcasts, multiple podcasts. You’ve done the doc project, and you’ve done the acting thing that’s blowing up, You’re used to having multiple projects running at this point, right?
Yeah, I’ve watered a couple other plants, but now we’re talking about really taking an opportunity after seven years and going, “Okay. Well, what do I want to do?” What I know is that I want to remain a part of The Daily Show. So that can happen in a lot of different capacities, bro. That could be host, that could be as a correspondent for whoever the new host is. I’m open to that too. But there still has to be other things happening for me in addition to that. If I’m still a correspondent then, yeah, I want to try and do as many other projects as I fucking can. But at the end of the day, it’s about making sure that I still make time for my child and try and be some sort of a present father. But TV has a way of taking that from you in any capacity, be it scripted or late night.
If you’re making a television show, you’re at it 12 hours a day for three months writing it and then you’re at it for 12 hours a day shooting it, then you got to edit, then you got to go out and promote. So you’re going to have long days one way or another once you’ve committed to this, otherwise, you just got to do like Leo DiCaprio and just come down every three years and bless everybody with something and get the hell on. (Laughs)
What is it that has kept you wanting to be a part of The Daily Show this long? What’s kept it fresh for you?
The thing I’m most thankful for is the ability to be able to make points using different joke vehicles. The biggest difference from Trevor to Jon, and I’m not sure if a lot of people have even noticed this, but we do a lot of sketches. There might be quick short sketches, but we do a lot of sketches on The Daily Show. We do a lot of web content. There’s a lot of stuff that’s not right for the show or doesn’t fit the timetable. And then that weird no man’s land from Friday to Monday when the show is dark, we can still pop stuff out over the weekend for expansion.
I hope that Trevor’s legacy gets the full appreciation for exactly what you just said. Writing the legacy of Trevor’s show, Jon shouldn’t be in the first four paragraphs of that and I feel like it’s in the first paragraph every time. And that’s weird because Trevor has made it his own show.
Trevor really did make it his own show and Trevor figured out new ways to deliver new satire and vehicles and platforms that didn’t exist when Jon held the chair. And to be able to address deeper issues to a society that has a shorter attention span as well is very key. It’s very, very difficult to do. And to be able to change, not just with the news, but to change with the viewing habits of people, I think that’s been the biggest thing and I think that’s going to be the interesting iteration as late night creatively evolves. I’m talking bigger than The Daily Show now because if you look at whatever CNN and MSNBC are slowly morphing into, I think there’s something to that. I think there’s something to the way Fox News evolved from Red Eye and to Gutfeld. There is an evolution in the style and way that we are going to start having these conversations on either side, left or right.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Everything evolves. And so I’m curious to see what the next evolution is going to be. And that’s part of why I want to be a part of it in any capacity is because you’re getting to reinvent something. The Daily Show with a new host, this is basically when the comedian is done with their hour set and they’ve put it on TV, and those jokes are done. You just shot your hour special and then the next morning you wake up with a blank sheet of paper and you got to do it all over again. And it’s horrifying, but you know it could be done. I’ve done it three times now, so to have a chance to have a front-row seat at a blank sheet of paper, oh fuck yeah. It’s horrifying, but also fuck yeah. And I’m saying the same thing about Corden too.
When I went back and reread the Confess, Fletch, I got more excited to see you in the role. I wanted more of you, I’ll be honest. I wanted more of you in the film.
A little more Flynn. I’m just glad I didn’t have to do an Irish accent, be like a true Boston Irish cop.
That was one knock on the film that I had. The other knock being it was like a secret for some reason that the film happened.
Yeah. Wasn’t a lot of marketing money.
Yeah. That would’ve been nice. But can you talk a little about the excitement of just trying to reconfigure a character and make that into a sort of a blank sheet of paper?
The thing that was cool for me was to be in scenes with Jon Ham and not have to carry the comedy or be expected to be big. When you look at Space Force and I’m in there with Steve Carell, Steve Carell’s going to bring energy out of you whether you like it or not. Steve Martin and Martin Short in Only Murders In The Building, they brought energy out of us whether we wanted to. Jacob Ming-Trent who’s in the scene with me, they’re up, so you’re up. But for this, it worked more if I was laid back and just let Jon do Fletch and let the Fletchiness of the character, the quirkiness of that character, let that drive the comedy. I don’t have to add an eyebrow or a weird scowl. Didn’t have to do none of that. You just sit there and chill and just let everything come to you. That was scary because I’ve never been asked to do that before performatively, so wondering, “Is this funny?” You know what I mean?
So The Daily Show is going to Atlanta for the midterms. What’s the mood going in for that?
Well, we’ll be in Georgia the week before and then we’ll be live election night. And that part of it, that’s where it’s a balloon drop or is it break out the whiskey? I just feel like they’re isn’t a problem in Georgia that ain’t happening anywhere else in the country. So it’s the perfect place to go and see what some of the issues are, talk to people, stuff like that, and really get to the bottom of some things.
I don’t know that Herschel Walker’s happening anywhere else though.
Well, you could believe that, but then Marjorie Taylor Greene already got elected. That was the Herschel of two years ago. So it’s like there’s these baffling people that have walked their way into the halls of our Congress and it’s like, oh, another person who’s never done this before and keeps running on, “I’m not a politician, I’m not a politician, I’m not a politician.” And then people are like, “Cool, perfect. You’re exactly who we want.”
I think I’ve stopped trying to pretend that I understand voters. I guess that’s not something you can really do on a thing like The Daily Show. I watch Jordan’s specials and am always baffled. I would scream back at people. I don’t have the restraint.
My thing is that as a correspondent, our job is to simply meet people where they are. Just tell me your truth. It might be interesting, it might be a little different, but just tell me your truth.
Is it hard to hold back judgment though?
Yeah, a little bit. But if you want to be journalistically sound, I think you have to just give them space. And Klepper will throw a jab. Klepper’s the best because he’ll snipe you, but not until you say what you said and then counter and create a conversation. At the beginning of the conversations that Klepper has with all those people at these rallies and shit, he’s not attacking, “Tell me why you’re stupid.” He’s just, “Hey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Tell me what you’re feeling.” And even then, Klepper is beautiful with it because he never really attacks the person, he just attacks their point of view. It’s not you’re dumb, you are deplorable or whatever the fuck. It’s just, “Well, if that makes sense then shouldn’t A=B? But A doesn’t equal B, but I forgot you don’t believe in letters. Anyway. Da, da, da, da.”
At this point, people’s point of view is their everything, it’s their soul. That’s the thing that I never understand. The allegiance to a point of view I get, but the allegiance to politicians I don’t understand on either side, frankly. Do you find that to be a little creepy on either side when people worship any politician?
Yeah, I think it’s dangerous. I think it’s dangerous to fully invest in any one party and just vote down party lines. I think it’s dangerous. I think it makes you more ignorant. Not paying attention to all of the issues and to not seeing some of the nuance in some of the subjects. And then from that, you can be better able to put together what you feel and then vote for people that better match your now more educated viewpoint. I can’t remember what special I said it in, but people love to not know. We enjoy not knowing. No one wants to read, no one wants to do the extra thing that gets them a little bit smarter.
They feel like they know. Just the feel is enough. I go by my gut, shoot from the hip. That’s so appealing to people.
Ding, ding, ding.
‘The Daily Show’ will be broadcasting from Atlanta at 11PM ET Monday through Thursday and through Election Day.
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my condolences
to his family and close friends,very dope artist gone too soon. pic.twitter.com/lNqkkNzzAx
RIP
(@1DJFirstClass) November 1, 2022
(@saviorloki) 
(@LeviFetterman) 
is Voting Democratic Blue! (@HawaiiDelilah) 
