The Daily Show

I went to see Trevor Noah on the first Monday after Storm Jonas. I had arrived at 2:45 PM, just as they were handing out tickets. Because of the weather, I suppose not as many people showed up because they suggest you arrive sooner than 2:30 PM. I got a yellow ticket with the number 63 on it, guaranteeing that I will get a spot in the audience (first 120 yellow tickets are guaranteed in). I suggest going in the winter, just because the waiting time is actually not as bad, since people prefer to go on warmer days.
Then, you’re allowed to leave and get some food or explore the Hells Kitchen area — just make sure you don’t lose your ticket! They tell you to come back at 4:30 the earliest to start lining up to get inside. I suggest getting there at 4:45 if you already have a guaranteed ticket, or else you’d be waiting in the cold. You stay in another line for about 20 minutes waiting for them to usher people in – the line is sorted into groups of ten by your ticket number. You’re allowed to go to the bathroom before you have to go through security. By this point it was 5:05 PM.
You’re not allowed to take any photos before you are seated in the audience. By the time I was seated, it was 5:10 PM. After you are seated, it’s another hour of waiting, but they do have a pretty diverse playlist of music for you to pass the time. At this point, you are allowed to take selfie’s and use your phone, so the time went by relatively quickly.
Someone comes out to briefly to explain the do’s and don’ts of being an audience member. Then, a brief ten minute opening comedy routine. More waiting.
Finally, at 6:15 PM Trevor Noah comes out! The taping was fairly short — most of the editing was done before hand, so a lot of the clips were played on the monitors. It was a lot shorter and less «behind the scenes» than I had anticipated. The show was finished by 7:00 PM, at which point you are ushered out — you still have an opportunity to go to the bathroom at this point.
All in all, it was a great experience, but definitely a lot of waiting.

Why is the parady usually more informative then the reall thing? Oh, yeah cuz the reall thing gets obsesed with stupid stuff and goes on for ever. Then again that just gives The Daily Show more material!
I miss Jon Stewart but the new guy Trever Noah does a good job as well. I think maybe I just hate change,
The Daily Show has always kept me lauphing and always has great guests. It always seems to be over just to fast.

It’s a fun experience, but there is a lot of waiting in line and we also had to sit and wait in the studio for quite awhile. I’ve been twice now when Jon Stewart was the host and recently for Trevor Noah. I just wish they’d make it easier for people and not make you waste a whole day waiting in line. I’ve been to NBC to see Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and NBC makes it so much easier!

I thought it would be helpful to post a review of the Daily Show tapings since Trevor Noah has taken over. Seemingly, not much has changed from a logistics point of view, but I can’t say I wasn’t surprised at how busy it was on a Wednesday afternoon less than a month after the Trevor started.
I was able to reserve tickets online only a week in advance of the taping, but as many have mentioned, this does not guarantee access to the show. Your number still is based on when you arrive at the studio and get in line. The whole experience basically consumes an entire day/​half-​day, so keep that in mind.
Tickets are handed out at 2:30pm, I arrived at 2:20pm (on a wednesday, with less than a month of Trevor shows…) and was given a number in the triple-​digits. Which I guess means good things for the sustained popularity of the show without Jon! So theoretically, you may want to get there between noon and 1pm, and the show ends by 7pm, so that’s half your day
After getting my yellow ticket I went to a nearby coffee shop and returned for seating at 4:30pm. I had no problem getting in with a great seat, and it seemed like many people with blue (standby) tickets were able to get in and seated, though maybe not with their friends.
Once seated, they’re still very strict about no photography until proper sanctioned times. I’m sure they have their reasons, but you’re sitting there for 30 minutes during seating without being able to check your phone. They were pretty militant about not having the phone out for any reason. I was scared to put silence the ringer, for fear of them taking my phone. a few minutes AFTER seating is completed, then you can finally scramble for all the selfies and pics you want for a few minutes between seating and the warm-​up comedian.
Trevor comes out, takes a few questions, then tapes the show. a single run-​through, just like you’d see on TV. After he’s done, trevor thanks the audience and walks off stage. No photos allowed when leaving either. It would have been nice for a group shot with Trevor or something for fans and tourists to leave with other than their memories and hurried selfies with an empty set
Overall a fun experience, but very time consuming and left me fearful to touch my phone for the rest of the night…

I’ve gone twice. Once in March 2015 (Jon was still there) and again in November 2015 (Trevor Noah). Trevor continued Jon’s tradition and took a few questions from the audience before the show started. It’s a new set with a different configuration. There’s a new warm up comedian and he’s 10x better than the asshole before.
Here’s all you need to know about waiting in line: Try to get there between 1 and 1:30. You’ll get your ticket at 2:30. If you have a friend coming, you can reserve their ticket so long as they can pick it up by 4pm. You have to be back at 4:30 and they start the show at 6. You’ll be out by 7pm.
The first person will inevitably get there before noon. All the power to that person. Inside the studio, the stairs for the seats are tall enough that you’ll be able to see over the person in front of you. The closer to the stage you are, the harder it is to see the tv screens and over the gigantic cameras. (Half of the show is clips and animations) It’s ok if a few people are in front of you in line because you’ll have a higher probability of sitting further back with a better view. Where you sit is completely random. There’s a metal detector and they’ll search your bag. They let you take pictures before the show begins.
I dropped one star because the ticketing process wastes your entire day. It would be nice if they could figure out a more efficient system for distributing tickets that doesn’t take hours and hours (especially for a show that lasts 30 minutes).

MY DREAM CAME TRUE! I sat outside in the horrible heat for 2.5 hours and then waited again for another 2 hours to see the taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was amazing to be in the studio – it’s much smaller than I imagined. The warm up comedian was really lame and had a crassy send of humor, which I normally enjoy but his delivery was horrible. But that soon faded away into oblivion when Jon Stewart came out! He’s so little and cute! My three friends and I were jumping up and down until we felt like our heads exploded and then the rest of our bodies collapsed to the floor. It was a great experience and definitely worth the wait. He’s one of a kind and The Daily Show won’t be the same without him :(

Second time I’ve been (within 6 month of each other, so not sure how they monitor the «one show per 6 months»). Again — got in line around 12:30−1 and was #101 & #102. Didn’t check ID. What I don’t understand is that the tickets they give you at 2:30 essentially mean NOTHING. They never ask for these tickets when you come back at 4:30. So you could just hypothetically pretend you have a ticket and stand in the bunches of people in hopes that someone does not make it back in time.

There’s not much to say beyond what’s already been said other than to not panic if you’re not in the first 120 guaranteed seats. If you want to be guaranteed to get in, you should probably be there by 12:30 — 1:00 PM at the latest, but they easily seat up to 150.
We were 133 and 134, and they called back the standby group of 121 – 150 to all get in. There is plenty of seating and I’d guess the only time that group doesn’t get in is if there are a lot of VIP seats given that don’t go through the normal ticketing process.
This was the second taping I’ve ever seen of TDS and I’ve been to a good number of TV tapings in general. Having been doing this for well over a decade is clear in the professionalism and quickness with which the ticketing and loading process is done.
TDS is easily the most hassle-​free security screening and loading process I’ve been to. My only recommendation would be a bullhorn for the line announcements so the staff can be better heard, but they might not do that for noise complaints or some similar reason. (Although that may also not make sense because… it’s NYC. It’s loud and at least 5 sirens went by while all the announcements were made anyway.)
Overall, tickets will be hard to come by in the final few months, but are possible to get. If you’ve gotten this far in the review you probably have tickets, but if not you can check the website for Wednesday and Thursday tickets that can pop up at random times. That’s how I got lucky and was able to catch my taping.
Check the site frequently, don’t give up, and line up early if you don’t want to worry. But if you don’t quite make the guaranteed seats don’t panic! Good luck and enjoy the show.

I’m a huge fan of the Daily Show, so of course the taping was awesome to see and I’m biased as to how funny Jon is. If you’ve never been to a taping of anything before, and are even the slightest bit a Daily Show fan, I highly recommend taking a day off work/​school and doing this. Yes, it takes all day. Yes, it’s hot/​raining/​freezing/​windy/​etc. Yes, the floor is dirty and yes, people walk by the line with the «What is wrong with these people» face. Who cares? It’s totally fun!
We got there at 11:05ish and there were about 18 people in front of us. By 12pm, I think you’re risking not getting tickets — but during the taping we saw plenty of ‘blue ticket’ people coming in (Blue = not guaranteed a ticket. Yellow = you’re in). I think this depends on the day of the week and the guest that night (probably should show up earlier if some amazing guest is going to be on). Tickets are handed out at 2:30 sharp.
Security’s directions are very clear as to what to do and when to come back for the taping (430ish), and they’ve got the whole crowd control thing down pretty well. You will spend all day on this. We got there at 11am and were not totally done until 7pm (about a 2-​hour break between your ticket acquisition and the taping call back — great time for drinks and food nearby!)
Pointers:
— It’s cold in the studio, bring a jacket/​sweater
— They will only give you tickets with your photo ID — no exceptions!
— You can reserve tickets for people not present, but they must have ID and pick them up no later than 4pm.
— If you’re planning to get in line early, bring something to sit on, some snacks, a book or a board game or something. There’s a place right next door that will rent you a chair for $ 5, and a bodega that has food/​drinks on the corner as well.
— Don’t show up to the taping with a huge bag, they’ll make you check it and then you have to wait to get it back at the end of the show
— They let you use the bathroom before you go in the studio. Use it. You don’t lose your spot and you cannot leave once you’re seated.
— Be brave and ask Jon a question during Q&A. I was not brave enough to talk to him and now I regret it.
— They validate parking. Be sure to park in their lot if you drive.

Alan Z and Toisha’s reviews are very helpful. We went today and Toisha’s timeline was spot on. I was about the 50−51^st person in line at 12:15. But there is a definite vibe in line and during the prep for the show that more people are attempting to see it before John leaves.
One note to add is that it is useful to have all members of your party there with ID when they start handing out the yellow and blue tickets. Otherwise you need to leave the name of missing party members with them and missing party members must pick up their tickets before 4pm!

Went to the Daily Show 4÷22÷15. We lucked out and it was actually sunny for most of the day, but got super cold and rainy-​ish around 2pm. We were the first two people in line! Bring portable chairs and snacks, they will check everything for you. We were the only people not sitting on the ground and I could see people eyeing our seats with envy. There’s a deli at the corner of 51^st that has better grub than grabbing anything at Subway. Also, they announced they will validate parking if you park in the K street lot on 51^st closest to 12^th avenue. The Q & A questions weren’t all the best, but the answers were hilarious. Watching the show in the studio was so weird because I had to keep reminding myself to look at Jon Stewart and not to watch the screen. It was all over so fast, but just getting to step onto the Daily Show sound stage and spend that 30 mins in the presence of greatness was well worth starting my day at 7am. Since we got there so early, I kind of amused myself by tracking the first 50 people to line up (which, if they all took the max 4 tickets would basically be the cutoff for getting into the show as I saw a sign in the studio that had it fire marshaled for a capacity of 239 people. Also it looked like the VIP section held quite a few folks). Here’s my list, first number is the time and second is the total number of people in line.
9:30 2
10:35 4
11:00 6
11:15 8
11:30 16
11:35 18
11:41 19
11:46 20,21
11:47 22
11:48 23,24
11:49 25,26
11:50 27,28
11:53 29,30
11:55 31,32
11:57 33,34
11:58 35
11:59 36
12:01 44 line passes awning
12:05 45,46
12:09 47, 48, 49
12:15 50
The line wrapped back on its self and reached me at 12:55pm. All of the people that were standing in the line at that point got in, but as it gets closer to Jon Stewart’s last day, I wouldn’t keep risking getting there after 11:30am because that’s when people just started coming in droves.

I admit, I’ve never seen a full episode of The Daily Show, but I liked the few clips I’ve seen online, so when a friend of a friend offered us extra tickets, I just had to go! I ran through misty rain like a trooper, making it just in time to pick up my tix by 4 PM and enjoy the show.
The staff was super friendly and happy to get us all checked in and seated. The hype man before the show was really funny, too! The show taping (which starts at 6 PM) was actually pretty short — under an hour — as Jon only needed one take, like the pro he is. He’ll be missed! The whole experience was short, but sweet. (Especially since I didn’t have to wait in line for tix at noon. ;P)

Yay to the Daily Show! I have actually never even seen an episode before, so my first time was seeing it live, hehe. There is a whole ticketing/​waiting process which everyone else has already written about, so I’ll skip that part.
Anyways-​everyone was super friendly here, and we got to sit in the front row! It is random, where they seat you, though-​they will only seat parties of 4 together (we had six of us, so they split us up), too. Before the show starts, someone comes to provide some comic relief to the audience, and then Jon Stewart himself comes out to answer some random audience questions. Then it’s onto the show, which is super short-​only 30 minutes long! That time flies by super quickly!
There’s tons of energy and laughs on set, so it’s a fun place to be at!

Everybody go read Alan Z’s review, it’s basically all you need.
What else is there to say? It’s everything we hoped for and more. Jon Stewart is marvelous in person and it’s a check on my bucket list. The staff that deals with the like security and seating is all fantastic.
Make friends with the people near you in line, you’re gonna be near them for a while.
For folks worried about getting a good seat… There’s really no bad seat in the house. The cameras move around so if you can’t see for a little bit you will see soon. I would get there at 1 if I did it again, not 12:15— we were #54/​55/​56/​57 and it was excessive, even blue tickets got in so on a normal day I wouldn’t worry a whole ton.
Only thing that wasn’t what I expected. Jon Stewart is actually quite short. Who knew?

*** Free & Once in a lifetime ***
A month ago, I decided on the whim to look into tickets for the Daily Show. The process to submit for non-​guaranteed tickets was quick and efficient; lo’ and behold I got the tickets on the first try. I was very impressed by how quick the staff was to check us in. You will stand in line early for tickets and receive a number (for your place in line) when you return in the evening. The check-​in process was efficient and you’re quickly seated in the building. Jon Stewart was hilarious, as always. I would recommend if you’re in the area and have a full day of free time.

There’s not a whole lot to add. Alan Z. pretty much nailed the details.
Being on the show is awesome. Jon is funny and super-​quick in how he riffs with the crowd before the show.
Please note that there is zero chance to interact with the show’s cast (other than Jon’s five-​minute Q&A before the show) and zero chance to get anywhere near the set (other than your seat). You end up waiting for hours and killing the better part of a day for a 30-​minute taping.
After you’ve made your online reservation (you did make your reservation, didn’t you?) be in line by 1 p.m. at the latest. Bring a book — you’re going to be in line til around 3 p.m. and then come back around 4 or 4:30. The first 120 are guaranteed admission, but here’s the catch — any of those 120 can say «Oh, I have three friends coming with me,» and those tickets are put on hold until 4 p.m. So, in theory, the first 30 people could take all the seats.
Numbers 121 and up are given secondary access; they get to go in if the first 120 ticketholders don’t show up. Not sure what happened on the day I went, but it seemed like they got through most of the 240 somehow. I guess a lot of people didn’t show up.
They start «loading» the audience at 5 p.m., and the show starts taping just after 6. You’re out before 7 p.m.
Because I love love love TDS, I can’t be critical of much… they’re free tickets, after all. But in 2015, you’d think they would have figured out a much better ticketing process.

One word: experience. An amazing experience is what you get after the a few hours of familiarizing yourself with the ticketing process, The Daily Show and Jon Stewart himself.
To start the process is the challenge that is reserving the non-​guaranteed tickets online via the Showclix platform. Tickets are made available usually within a two month period and is available until all the tickets are claimed. Shows are usually overbooked so getting a confirmation from Showclix means you’ve only secured the chance to be able to get into that day’s show. When the day of judgment comes, I suggest you arrive early around 1:00 to 1:30PM to end up around the 1^st to 100^th person in line, depending on the weather and season. Tickets are handed out promptly at 2:30PM and are given in numerical order. Currently, numbers 1 through 120 are on yellow pieces of paper and those are the guaranteed seats (waits on 11^th Ave side at 4:30pm). Numbers 121 through 200 are on blue sheets of paper and those are not guaranteed meaning if the guaranteed tickets are not filled to capacity then they can get into the studio until capacity is filled. They wait on the 52^nd Street side and go in around 4:45PM. While waiting to go in you have a chance to go to the bathroom and that is the only chance. Once you start making your way inside, you will be required to go through a security check. Everything in your pockets come off and all metals are placed in a bin (including belts). All larger bags are held at security until the show is over where you then can claim it.
Thought you were done reading? No! When you have finally made it inside and are ready to be seated, know that the seating is random meaning your ticket number does not mean you will be seated in the front or the back. Seats are determined by the number of people in parties. A party of four may be seated in the first row even though they’re high number or a blue ticket. People who are single are usually squeezed between parties all around. During the time people are being seated, you’ll have the opportunity to use your phone/​camera to take pictures of the studio, but you will only be able to do so sitting down in your seat. You cannot get up to the isles or to Jon’s desk to take an epic selfie. While you are waiting in your seat take some time to gaze and breathe in the fresh studio air while enjoying some nice handpicked music anything from rock to funk, to dance to pop. Once everyone has been seated there will be a rundown by a staff member on protocol, cheering and what to do incase of an emergency.
There’s more! There is a warmup act before Jon comes out. He gets the crowd riled up by showing you where the mic’s that pick up the audience’s applause are at, how they function, how to cheer and how loud. There is potential for a ruptured eardrum at this point. The guy is hilarious and not PC so it’s fun for everyone who has a sense of humor and not those who writes letters to studios because they’re easily offended. I would call his act improvisational insult comedy but in a very good way. He chooses random members of the audience to riff on for a bit and sometimes brings them up to the floor facing the audience.
Alas, the man of the hour, the legend, the «newscaster» that is Jon Stewart comes out and the crowd goes wild! He comes out with a mic for a 15 minute or so Q&A session with the audience where they are free to ask him any question. The responses by Jon are always top notch and delivered in lightning speed. It was truly great to see how this he thought. Once it is all said and done the camera crew and staff all come rolling out into position and the show starts in roughly 2 minutes. It’s crazy how seamless everything is, from transitioning from screen time to cutaways, to broadcasted segment, and to the interview. Breaks are taken when it’s time to go to commercial and there’s always people at Jon’s desk giving him information and that stops the second they are ready to come back from break. After everything is all done, Jon thanks the crowd and leaves. On another note, Wednesdays are a bit special because TDS films an extra opening for their global edition so everyone gets a little more Stewart time.
I hope this was helpful to future Daily Show audiences. You really have to come see this yourself to bathe yourself in Jon’s presence (or as a classic news caption would say that starts with Jon Stewart… «Jon Stewart Bathes with an Orgy of Audience Members»). Keep hounding the TDS website for tickets whenever it is up and sit in one of the shows before he retires from the desk forever.

I’m a little starry-​eyed because a week after I attended my Daily Show taping, Jon announced his resignation. I’m so, so glad I went when I did. we were kept entertained with a warmup comic, had the intimacy of a small studio, and Jon was so sweet to his audience. I came out with an even better impression of him than I’d had previously, especially when he thanked us for coming out in such bad weather. my only regret was not coming up with a question for him in advance.

Despite the long waits and overly-​complicated ticketing processes, this whole experience was one big moment (no, day!) of zen.
I was lucky enough to score provisional tickets online for my boyfriend and me. I took the day off of work, so I was able to arrive at the Hell’s Kitchen studio pretty early — around 1:15. For the next hour and 15 minutes, I suffered in the surprisingly sweltering September sun (how’s that for alliteration?). There’s an awning that almost everyone can wait under, but I got unlucky and got a spot directly in the sun. Anyway, around 2:30, the line began to move and I got my ticket (#58). I gave the staff my boyfriend’s name so that he could come pick up his ticket later, which he absolutely had to do by 4 PM. Spoiler alert: He got there at 3:56 PM. It was nerve-​wracking.
Folks are instructed to come back at 4:30, so I had about two hours to kill. There’s not too much in the immediate area, unless you want a meal or a drink– then there’s plenty.
Once we got inside the studio, we were seated and had some time to take photos (while we remained seated). A funny warm-​up comedian came out, and he did his job well. Shortly thereafter the amazing Jon Stewart was introduced to the crowd for a little Q and A. Jon graciously and hilariously responded to every question, which ranged from the predictable (something about Steven Colbert, something about MSNBC) to the extremely random (Q: «How do you feel about broccoli as a pizza topping?» A: [aghast] «I’ve only just begun to accept it as an omelette filling»). He wished someone a happy 21^st birthday and was flabbergasted that someone was doing something so responsible on his 21^st birthday.
Once Jon ended the Q&A session, he walked over to his seat, and before I knew it, filming began! We were sitting near the guy who (I think) controlled the speed of the teleprompter, so it was cool to watch that. It was also fun to see Jon prepping for the cut back to him during each of the media clips. The interview wasn’t all that interesting or funny, but the opening stuff was great. Bonus: Jessica Williams did a segment that night. Love her. Extra bonus: Her segment provoked the ire of One Direction fans everywhere (remember the ‘One Direction is a member of a terrorist organization’ joke?).
The only truly annoying part of my experience was that as we were being seated, I asked the girl seating us when I would be able to run to the restroom. She informed me that now that I had entered the studio, it would be impossible for me to leave, and that they had made an announcement about this when we were in line. I’m sure they had, but we hadn’t heard it. And sorry, but we were in the studio for a total of an hour and a half and absolutely nothing happened for the first half hour, so not allowing anyone to go to the bathroom for that long is just crazy. Luckily I asked another seater and he told me that I could go– just not after taping had started– which made much more sense.

Loved it! There is a slightly daunting process to obtain tickets, but for megafans, the experience is definitely worth it. The show is done exactly as it is shown on TV. For the taping we attended, the correspondent bit was pre-​recorded, but Jason Jones stopped in for a quick wave after the bit was over! Others that have written reviews have also covered the timeframes and steps for obtaining tickets and pick-​up, but I’ll give my take anyway:
Step 1: Get a ticket reservation online. Setup @DailyTix on Twitter to send you notifications to your phone if you need a specific date.
Step 2: Once you have your ticket reservation, stop and realize this is ONLY a reservation. You are not guaranteed your tickets until you complete Step 3.
Step 3: Arrive at 733 11^th Ave between Noon and 1:15 p.m. if you want to get the first 50 tickets. 1:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m. will likely get you between 50 and 100, and so on. We arrived at 1 p.m. and received numbers 37 and 38. They begin giving out tickets at 2:30 p.m.
Step 4: Come back no later than 4:30 p.m. to start going through security. You will line up outside based on the number you received.
Step 5: Go through security and wait some more. We went in around 5:00/15 p.m.
Then sit and enjoy!