Danielle Solzman
Thank you to Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers for somehow helping me get through the four years of the Trump Administration.
The last four years have been completely unbearable but they were made better by turning to both Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers every night. Unless the duo were off on a given night. There’s so many late night hosts to watch on TV but Colbert and Meyers were the most political by far. Of all the hosts, they are also the two that I have had the opportunity to meet in person. I met Stephen during a memorial service in August 2019. Personally speaking, I’ll never forget that day. He flew in with all of his Chicago-based crew and that’s a class act in and of itself.
I do my best to watch as many of Jordan Klepper’s bits when I can because Jordan, much like Brian Stack, is an MVP of late night television. If you watch The Daily Show, you certainly know who Klepper is. You might not know Brian Stack by name but you’ll certainly recognize his voice or face. He’s also one of the nicest people in the entire comedy scene.
It was tough getting through George W. Bush’s eight years in office. Back then, we had Jon Stewart and company to help get us through what were dark times. But everything that Bush did pales in comparison to living the last four years under Donald J. Trump. Sure, Trump did not start a war but he came close. Factoring in non-combat fatalities, more Americans have died of Covid-19 than in every war but World War II. But even then, we’ll cross 405K soon enough.
I can watch as many movies as I want for distraction but at the end of the day, I turn to Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers for humor. Humor is how we I choose to get through the dark times. The way I see it, there’s not much of a choice. I turn to comedies when I’m going through a depression funk. G-d knows how many comedies I turned to during the most trying year of my life. There were way too many days since the start of the pandemic in which focus is so terrible that it’s either turn on a comedy, Marvel, Star Wars, or Jurassic Park/Jurassic World film.
During the Barack Obama Administration, we didn’t have to be exhausted every day by what he tweeted. But four years of Trump? Oy gevalt! Not a day has gone by until recently where people didn’t retweet him on Twitter. And then July 26, 2017 happened. This is the day that transgender individuals were banned from serving in any capacity. Not by pen or paper but through Twitter. And then there was the October 2018 memo. You want to talk about a week–THAT was a week with an attack on my identity as a Jewish transgender woman!
During the dark times, I took solace through humor. Sports to an extent but mostly humor. This past year alone has been without a doubt the worst year of my life. The late shows were among the first to go when productions started shutting down. A few weeks later, everyone came back out of their home office or wherever. It was different. It was not traditional. But at the end of the day, we needed them to do their jobs. They might not be the essential health workers or grocery store employees but we need them to do their job so that we have something to look forward to watching at the end of the day.
The last four years have been tough. Oh, have they ever. I don’t know what the next four years will bring. An end to this pandemic is at the top of my list after returning hope, compassion, science, and more to the White House. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the next President and Vice President of the United States. I wish them nothing but the best of luck during these next four years as we build back better. Will they have gaffes that end up on the late shows? I have no doubt about it. What I do know is that whatever they provide in terms of comedy will be nothing like the last four years. We can only hope so.
