Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Daily Show Celebrates 30 Years With Correspondent Audition Tapes
The Daily Show is a funny TV show on Comedy Central that makes jokes about the news.
It is celebrating its 30th birthday.
To celebrate, the show shared old audition tapes of its famous comedians.
An audition tape is a video someone makes to show how good they are at performing.
The show started on July 22, 1996, with a host named Craig Kilborn.
Later, Jon Stewart hosted the show for more than 16 years.
After him, Trevor Noah hosted for more than 7 years.
Today, Jon Stewart is back on Mondays and other funny people host the rest of the week.
Many famous comedians, like John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Carell, got their start on the show.
The show is looking back at these videos to say thank you to its best news team.
Comedy Central's The Daily Show is celebrating its 30th anniversary by releasing a video of audition tapes from famous correspondents.
The featured correspondents include Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., Rob Riggle, Jessica Williams, and others.
The Daily Show premiered on July 22, 1996, with Craig Kilborn as host, who ended his run after 386 episodes on December 17, 1998.
Jon Stewart hosted from January 11, 1999, for over 16 years, followed by Trevor Noah for more than 7 years; Stewart returned to host Monday shows in 2024.
The headline names Michael Che among featured comics, but the article's list of audition tape performers does not include him.
- Who
- The Daily Show and its former hosts and correspondents, including Craig Kilborn, Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, and Roy Wood Jr.
- What
- The show is celebrating its 30th anniversary by releasing a video of audition tapes from famous correspondents.
- When
- The milestone comes 30 years after the show premiered on July 22, 1996.
- Where
- On Comedy Central in the United States.
- Why
- To mark three decades of the late-night news satire show and honor its 'best f**king news team.'
- Show
- The Daily Show
- Network
- Comedy Central
- Premiere date
- July 22, 1996
- Original host
- Craig Kilborn (386 episodes, ended December 17, 1998)
- Longest-serving host
- Jon Stewart (over 16 years, from January 11, 1999)
- Successor host
- Trevor Noah (over 7 years)
- Current format
- Stewart hosts Mondays; correspondents rotate the anchor chair the rest of the week
- Anniversary
- 30 years