By way of ‘The Daily Show,’ Jon Stewart has accrued 10 Emmys, two Peabody awards and a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. He’s been lauded in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller lists for his books. And now, he’s won himself Best Celebrity to Visit Campus in this year’s Best of NU poll.
Last October, Stewart took time out of his schedule to put on a hilarious night of stand-up for Northeastern students at a sold-out Matthews Arena.
Elizabeth Correnti, a freshman journalism major who attended the event, said that not only did Stewart do a great job poking fun at serious topics, but that it had been a long time since she laughed as hard as she did that night.
‘I loved it all,’ said Joe Africano, a freshman philosophy major. ‘It was amazing. I liked the insightfulness he had about the hardcore left and the hardcore right and how [extreme partisanship] won’t work out in America.’
According to Comedy Central’s website, Stewart has also been nominated four times for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program at the Emmys. Also, the website said the show won Outstanding Achievement in News and Information from the Television Critics Association in 2004, beating traditional news sources.
Since taking control of housing duties in 1999, Stewart has brought higher ratings to the show and the channel by showing off his satirical, and some say educational, talents.
He’s also sat down with a slew of celebrities on the show’s New York set, including President Bill Clinton; Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Kerry, President Barack Obama, John McCain, John Edwards and Bob Dole; as well as actors Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis.
Back in Matthews Arena, Stewart’s one-man show was packed with his signature finger-pointing comedy, painted with a political overtone to match the times.
Sam Peisner, president of Council for University Programs (CUP), said the event took a lot of work to put together.
‘As far as I know, this is the biggest act that’s ever happened at the school,’ Peisner said in a Sept. 29 article of The News. ‘He really kicks it up a notch during the presidential season.’
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‘- Jeanine Budd, News Staff