The Precap | Jordan Klepper on "Bored" Trump's UFO Report, Cruise Ship Improv, and Crying During Basketball

Summary

The Daily Show: Ears Edition — The Precap | Jordan Klepper on "Bored" Trump's UFO Report, Cruise Ship Improv, and Crying During Basketball
Date: May 11, 2026 | Host: Jordan Klepper | Guest: Scott Herkman

Episode Overview

This episode of The Precap features writer Scott Herkman sitting down with this week’s Daily Show host, Jordan Klepper, for an irreverent and wide-ranging conversation. They reminisce about Klepper’s earliest days as a correspondent, satirize current events (including Donald Trump’s reported boredom with the ongoing war and recent UFO disclosures), joke over peculiarities in sports, and bond as devoted Knicks fans. The episode ends with heartfelt and humorous reflections on the power of sports to foster community and connection, plus some lighter recommendations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Behind the Scenes at The Daily Show

Timestamp: 00:48 – 06:26

• Early Days and Physical Comedy:

  • Klepper and Herkman fondly recall Klepper’s start on the show, a time marked by physical transformation for comedic effect.
  • “This is a piece of meat that we can make look ugly and strange.” — Jordan Klepper (02:27)
  • The writers used Klepper’s “gangly weirdness” for all manner of slapstick bits: waffle irons, bedazzled jackets, and giant hats (“I heart boobs”).
  • Running gag: Herkman “looks like a PA,” and Klepper’s comedic ranking among correspondents.

• Weaponizing the Body for Comedy:

  • Both recall favorite bits where correspondents are put in wild costumes or situations.
  • The conversation humorously acknowledges the show’s reliance on “genitalia and body disfigurement jokes.”
  • “We love genitalia here, and we love body disfigurement. We use it to satirize the world that we’re in.” — Jordan Klepper (06:05)

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2. Current Events: Trump’s Boredom and Chaos in the White House

Timestamp: 06:58 – 17:55

• Trump and the War with Iran:

  • Discussion of Trump rejecting Iran’s offer to end the war, accompanied by reports of his boredom.
  • “Who would have thought Donald Trump, a man with laser focus, would get bored with something he’s doing?” — Scott Herkman (07:14)
  • Observations on the chaos around Trump — construction at the White House acts as both metaphor and literal distraction.
  • “He chooses to create a space that is nothing but jackhammers.” — Jordan Klepper (09:07)
  • Joke that Trump prefers white noise/cacophony to avoid introspection.

• UFO Report Dump:

  • Trump’s casual, uninterested release of UFO documents is mocked.
  • “He literally said, ‘You go through them. Tell me what’s in them.’” — Scott Herkman (10:13)
  • Tease for upcoming appearance by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has declared there’s “not evidence of aliens.”
  • Entertaining speculation that any clever alien would hide on Epstein Island since "those files will never get out."

• Obsession with NFL Kickoff Rule:

  • Trump’s random outrage at NFL rule changes, even out of season.
  • “If you are complaining about the NFL kickoff rule during the NBA playoffs, you are an old man with nothing better to do.” — Jordan Klepper (13:30)
  • Satirical comparison of the only people who watch kickoffs as friendless, family-less ad-watchers, paralleling Trump’s “boredom.”

• Trump’s Hobbies and Habits as President:

  • Humorous speculation about Trump physically tinkering with the White House, gluing “challenge coins” to doors, décor changes, and “adorning things.”
  • “Get this 80 year old man some decoupage so he could be a normal weird old person.” — Jordan Klepper (17:31)

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3. Cruise Ship Comedy & Hantavirus Scare

Timestamp: 18:14 – 20:59

• Hantavirus in the News:
  • The news triggers stories from Klepper’s Second City days performing improv on cruise ships.
  • “I’ve given them what they wanted, which is short form comedy... to people who leave halfway through to go see the sleight of hand magic show.” — Jordan Klepper (18:34)
  • The challenges of cruise improv: non-English speakers, need for physical comedy.
  • Both agree: there are perks to investing in cruise ships; less so to actually going on them.

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4. Looking Ahead: Trump’s China Trip & CEO Entourage

Timestamp: 22:08 – 24:39

• Trump to China:
  • Hosting a parade of CEOs as props for his negotiation efforts.
  • Satirizes billionaires being summoned repeatedly for photo-ops—"Jim Palantir," "Tim Boeing," "Paul Walmart"—to Trump's confusion.
  • “...you have to hang out with this 80-year-old man who eats McDonald's. His farts smell bad. And he wants you to come to all of these meetings so you can be an embarrassing prop for photos.” — Jordan Klepper (23:33)
  • Light roasting of Trump’s inability to distinguish between company and person.

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5. Knicks Fever: Sports, Community, and Superstition

Timestamp: 24:48 – 30:59

• Knicks Make the Eastern Conference Finals:

  • Both hosts express passionate Knicks fandom and New York pride.
  • The joy of feeling a city come alive when a team is winning.
  • “You have a connection there. It's a wonderful thing when it is a sporting event... you extrapolate that and weaponize it for overall power, it gets a little dicey, but there's something very human about it.” — Jordan Klepper (27:20)

• Superstitions and World Events:

  • Tongue-in-cheek admissions: Herkman jokes Knicks victories are “correlated” with global conflict.
  • “Since the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, the Knicks have been winning...” — Scott Herkman (28:05)

• Knicks Fans “Infiltrating” Philadelphia Arena:

  • Light-hearted comparison between sports fandom and political insurrection.
  • Debate on the upside of local tribalism and how it’s ultimately positive in sports but problematic in politics.

• Banter on Gambling:

  • “As long as you’re winning, it’s not a problem.” — Both (31:01)

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6. Show & Tell: Art, Statues, and Emotional Sports Moments

Timestamp: 31:14 – 39:54

• Klepper’s Picks:

  • Visited Philadelphia’s Rocky Statue exhibit—asks thought-provoking questions about what we choose to memorialize.
  • “I think as a kid I grew up thinking like monuments were just built to people that everybody agreed was the person that we respect. But they are all political acts...” — Jordan Klepper (33:21)
  • Suggests more fun, movie-based statues: “Give me a Buzz Lightyear."
  • Also recommends a new adaptation of Lord of the Flies on Netflix.

• Herkman’s Pick:

  • Urges everyone to watch Knicks star Jalen Brunson play basketball.

• Sports and Parental Emotion:

  • Klepper shares a sincere, emotional moment watching LeBron James toss an alley-oop to his son Bronny during the playoffs.
  • “That is what a loving parent does, is you become attuned to the way in which your child moves through space and time.” — Jordan Klepper (38:36)
  • Both admit to crying during sporting events, especially when family is involved.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He (Trump) chooses to create a space that is nothing but jackhammers.”
  — Jordan Klepper (09:07)

• “Boobs and penises are... still the baseline of what we do here.”
  — Jordan Klepper (06:19)

• “If you are complaining about the NFL kickoff rule during the NBA playoffs, you are an old man with nothing better to do.”
  — Jordan Klepper (13:30)

• “He wants you to come to all of these meetings so you can be an embarrassing prop for photos.”
  — Jordan Klepper (23:34)

• “Since the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, the Knicks have been winning.”
  — Scott Herkman (28:05)

• “That is what a loving parent does, is you become attuned to the way in which your child moves through space and time.”
  — Jordan Klepper (38:36)

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Major Timestamps

• 00:48 — Show opens, reminiscing about early Daily Show days
• 06:58 — News roundup: Trump, Iran war, UFO report
• 13:16 — Trump’s NFL kickoff rule complaints
• 18:14 — Hantavirus, cruise ship improv stories
• 22:08 — Trump’s China trip and CEO entourage jokes
• 24:48 — Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, sports as community
• 31:14 — Daily Show & Tell: art, statues, sports, and emotional moments

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Conclusion & Tone

The episode deftly blends sharp satire with silly self-awareness, and pivots from the absurdities of current events to the genuine camaraderie and emotion of sports fandom. Klepper and Herkman maintain their trademark mix of mockery and warmth throughout, inviting listeners into the offbeat, reflective, and often juvenile sense of humor that defines The Daily Show.

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Catch Jordan Klepper hosting The Daily Show this week on Comedy Central and on The Daily Show: Ears Edition podcast.

Transcript

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[Scott Herkman]

Hello and welcome to the Pre Cap, a daily show podcast where we sit down with this week's host to recap some of the latest news and preview what's coming up next. I'm Scott Herkman, a writer at the show, and I'm joined today by your host this week, Mr. Jordan Klepper.

[Jordan Klepper]

Hello, everybody. Happy to Pre Cap for you.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, I'm very excited to be here, Scott.

[Jordan Klepper]

You've been here for a while.

[Scott Herkman]

I've worked at the show almost 10 years. People don't know that by my face.

[Jordan Klepper]

Usually you look very young.

[Scott Herkman]

They think I'm a PA. Yeah, you

[Jordan Klepper]

look like a pa.

[Scott Herkman]

Yes.

[Jordan Klepper]

You have the air of somebody without authority or status.

[Scott Herkman]

Exactly. That's how I look at myself every day when I walk into this building. But I was actually PA when you started at the Daily show, which was super exciting. I remember your first couple months very vividly. I've always wanted to ask you this, and I never have. And now I finally have the courage to. Because I'm allowed to speak.

[Jordan Klepper]

Because there's cameras on us.

[Scott Herkman]

Because there is cameras on us.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yeah. Usually you won't talk to me when we run into each other in the hallways, and that's sort of by design, contractually, I believe.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. You're too tall for me. Also, I'm scared. My neck doesn't go that high.

[Jordan Klepper]

You can tell that you were brought on in the first John era because of your heights.

[Scott Herkman]

Yes, yes. Jewish and height, they're like, this person is perfect to be a VA at the Daily Show. But my first year, when it was your first year, also, I feel like every chat you did was you being mangled or physically harmed in insane ways. And as a pa, I didn't know I was gonna be on the show, and it'd be like, oh, Jordan Klepper's coming down to the studio. And you would have, like, a waffle iron burn on your face or, like, green all over you. Did you feel like they were just trying to injure you.

[Jordan Klepper]

It's so interesting you bring that up, because I think I blocked out most of that partially because. Because it somehow affected who I am as a person, that they were just like, this is a piece of meat that we can make look ugly and strange. So let's do exactly that. And at the time, I believe Jason Jones was like, I don't want to do these pieces. Give it to the new kid. I was so grateful, still am, very grateful that I had the opportunity to be on the show. But I was sort of a blank canvas again. A blank canvas, I think, with the bare minimum amount of respect. So if the joke was. I had a feeling. So if the joke was waffle iron to the face, let's paint this weird, gangly person, waffle iron the face, and then put them on camera. And that, I do think is always a weapon of comedy is a lack of conventional attractiveness.

[Scott Herkman]

I think we, too, are sluggers.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, you know, I feel confident enough to say that. But my gangly weirdness was utilized by the great writers at the show.

[Scott Herkman]

I like your. So in your head, it was, I already look weird. Please make me weirder so that it's funny.

[Jordan Klepper]

At some point, putting a waffle iron and a bunch of feathers on me. If I recall that bit I have in mind, I think that was like a Home Alone reference of having to get maybe into the White House or something and being attacked by Home Alone weaponry and then doing a report. Actually, this brings up another question. Now, I have for you now, as a writer on the show, going from intern to PA to writer on the show. One of the funniest writers we have.

[Scott Herkman]

Oh, that's. Wow.

[Jordan Klepper]

I have a list.

[Scott Herkman]

We're done. We don't have to talk anymore.

[Jordan Klepper]

I have a list at my office. You're number eight for sure.

[Scott Herkman]

Perfect.

[Jordan Klepper]

Number eight.

[Scott Herkman]

That's still top nine.

[Jordan Klepper]

I wonder what number I was going to pick on. You thought eight. That's good. You'll take it as a very funny writer. On the Daily show, you get to utilize the bodies of all the correspondents and hosts for comedic purposes. What do you see as your palette? Who is the most interesting to put in weird physical situations?

[Scott Herkman]

You guys all do it tremendously. So I'm not. If I was ranking it, you're definitely in the top seven or eight. I'm not even sure how many correspondence we have, but, yeah, I think that's, like, probably the most fun we have at the show when it's like, oh, we're gonna Put Jordan in something crazy today. I can think of at least three examples I've done with you. You were in a Superman costume once.

[Jordan Klepper]

That was a great one. Yes.

[Scott Herkman]

You were in where that denim bachelorette

[Jordan Klepper]

Dr. Oh, is that the one? Is that the one that had a. There was something on the back that you.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, bedazzled denim. We do so many of these.

[Jordan Klepper]

Oh, I think that was a Kash Patel reference to a super tight jacket.

[Scott Herkman]

Yes, yes. We put you in a girl's bachelorette jacket. And then I remember you wore a giant cowboy hat that said I heart boobs. And that. That's gotta be one of my favorite bits. I don't know. Do you remember Joe Biden shared a maga hat with somebody? So we did the bit where you and Kosta are trading hats.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yes, that's right. I heart boobs.

[Scott Herkman]

And you were like, oh, I'm gonna trade you my favorite hat. I heart boobs. Cowboy hat.

[Jordan Klepper]

There's so many good hat. One of my favorite bits was with Hasan Minhaj back in the day where we were wearing Team One Direction or no Direction. It was a joke about the band One Direction, but also about pigs who were stuck in chutes, were being led to slaughter, and could only move in one direction. And then perhaps my favorite physical bit is I. We. I was at a. Did a piece in the Virgin Islands where I was walking along the shore. And the joke was that I was. I kept buying local, like, novelty T shirts, like Female Body Inspector and what have you. And it was. The shirts kept changing as I walked along the shore. So they got more and more, like, offensive and touristy. And by the end, I was. I was sporting shorts, a visor, and a shirt that just said tits on it.

[Scott Herkman]

A lot of boob jokes.

[Jordan Klepper]

A lot of boob jokes. You realize? Yeah, okay, it's. We love genitalia here and we love body disfigurement. We use it to satirize the world that we're in.

[Scott Herkman]

What an eloquent way to put my feeling is. That's just funny.

[Jordan Klepper]

It's just funny. It is funny. Boobs and penises are. They are still. They're still the baseline of what we do here.

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[Scott Herkman]

All right, we should probably talk about what's happening in the news this week. We are still in the middle of a war. Donald Trump has rejected Iran's latest offer to end the war. And there's also an Atlantic article that says Donald Trump is reportedly bored with the war. Spoiler.

[Jordan Klepper]

Shocker.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. Shocker of the year. Who would have thought Donald Trump, a man with laser focus, would get bored with something he's doing?

[Jordan Klepper]

He loves to see things through till the end. So this is really. It's really devastating to people who haven't been paying attention.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. Now that it needs more strategy, he's just like, nah, too much work.

[Jordan Klepper]

I mean, interesting, but not at all surprising with this man. This is definitely the kind of guy that was like, ah, we were able to pluck a South American leader and steal him and bring him over here. And it seems like everybody forgot about that because, you know, news and everybody's a goldfish and a bull. So what if we just do that over there in Iran? And now it seems to be a bit more complicated. He looks bored. If you read his true socials. If you hear him hop off a helicopter and talk. I was in D.C. this weekend. I did a show on Friday at the lovely Warner Theater. And the wonderful people of D.C. were warm and kind. Thank you. To lovely Washington D.C. but I was staying right next to the White House. And you can very much see that it is a construction project happening. You see this ballroom is being built. I was watching cement trucks go in and out of the White House, which, to be articulated, something that I don't think I had noticed until I really was right then. And there is. This man is living next to a construction project which Donald Trump has for his entire life. But just imagine having the role of President of the United States and understanding that you're gonna make some of the most consequential decisions in anyone's lifetime. And there's been another article that came out recently that saw himself as one of the most important people who's ever lived.

[Scott Herkman]

He sees himself as one of the most.

[Jordan Klepper]

He sees himself as one of the most important and consequential people who's ever lived. And he chooses to, instead of create a space where he can be alone with his own thoughts and perhaps think through things, he chooses to create a space that is nothing but jackhammers.

[Scott Herkman]

It's like white noise for him.

[Jordan Klepper]

I just need chaos so I don't have to confront who I am as a human being. Can you just add a jackhammer outside here for the entirety of my entire time that I am President of the

[Scott Herkman]

United States, and, you know, at night, he's, like, sneaking out to the construction site with a hammer. Like, well, you know, getting excited. Like, he's loving it. He's loving it. And by the way, they're also not supposed to be working on it right now. And, oh, yeah, you said there's just trucks all day long, so they're going in and out.

[Jordan Klepper]

There's giant cranes that if you walk by walking through D.C. there's. There's so much construction happening on the reflecting pool all across the National Mall. Walking by the White House, you can't even get a good look at the White House. I'm sure there are safety concerns that are there, but also, there's just so much construction going in and out. It is not a space that is built for people to contemplate their actions, which if ever there was a city where perhaps we could, you know, ergonomically develop it so that people could sit with the consequences of their own ideas, we would aim for that to be the case, but we got no.

[Scott Herkman]

Now check out this bulldozer.

[Jordan Klepper]

We got a UFC fight coming. We better put up those stands, y',

[Scott Herkman]

all, which we were talking about. Also, like, Trump is clearly bored by almost everything. The fact that he's kind of just like, doing a little bit of everything and then moving on. You know, like, this week, he released, like, the UFO files, and that was just, here's a Wednesday here. Tell me what's in them. He literally said, you go through them. Tell me what's in them.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yeah, he's not even vetted at it. He just let it out to the masses. I think he had a truth that. That said, like, figure out what the heck is in here. Go on, have fun. He's throwing chum. It's just chum. It's like, go take a look. And it also shows you we're not talking about the UFO files, I think, partially because from my understanding, there's not any huge bombshells. Although I'm excited because this week we have Neil DeGrasse Tyson on, and we're gonna go through those and talk about what Neil sees, what we might be missing.

[Scott Herkman]

He said there's not evidence of aliens. Degrasse Tyson says that, which I think is. He's nervous. There's someone who's weirder about space than he is. He doesn't want them coming down. If you can ask him that. Hey, are you afraid the aliens will supplant you as the weirdest dude about space?

[Jordan Klepper]

So should I. Neil, as Scott would call you the weirdest guy about space, is that just because he has an interest in space that you see it as peculiar?

[Scott Herkman]

I find it peculiar that he's so anti alien. Now that did you think because he's obsessed with space, why wouldn't he want to speak to experts?

[Jordan Klepper]

He's an astrophysicist.

[Scott Herkman]

Why wouldn't he want to get more information from the aliens on what else is out there?

[Jordan Klepper]

Do you think of Stephen Hawking? Was he someone who was obsessed with physics or weird about physics? Is that how you would have framed Stephen Hawking?

[Scott Herkman]

I would not disrespect Epstein island local Stephen Hawking.

[Jordan Klepper]

Okay, shots fired on Hawking. Is LeBron James weird about sports or dribbling?

[Scott Herkman]

No, sports is awesome.

[Jordan Klepper]

Sports is awesome. Do you believe in aliens? Would you expect there to have been something, some smoking gun or I guess, frothing orb to be in those files?

[Scott Herkman]

I looked at the files, everything. I can be convinced either way on both. Like, either I'm looking at a sophisticated piece of technology, or like this is a balloon that's floating. In a weird way, space is gigantic. I don't know what's going on there. I'm not smart like Neil Degrasse Tyson, respect to his name. I'm sure there's got to be something.

[Jordan Klepper]

There's got to be something out there. Yeah, I'm optimistic there's something out there. Although I don't buy the fact that if there was something out there, it came here shook for a little while. Fifty years ago, we caught a picture and then we never saw it again.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, they were like, nah, not interested in what's going on here. I do think just based on how everything comes full circle in this world we live in now, I wouldn't be surprised if aliens exist. But they were also on Epstein Island. You know, it's all somehow interconnected.

[Jordan Klepper]

I think an advanced society would understand how the media landscape works. And so if you want to stay hidden, it's not that you hide behind the mountains or escape back to your planet. You just go to Epstein island and trust that the people in power will keep those files hidden and nobody will ever find out about you. Yeah, these aliens are smart.

[Scott Herkman]

Even more things Trump's doing. Now that he's bored, he's complaining about the NFL kickoff rule, which it's not even NFL season We're in the middle of a war he started. What do you think about the kickoff? I mean, that's the most important thing we could be discussing right now.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, I think it's something that if you were complaining about the NFL Kickoff rule during the NBA playoffs, you are an old man with nothing better to do. My guess, he has something better to do. First of all, though, I'm so glad Trump is focused on this as opposed to other things, like let the old man spin in a corner, let him build a ballroom, let him bitch about the wings for the big super bowl that's coming up next year. Like, great. I think that's gonna give some other countries ways in which they can figure out how to defend themselves against our worst instincts. So I'm all good for that. I also don't think a lot about the NFL kickoff world. It seems like it was put in place to stop murders from happening on the field. That seems to be a good thing.

[Scott Herkman]

It's probably the least exciting part of the game, and it's somehow the only thing Trump wants to talk about, which is what?

[Jordan Klepper]

Help me out here. The NFL Kickoff rule is, essentially, they've staggered the way in which people can run down the field when the ball is kicked because of head injuries. Right?

[Scott Herkman]

Because. So there weren't a lot of kickoffs. This is why I'm on the podcast, because we're talking sports.

[Jordan Klepper]

We're talking sports.

[Scott Herkman]

This is the only reason they invite me on the podcast. They people were fair catching all the kicks because of all the injuries. So in order to create some action on the kickoff, they created this rule that makes it safer for the players, and maybe the team tries to run it back for a touchdown to try to create more excitement, which I think it has. But somehow Trump has turned this into, like, I'm not ending the war with Iran unless the NFL gives up the kickoff rules.

[Jordan Klepper]

This man, he's such a unique human being, but everything. You can zoom in on everything about Donald Trump, and it articulates something about what is so uniquely broken about this human being. Because I think about that kickoff rule, and, you know, I love watching a football game, but if you watch a football game, you're inundated with commercials. And the one thing we know about kickoffs is they always happen in between commercials. They're the easiest thing to miss if you're at all engaged in something other than watching advertisements beam into your eyes. If you have friends, you're talking to friends and you miss the kickoff. If you have bodily needs for food you're eating wings before coming back to the kickoff. If you have family members or children who are playing, you're playing with your child, the game comes back, you've missed the kickoff. So the only people who are truly that invested in the kickoff are people who are not spending their time with family, friends, communicating or feeding themselves. They are instead watching advertisements and propaganda beam into their eyes and they are obsessed with the little minutia of the game in front of them.

[Scott Herkman]

Which goes back to. Trump is bored and alone in the White House.

[Jordan Klepper]

He is bored and alone in the White House. Get this man a worthwhile hobby.

[Scott Herkman]

Well, I said to you earlier, I think the way the east wing got destroyed was one night he was walking around thinking, I don't like this wall here. Just dug a hammer.

[Jordan Klepper]

The man tinkers the whole wall with the auto pen. That's a tinker. That's a tinker. You got the, I mean, the signage outside the Oval Office is the most low class funny shit to put Oval Office outside the Oval Office like it's a ballroom at the Sheridan. Yeah, but it's, that's, that's the tinkering man. It's a man who can't sleep. It's a man whose wife doesn't want him in bed. It's, it's a man who had no children who are calling them. It's a man who walks around and, yeah, he's hammering, he's touching, he's. There's also a report, I believe, of him sticking up challenge coins onto doors.

[Scott Herkman]

What, what does that mean?

[Jordan Klepper]

There's, there's challenge coins that are often handed out. Veterans often will hand them out or people been in the military. I think some people work for governmental offices, get coins with like the presidential seal. His would have the seal on it, I assume, and his name often handed out to people who would visit the White House or VIPs. They're pretty and thick pieces of coinage that he sticks up. I mean, he, the man's got like a glue gun and puts it on a door.

[Scott Herkman]

Take the glue gun away from this.

[Jordan Klepper]

He's adorning too many things. Why is this man so into adorning?

[Scott Herkman]

Why does he have a toolkit then that he can put these things up?

[Jordan Klepper]

Get this 80 year old man some decoupage so he could be a normal weird old person.

[Scott Herkman]

Two months ago he said on camera, they'll say Trump wants it quick and he'll get bored. But don't worry, I never get bored. And now there's reports he's bored it's like he's just walking around doing nothing.

[Jordan Klepper]

That may have been the first contradiction in the things that Trump has said that I've ever heard him say. And frankly, I think the man's slipping.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, he's slipping. Yeah, he's.

[Jordan Klepper]

He's slipping.

[Scott Herkman]

He should not get that third term.

[Jordan Klepper]

He should not. He's got a bunker to wait it out. But I hope the American people finally see maybe he's not the man for the job.

[Scott Herkman]

Another thing going on in the news is the hantavirus.

[Jordan Klepper]

Are you concerned as somebody who has worked on a cruise ship, done sketch comedy on a cruise ship, which is perhaps the most noble thing to do

[Scott Herkman]

on a cruise ship, and you came to do this show?

[Jordan Klepper]

I did. At this point I was like, I've served the people, I've given them what they wanted, which is short form comedy and sketch comedy in an open air arena to a bunch of people who leave halfway through to go see the sleight of hand magic show that's happening next door.

[Scott Herkman]

Was it only cruise ship based sketches or you guys did other stuff?

[Jordan Klepper]

Great question. It was material culled from the Second City's archives that I believe had some classic relationship dramas, some short form like physical bits, and some original material written for the cruise ship. What you realize when you're doing comedy on a cruise ship is you have a lot of non English speakers as well, so you have to do a lot of physical comedy.

[Scott Herkman]

Got it.

[Jordan Klepper]

Going back to again, adorn me, put me in something weird and let me shake it for a bunch of people who have neurovirus and I will make you laugh until your body has explosive diarrhea because of the uncooked chicken you had an hour and a half earlier.

[Scott Herkman]

At least while their body has diarrhea, they're laughing to whatever you're doing on stage.

[Jordan Klepper]

That's what they're doing. They're laughing to keep from thinking like, oh, should I have eaten all of that soft serve? I don't think so. So I, I've lived, I've lived that life. I'm. It seems as if we've been told over and over again this is not something we need to worry about. So I'm, I'm going to choose to worry about other things, like the NFL kickoff rule, because if we looked at, we look at our commander in chief, there are more important things on the docket.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah.

[Jordan Klepper]

Are you nervous?

[Scott Herkman]

I'm nervous that people keep going on cruise ships. I feel like at some point we gotta, as a society say, hey, not worth it bad idea.

[Jordan Klepper]

People get sick. Although that's part of the risk, I guess. You can get those deals on cruise ships and part of it is because you know what, you're rolling the dice.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, well, now's the time to buy. So maybe I'll buy a few cruise ships.

[Jordan Klepper]

This would be the time.

[Scott Herkman]

Should we invest in a cruise ship?

[Jordan Klepper]

Invest? This is. Didn't Pete Davidson do that with a ferry at one point? Joe's the last I heard. They haven't figured it out yet, but

[Scott Herkman]

we already have the entertainment.

[Jordan Klepper]

There we go. Maybe we could buy this datnile ferry from Colin Jost and Pete Davidson, turn

[Scott Herkman]

it into a Disney cruise.

[Jordan Klepper]

Turn into a Disney cruise and be like this. This. It's a. Then just print money at that point.

[Scott Herkman]

Come for the hantavirus, stay for the Jordan Klepper short form sketch comedy.

[Jordan Klepper]

It was great. All physical comedy. It's just look at this weird, strange looking man shaking his stuff for your benefit.

[Scott Herkman]

I will invest but not go on the cruise.

[Jordan Klepper]

I'm gonna look for somebody to take my place as well. Where is Daredevil?

[Scott Herkman]

I'm right here.

[Commercial Announcer]

Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again.

[Jordan Klepper]

So what's next? I feel liberated. We're gonna take this city back over

[Commercial Announcer]

medicated in an all new season now streaming only on Disney plus.

[Jordan Klepper]

They're hunting us.

[Scott Herkman]

It's time we started hunting them.

[Jordan Klepper]

I can work with them.

[Scott Herkman]

This should be tons of fun.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Scott Herkman]

All right, let's look ahead to this week and what's coming up that you might cover on the show. Trump is going to China. What do you think? You think he's gonna get the deal done?

[Jordan Klepper]

Oh, that man. It sounds like he's bringing a bunch of CEOs. If he ends up taking the trip to China, perhaps he does. We will cover that. I'm curious. I think we're gonna hear big talk. Of big deals. Seems like we're not in the making deals phase of the Trump presidency.

[Scott Herkman]

He's bringing an entourage with him of all the top CEOs, thinking that would help. Why aren't these CEOs running their companies? Why are they?

[Jordan Klepper]

They do that is one of the benefits of this Trump administration is we get to see the travel plans of America's biggest CEOs. I guess the globe's biggest CEOs, especially those first few months, it was like Mark Zuckerberg spending a lot of time in Mar a Lago, Washington, D.C. hanging out. Also at, like boring dinners.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah.

[Jordan Klepper]

Apparently that's part of the. The job is to kiss the ass of the person in charge and. Or just eat bad chicken.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, because we didn't see that first term. First term CEOs seem to like, step away. All right, we're gonna wait this out and see what happens. But now that he won this term, it feels like they're all coming out and they're all pledging money to the ballroom that either they're paying for or we're paying for. Still unclear.

[Jordan Klepper]

But imagine that just if you take the politics out of it, you're CEO, you've achieved massive amounts of success, at least financially. You've probably done it in unorthodox and perhaps immoral ways, but you know what? You've done it. You've achieved the American dream. You have financial freedom. You can do what you want. And they're like, also, you have to hang out with this 80 year old man who eats McDonald's. His farts smell bad. And he wants you to come to all of these meetings so you can be an embarrassing prop for photos. He's like, oh, should I have to do that once? It's like, no, you'll probably have to do that every week and a half.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, and there's a good chance that he just thinks your last name is the company you work for.

[Jordan Klepper]

Exactly.

[Scott Herkman]

Oh, look, it's Tim Boeing over here.

[Jordan Klepper]

Jim Palantir is over here. Come on over here, Jim.

[Scott Herkman]

Come on, Jimmy. Target this guy. He does the best targets.

[Jordan Klepper]

Paul Walmart, get your ass in here.

[Scott Herkman]

Come on.

[Jordan Klepper]

These. These poor, poor billionaires.

[Scott Herkman]

It's not even worth being a billionaire anyway.

[Jordan Klepper]

Oh, yeah, I thought I was going to have fun. I was going to bounce around to private islands occasionally, hop on a zoom call where I give some financial advice. Instead, look at this. I'm hanging out with grandpa over here, bitching about the NFL non stop.

[Scott Herkman]

For the last time, I have nothing to do with the NFL.

[Jordan Klepper]

Stop telling me I'm not Roger NFL. I told you this. That's not who I am.

[Scott Herkman]

All right, well, to the big thing that's happening this week. The real reason I'm on this podcast is because the New York Knicks are going to the Eastern Conference finals. Me and you are two of the biggest Knicks fans in the office. I say that because we wear Knicks gear year round.

[Jordan Klepper]

Fashionable Knicks. I've followed your Knicks gear apparel choices. You have good ones.

[Scott Herkman]

Thank you. Thank you. I pride myself on that. If my writing is top eight, my Knicks gear is top one.

[Jordan Klepper]

You are. You are. I think you're number one Knicks fan in the office. Oh, do you think? Definitely, I think.

[Scott Herkman]

I didn't know it was a question.

[Jordan Klepper]

It is exciting to be in New York when the Knicks are winning.

[Scott Herkman]

Totally.

[Jordan Klepper]

Like, I've. I grew up a Michigan fan, fan of a lot of the franchises from that area. And I, you know, I have no shame. I have, I have loved a lot of different teams, usually based on my location. I lived in Michigan and still have a lot of love for Michigan based teams. I love the Pistons. I'm rooting for the Pistons to play the Knicks, but then I'm going to have to root for the Knicks. I want the Pistons to do well. You know, I was a fan of a lot of Chicago teams when I played there as well. I've become such a fan of what sports can do to a community when teams win. My buddy Seth is a Celtics fan and he lives here in New York and has a kid who is here in New York. And I'm like, I know you want the Knicks to lose because that is part of who you are. But if they win, there's something so beautiful about wearing a Knicks hat, going into a bodega and talking about Josh Hart to whoever sees you wearing that hat. Like you a winning team showing that you support that team in a town, it just elevates every conversation. You meet New Yorkers, people yelling, let's

[Scott Herkman]

go Knicks at you.

[Jordan Klepper]

Let's go. Knocks.

[Scott Herkman]

It's amazing. And you get to just scream it back. It's amazing. People at this office who I've never spoken to before like, so, Scott, how you feeling about the Knicks? And I'm like, I'll talk to you for the next two hours about the Knicks. Let's go. Deuce McBride, he had a great game.

[Jordan Klepper]

This is the thing, as I, you know, I'm a Michigan fan. I wear any Michigan apparel all over the globe. If you pass somebody with a Michigan hat on or shirt they say, go blue. My wife is always like, what is it with you weirdos? But it's such a life affirming thing not to make everything about politics, but there is something about putting on the hat of the team you root for and seeing people in the wild wearing that hat that makes you feel like you are a part of something larger. The Maga movement, they got the frickin hats.

[Scott Herkman]

The hats. They nailed it with the hats.

[Jordan Klepper]

And it's how you feel when you go to an event like that. It's like how I feel. You go to MSG and you wear the hat. You go to outside Michigan Stadium and you're wearing Michigan apparel. Everybody's wearing it. You have one thing in common. You're excited about that. You have a connection there. It's a wonderful thing when it is. When it is a sporting event that happens in your town, you extrapolate that and then you weaponize it for overall power. It gets a little dicey, but there's something very human about it all.

[Scott Herkman]

Well, if that weaponized power gets the Knicks a championship, I will. I have this thing. I'm a very superstitious fan. Since the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, the Knicks have been winning. And I need everything to stay exactly the same until the Knicks win the championship.

[Jordan Klepper]

So you're rooting for an elongated conflict.

[Scott Herkman]

I'm rooting for the Knicks to win the championship. That is what I'm rooting for. That is the goal right now.

[Jordan Klepper]

I don't know if I would get super superstitious about extended global conflicts.

[Scott Herkman]

Everything needs to stay the same, Jordan. We are finally winning for the first time. Maybe cut that part where I, you

[Jordan Klepper]

know, I'll root for high gas prices as well. I think it's all worth it, you know, if we all go through a little bit of financial duress for the short term. In the long term, it means that the Knicks get to be champions. I think we could all agree that it's a worthwhile endeavor.

[Scott Herkman]

As someone who was covering the January 6th rally, you'll see where I'm getting.

[Jordan Klepper]

Let's see you get there.

[Scott Herkman]

Knicks fans infiltrated the Philadelphia 76ers arena. What do you think about. What do you think about that infiltration of the arena taking over?

[Jordan Klepper]

Listen, you just moved. You went from eight to nine on that one.

[Scott Herkman]

You got to siva on that one.

[Jordan Klepper]

This is. You know what? Yes. As an Insurrection witness. Check my FBI file. I know what it's like to. Yeah, to dive into a foreign space and take it over the Hearing about that in Philly is wild. Yes. For those who don't know, I think the Knicks played in Philadelphia and it became like a home game in Philadelphia.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. I think it was like 75% Knicks fans for Game 4.

[Jordan Klepper]

That's wild. That gives me some New York pride. If I was a Philly fan, I would be totally pissed off. I remember. But I do love that stuff about it. Again, in the sports arena, I think that's also where you get out some of that. You put it in the political world and it gets cruel and mean and can hurt. You can get it out in the sports. You can get out that angst and that energy and that tribalism, and hopefully you can let it just live there. Like. There was also a story how New York wasn't selling Philly cheesesteaks in certain places because of being Philly again. As a Michigan fan, whenever the Michigan, Ohio State thing happens, I know osu, they will cover M's on campus. I know there was a story, too. This is Props to Ohio State. I give it to you. It always made me laugh. There's a story of the Ohio State bus unwilling to pay for gas in Michigan. They don't want to spend any money there. It's just that kind of shit. I'm like, I. I love it. I love that local pride.

[Scott Herkman]

Well, politics has, like, real life consequences where, like, as someone who spends way too much time watching basketball. Basketball is ball and hoop and then game over. Like, it's.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, the only real life consequences are the time you spend there as opposed to with your family, which has real, real world consequences. And you should spend more time with your family or.

[Scott Herkman]

Well, the Knicks can be family.

[Jordan Klepper]

Oh, yeah, you've expanded your family.

[Scott Herkman]

I would say the other issue is maybe the online gambling, but as long as you're winning. As long as you're winning.

[Jordan Klepper]

As long as you're winning, it's not a problem.

[Scott Herkman]

Not a problem. It doesn't matter.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yeah. People don't talk enough about that with online gambling.

[Scott Herkman]

If your team's winning, you're good.

[Jordan Klepper]

You're good. Yeah. The problem's not me. It's with the efficacy of my team.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. It's their. They should cover my losses.

[Jordan Klepper]

You gotta figure it out.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. All right, it's time for something we call Daily show and Tell. So, Jordan, what's something that you've watched, read, listened to, argued about, or just been on your mind lately?

[Jordan Klepper]

I'm gonna give two things. Two things that happened recently because we slagged off Philadelphia. I went to Philadelphia recently I enjoyed that city and I went to the big museum they have there and they have an art exhibit on the Rocky Monument that famously was created for the movie, then lived outside the art museum and became one of the most visited monuments in all of the country and had a sort of tumultuous relationship even with the museum. The museum itself was like, is this art or is this just a movie prop? They moved it around and then they finally just moved it inside. And they've curated this curated exhibit by a guy named Paul Farber who works for Monuments Lab, which is a really cool group that focuses on monuments. The history of them also facilitates a lot of monuments and it asks a lot of interesting questions about like, what is a monument? What does it represent? What, what are we choosing to, to hold on pedestals? What does it say about who we are? And this one in Philadelphia is really kind of fun. It looks very much at boxing, but also the history of putting people on these pedestals and what it means when you take something that is, that is a movie story and not a real person and you put it inside a museum and it becomes art and something that people reflect and see themselves in. Especially at a time when we are talking a lot about building arches in Washington D.C. and Donald Trump is releasing big gold statues of himself at Mar a Lago, there's going to be monuments built in Washington D.C. to who our heroes are. I think as a kid, I grew up thinking like monuments were just built to people that everybody agreed was the person that we respect. But they are all political acts and they are reflections of our society or what people want our society to be, or pushing on our society. And so this was just a great exhibit that allows you to ask some of those questions. I don't want to say it's an apolitical exhibit, but it allows you to ask it through the framework of boxing in the city of Philadelphia and not just the politics of Confederate statues. So it gets at in a very open, surprising way. So I, I highly recommend going down to Philadelphia and checking that out.

[Scott Herkman]

So we need more movie based statues is what you're arguing.

[Jordan Klepper]

Or I think, I think, yes, I think, I think you will walk through that at the end and be like, you know what? It is time to build. If you want to see what characters

[Scott Herkman]

do you think need statues?

[Jordan Klepper]

Give me a, give me a Buzz Lightyear. Everybody's gonna love a Buzz Lightyear. What else are we gonna love? I would love all the characters from Bottle Rocket, my favorite movie, to just

[Scott Herkman]

a cast gold Castle phone.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yeah, just give me Owen and Luke Wilson. Just. It's like, what is this? Oh, that's Owen and Luke Wilson from the movie Bottle Rock. And it was like, not Tenenbaums. Not Tenenbaums. Bottle Rock was one of the earlier films. Yeah, that's just what I want. I want them to reflect the. The stories that are important to me. What would you do? What. What film character?

[Scott Herkman]

Oh, man. Too many Adam Sandler movies to pick through for just one statue. Oh, man. Yeah. Maybe Billy Madison. Just in the middle of New York City. Yeah, that's.

[Jordan Klepper]

I mean, that would be pretty iconic.

[Scott Herkman]

No one would try to tear that thing down.

[Jordan Klepper]

You know what? I had a framed poster in college of Jeff Daniels from Dumb and Dumber on the toilet screaming. If you remember that image.

[Scott Herkman]

That's a good statue.

[Jordan Klepper]

I was like, that would be a great statue. I don't know where you put that. I don't know what it says to us about who we are as humans, but. But fuck it.

[Scott Herkman]

Why not? Yeah. If everyone's getting a statue. And what was the other thing?

[Jordan Klepper]

Oh, yeah, the other one, too. You know, I just started Lord of the Flies.

[Scott Herkman]

Oh, nice.

[Jordan Klepper]

And I'm very early on in it, but I forget how I read that book in high school and enjoyed it then. But it seems that this remake was immediately compelling and fascinating, and watching kids create society is. It's great and fascinating. So based on the first 30 minutes of it, I think they might have a hit over there.

[Scott Herkman]

Great.

[Jordan Klepper]

Good for that upstart Netflix, too.

[Scott Herkman]

I was rooting for them. You know, I wasn't sure they were gonna make it a while back, but

[Jordan Klepper]

they might figure it out.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah, they might figure it out. Yeah.

[Jordan Klepper]

What do you got? You got a show and tell?

[Scott Herkman]

I got a show and tell. I'm gonna keep it consistent, and I'm gonna say that everybody listening should take some time from their day and watch Jalen Brunson play with a basketball for the New York Knicks. Because it's awesome to watch.

[Jordan Klepper]

It's a beautiful thing.

[Scott Herkman]

It's really fun to be a Knicks fan right now. It seems like you're relatively new, but I've had a lot of pain, and it's awesome and it's fun, and you should do it. And if you don't know what sports are and you're listening, I'm really sorry that you had to listen to that suggestion.

[Jordan Klepper]

Can I. You know what? We're turning into a sports podcast. But there was a moment that I. That made me. I was surprised by how emotional I got last week, I was watching. They've been all great series. I've been a big fan of the NBA, but. But whether you like the NBA or whatever sport there, there's beautiful narratives that are happening, and I think basketball at its best feels poetic and beautiful. And I was watching LeBron play in this last series. You know who LeBron James is, but it's been a season that's been up and down, and it was going up and then lost all of their players due to injury or most of them. Luka's out, and Austin Reaves was out, and LeBron won some big games they weren't supposed to win. And in one of these games, he had an alley oop to his son, Bronny James. And there's been a lot of conversation about Bronny being on the team, and they played, and they haven't played a lot, but because there were so many injured players, Bronny got to play in this game, and there was a moment where he threw an alley oop. And after the game, they won. And they were talking to LeBron about the game, and they asked LeBron what it was like to throw. It was the first time a father had thrown an alley oop to their son in a playoff game. And LeBron James, he flippantly said this, but when asked about it, he said, oh, I noticed he made a little shuffle step with his feet. And I've been watching him make that move since he was a baby. And so I knew to toss it up to him, and he got it. And I immediately broke down and started crying. As a dad, I was like, that is one of the most beautiful expressions of parental love and attention. You watch your child grow. You watch every little face they make and the ways in which they move around the rooms. You are attuned to catch them when they fall. That is what a loving parent does, is you become attuned to the way in which your child moves through space and time. And in this weird world, this one of the greatest basketball players of all times is suddenly playing with their child on the biggest stage on the planet. And in a little moment, out of the corner of their eyes saw their child do some tiny move that they recognize because they've been watching their own life. And instinctively, the poetry of basketball takes place that he tosses it up in the air. And he's been practicing basketball his entire life. And therefore, he executes it on the highest level possible because that's something he's cared so much about. But his instinct Came from fatherhood and watching his child. And his child is able to catch it, know what to do with it and make it. To me, it was like, that's. It's beautiful.

[Scott Herkman]

It's awesome.

[Jordan Klepper]

And I wept, and I was so happy. I was alone. My wife would have been like, what are you doing? In fact, I told her a version of this, and she. I don't think she was like, okay. I'm like. But it hit me. I was like, that's a beautiful thing. And I forget that sports can do that.

[Scott Herkman]

When they showed the parents when USA won gold medal at the Winter Olympics, I was hysterically crying, and my wife was like, why are you so emotional? Like, what if one day that's our children and I'm that parent because I've given up on that. It'll be me playing on the ice, but there's still a chance for him to be there. And she's like, okay, let's move on with our day.

[Jordan Klepper]

You see things differently. I think on this Mother's Day week, it's important to, you know, a big shout out to the fathers.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah.

[Jordan Klepper]

Who really, I think it left behind on the Mother's Day weekend.

[Scott Herkman]

Yeah. They should get a little more credit on Mother's Day, but also on Father's Day, they should get all the credit.

[Jordan Klepper]

Yeah. I think this is actually. This is a good start. Father's Day is coming up, so this is sort of like a few week run up.

[Scott Herkman]

This is the Father's Day. Yeah, the run up. It should be. It's a few weeks of celebration.

[Jordan Klepper]

Exactly. May it begin in earnest today.

[Scott Herkman]

Yes. Yes. Last thing I'm gonna recommend is Jordan Klepper hosting the Daily show this week. Because as I mentioned at the top, I've been working with you for over 10 years, and it's still awesome watching you host the show. From the waffle iron face to hosting the show, it's really awesome.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, Herkman, thank you for making me funny. We get to do this. It's the best job in the business, and we have the best team who makes us look funny and smart and so let's do it this week.

[Scott Herkman]

Let's do it. All right. That's all the time we have for the pre cap. I'm Scott Herkman. Catch Jordan Klepper hosting the Daily show this week on Comedy Central, Paramount, and right here in podcast form on the Daily Show Ears edition.

[Jordan Klepper]

Whoo.

[Scott Herkman]

All right. Now, Alan, that tequila you promised.

[Jordan Klepper]

Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily show wherever you get your podcasts watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paris Paramount. Plus,

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this has been a Comedy Central podcast.