NEW YORK, September 2, 2015 – “The Best F*&#ing News Team Ever!” just got bigger and f*&#ing better. “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” announced today that Ronny Chieng, Desi Lydic and Roy Wood Jr. will be the newest correspondents to join the team under new host Trevor Noah. “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” premieres on Monday, September 28 at 11:00 p.m. on Comedy Central and will be available to stream the following day onthedailyshow.com and the Comedy Central App.
Said Noah: “I’m so excited to welcome these new members of the Daily Show Team. Now I get to share my stress with other new people.”
Chieng, Lydic and Wood will be joining the team’s existing roster of talent, including Jordan Klepper, Hasan Minhaj, Jessica Williams, Lewis Black, John Hodgman, Al Madrigal, Aasif Mandvi and Kristen Schaal.
Born in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and raised in Manchester, NH and Singapore, stand-up comedian and actor Ronny Chieng (www.ronnychieng.com) has been a rising star on the comedy scene in Australia where he moved to attend the University of Melbourne. Embarking on a stand-up comedy career after graduating with a degree in commerce and a degree in law, Chieng’s career began to take off in 2012 when he was named one of the “Top 10 Rising Comedians in Australia” by The Age, the Herald Sun and The Sydney Morning Herald and received the “Best Newcomer” award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his debut stand-up special, “The Ron Way.”
Since then, Chieng (@ronnychieng) has continued his meteoric rise, performing sold-out tours in Australia and appearing at numerous international comedy festivals, including the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Last year, Chieng won the “Directors’ Choice” award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and “Best Show” at the Sydney Comedy Festival. He has appeared in and performed on numerous TV shows in his adopted home of Australia and has opened for both Dave Chappelle (2014) and Bill Burr (2015) during their nationwide stand-up tours in Australia. Earlier this year Chieng made his US television debut on “The Late Late Show.” Chieng is repped by Century Entertainment Australia and APA.
Desi Lydic (@DesiLydic) is a professionally trained and seasoned improvisational and comedic actress who studied and performed at the famed and prestigious theater schools The Groundlings and Improv Olympic. Most recently, she had a starring role on MTV’s hit comedy series “Awkward.” Lydic’s feature film credits include Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought A Zoo” opposite Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson and “The Babymakers” directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and opposite Olivia Munn. Other television credits include “Two and a Half Men” (CBS), “The Odd Couple” (CBS) and “The League” (FX). Lydic is repped by UTA, Underground and attorney is Stone, Meyer, et al.
A native of Birmingham, AL, Roy Wood Jr. (www.roywoodjr.com) began his comedy career in 1998 at the age of 19 while attending Florida A&M University. He has been called “A Standout” by The Hollywood Reporter, and Entertainment Weekly described his comedic style as “charismatic crankiness.” Wood’s thought-provoking comedy crosses cultural lines and has entertained millions nationwide via stage, radio and television. In 2006, he appeared in the “New Faces Showcase” at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and made his network television debut on “The Late Show with David Letterman” the same year. Wood (@roywoodjr) most recently starred on “Sullivan and Son” (TBS) and regularly appears on “Conan” and ESPN’s “SportsNation.” Wood’s stand-up album, “Things I Think, I Think,” was released in 2013.
No stranger to Comedy Central, Wood was one of ten national finalists in Comedy Central’s 2002 “Laugh Riots” competition, has been featured on its “Premium Blend” stand-up series and is a regular guest on the current late-night hit “@midnight.” He has also appeared on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” and finished third in the 2010 season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” Wood is repped by UTA and MacDonald Entertainment.
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” premieres on Monday, September 28 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. Socially speaking, viewers can follow “The Daily Show” on Twitter (four million followers) andTrevor Noah (2.5 million followers) and also by becoming a fan of “The Daily Show” on Facebook (five million fans) and Instagram (139K followers).
“The Daily Show” is a 20-time Emmy® Award-winner (including a record ten consecutive wins for program) with a grand total of 60 Primetime Emmy® nominations. The series is also a two-time winner of the prestigious Peabody® Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Trevor Noah, Steve Bodow, Jen Flanz, Tim Greenberg, Jill Katz and Adam Lowitt are the Executive Producers of “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” with Hillary Kun as Co-Executive Producer. Pam DePace, Justin Melkmann, Stuart Miller and Baratunde Thurston are Supervising Producers. The series is directed by Chuck O’Neil.
