New York City Adventure: Hitting on Jon Stewart

When I was a freshman at Fairfield University, my friend Meredith was obsessed with Jon Stewart.  Back then, in 2003, The Daily Show was nowhere near the powerhouse that it is today — it didn’t gain genuine credibility until the 2004 election.  Back then, it was just a cult cable show with a handsome host.

Meredith followed her heart and scored tickets to a show in April, and the two of us, along with our friends Carolyn, EJ and Erin, made the train journey to New York City.  By then, I had become quite enamored of Jon Stewart as well.

Before the show, we were permitted to ask Jon questions.  I waved my hand wildly.
Jon spotted me.  “Yes, you up there.”
“Well, Jon,” I gushed in a singsong voice.  “My question for you is–”
“No way.  You’re too perky.”
Everyone started laughing.  I was shocked as Jon went on to talk to another member of the audience.  My moment had been shattered.
Then Jon turned back.  “Okay, perky girl, where are you?”
“YES!” I screamed.  “Well, Jon, my question for you is: how on Earth did you get so sexy?”
The audience laughed.  My friends sunk into their seats, bright red, their heads in their hands.
“I’m on TV,” Jon said matter-of-factly.  “You put anything on TV, it immediately ups the sexy quotient.  You put a piece of toast on TV and it’s like, ‘Man, I want to f— that toast.’”
The audience laughed, I was delighted, and I thought that would be the end of it.
Not so fast.
“Welcome to the Daily Show!  I’m Jon Stewart,” Jon sang out to the cameras as the show began.  “I am sexy!”  He did a little dance in his seat.  “And I was just told that by an elderly woman sitting up there.”  My jaw dropped open as the audience exploded into laughter.  “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s the cataracts or the glaucoma.”
I was dying.
The show went on, it was great, and 30 minutes later, it was over.  Or was it?
Figuring I had nothing else to lose, I called out to Jon as he walked backstage, “I still love you, Jon!”
“Yeah, babe!” he yelled over his shoulder.
Jon Stewart called me babe.  That was definitely something I could live with!