"Daily Show" fans and the media recently greeted the anointing of comedian Trevor Noah as Jon Stewart's heir with the kind of critical scrutiny accorded a U.S. Supreme Court appointment.
That's a sign of the importance of the franchise to its followers. It's also a sign that we're in an age where comedy is taken very seriously. Dissecting humor carries the danger of cutting the joy out of it. But the risk lessens when the laugh makers are wielding the scalpel.
We saw as much in "Talking Funny," the 2011 HBO special in which Louis C.K., Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld spent as much time trading jokes as philosophies of what's funny ("We take a subject and just don't leave it alone until there's nothing left of it," C.K. observed). Seinfeld modified the formula the next year for his great, ongoing Crackle series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," in which he's driven and drunk with the likes of David Letterman, Jay Leno and Tina Fey.
But months before Seinfeld hit the road, David Steinberg began a similar journey on Showtime's "Inside Comedy," which returns Tuesday for a fourth season of examining – and celebrating – the art of laughter.
Steinberg is built for the gig: The onetime frequent "Tonight Show" guest and guest host possesses a Johnny Carson-like talent for interviewing and playing the straight man, when needed. Like Carson, he shows genuine delight at the stories relayed by his guest – a lineup that's included Steve Martin, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon and his co-producer Steve Carell.
While his brand of smart, observational humor influenced Seinfeld and other comedians, Steinberg never quite became a superstar – he famously got bumped off the cover of Newsweek (along with Lily Tomlin and Richard Pryor) in 1974 when Richard Nixon left office. He's largely worked behind the scenes in recent years, directing TV comedies – most prominently "Seinfeld." He knows how to get the best out of funny folks.
Steinberg hasn't gotten around to interviewing Noah yet, though this season's guests include Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Cheech and Chong, and Stephen Colbert, who tells the host, "I am not cynical. I behave cynically." Check out a preview as Steinberg seeks new insights into what makes comedians tick – and what makes the rest of us laugh.
U.S. & World
Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multimedia NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.
