Apparently, he smells like paprika.
During the performance subtitled "Behind the Scenes of the Real Fake News" Mandvi recreated the average workday of a "Daily Show" correspondent, shared the story of his success and fielded questions from an audience of several hundred people, including a noticeable contingent of Dartmouth students and faculty.
While the story initially seemed to be a standard autobiography of his early years, Mandvi deftly wove comedy and sincerity into a heartfelt monologue chronicling everything from his early years to his time at "The Daily Show." His talk both revealed the deep affection he has for his father and the source of his laugh-out-loud humor.
Mandvi began the monologue describing his father's motive for wanting to move from India to England to America. According to Mandvi, his father thought of America not as the home of freedom, democracy or the Statue of Liberty, but as the inventor of the world's greatest concept.
"Some came to America because of a word, like my father. A word that woke him up in the middle of the night an American word, a fat word, a word that could only be spoken with decadent pride. And that word was brunch," Mandvi said, describing his father as a man in love with the very fabric of American culture.
After spending 15 years in England, Mandvi's family followed his father's dreams and came to the United States in 1982, when Mandvi was a self-described "16-year-old teen with pimples and a South Asian fro who had no hope of sex for at least another eight years."
After graduating from the University of South Florida, Mandvi worked as a performer at MGM Studios and later as an actor in several off-Broadway shows in New York City. He appeared in minor roles in several feature films (including 2004's "Spiderman 2" and 1998's "Analyze This") before auditioning for "The Daily Show" in August 2006, according to Mandvi.
Mandvi told the audience that he first heard about "The Daily Show" audition from his manager, who told him that Jon Stewart's show was looking for a "Middle Eastern guy." Though he first thought that this sounded like an "elaborate Homeland Security sting operation," he ultimately decided to audition in exchange for a "lifetime supply of Mallomars." The audition piece, which he read for Jon Stewart himself, ended up being the script of the very first "The Daily Show" segment Mandvi ever performed on air. He was offered the job on the spot.
At this point, Mandvi dove into recreating his average day on the job: "The Daily Show" writers get their assignments at around 10 a.m. the day of the show, and are given until 2 or 3 p.m. to create a script based on the material found by a team of researchers. A rehearsal with producers, writers and Jon occurs at 4:30 p.m.
"Between 4:30 and 6 p.m. is when Jon essentially rewrites the show" Mandvi said, explaining that the script is often changed so much that the final version often includes lines that the correspondents have never seen before.
When not writing and performing segments in the studio, Mandvi is sent out on "field pieces" where he "goes out, talks to crazy people and makes them look like morons." Though hours and hours of footage are often shot for a single segment, only a few minutes ultimately make it to the air.
Mandvi described learning the basics of reporting from the field from Stephen Colbert, who Mandvi described as a "giant bobble head" and a "terrific hugger with a hint of oregano." He remembered Colbert telling three pieces of advice: remember that sticking a camera in someone's face gives them a lobotomy, try to find what's funny to you in a given piece and don't be afraid of silence.
The last piece of advice, Mandvi said, was the most valuable, as it is in these moments of silence that true comedic gold is made. After becoming uncomfortable with the silence, the person being interviewed will ultimately say something completely stupid, at least according to Mandvi.
"They will literally say, I fcked a chicken.' And when you have that I fcked a chicken' moment, that is literally the greatest thing that can happen to you as a Daily Show' correspondent," Mandvi said. "I get an erection when that happens. It is the moment when you know the piece has come together."
After going through the average day of a "Daily Show" correspondent, Mandvi answered a series of questions from the audience, ranging from how "The Daily Show" operated during the writers' strike of 2007 and 2008 to how the show balances informative news and comedy.
Mandvi's performance proved equal parts of both, providing both the intelligent and no-holds-barred humor that we expect from a "Daily Show" correspondent while giving the audience a unique glimpse behind the scenes of America's favorite fake news program.
