Jordan Klepper has made a career out of standing in the eye of America’s absurd storm, microphone in hand, eyebrow arched just enough to signal he sees the cracks in the foundation. He’s talked to true believers and double-down delusionists, presidents and preachers, clowns and the people who elected them. From skewering headlines on The Daily Show to delivering them live on stage in his one-man show Suffering Fools, Jordan’s trajectory has been less about climbing ladders and more about blowing holes in the wall to get a better view. He moves through the chaos with a rare kind of clarity, asking sharp questions and pulling truths from the noise, even when the answers come wrapped in tinfoil hats.
He opens up about everything from empathy erosion to the stubborn brilliance of Ulysses to what it means to keep showing up when the country starts to feel like a fever dream. Somewhere between a rally and a revival, Jordan reminds us that satire isn’t just comedy. It’s resistance, with better timing. And this is a look inside a mind still sharp enough to cut through the static, and curious enough to keep going when everything else starts to fray.
COMEDY 2026
You’ve talked to everyone from presidents to people clutching homemade conspiracy signs. What has all that proximity to belief, delusion, and conviction actually taught you about what Americans are afraid of?
Americans are afraid of uncertainty, that moment of not knowing. Overconfidence is as American as apple pie and gun violence, so it’s not surprising we hate those instances where we’re unsure, but it’s the insistence on filling those sacred seconds with bluster and bullshit that gets us in trouble.
When you go into a wild field shoot — the rallies, the chaos — what do you pay attention to first?
Find the loudest outfit, the dude who wore a cape and face paint, he’s got opinions- and let’s see if he wants to give us the lay of the land.
There’s a kind of empathy in what you do, even when people think you’re just skewering absurdity. Do you feel that empathy expanding or eroding over the years?
Having a kid makes you open your heart wider and wider. But the country is divided, and the news is dark. The thing that fights hardest against the empathy is the cruelty. Images of brazen acts of cruelty don’t need a discussion of empathy, they need vigilance.
What conversations do you wish could happen on television that still feel off-limits?
All the best of people happens off camera. When the folks I interview are not “on”, they are funny, nervous and less didactic. I wish we could all be boring on TV. Oh, if the great algorithm in the sky rewarded the boring! That’s the taboo. How lovely to see just how normal, unsure, and boring we all are. Anyone want to green light that show?
Your work often asks: How do we keep democracy alive when so many people swear it’s already dead? What’s your most honest answer today?
Don’t disengage, you fuckers! I know every day is an avalanche of information, but apathy ain’t an option, it’s an invitation for the real fuckers to get away with murder.
Behind the satire, you’re someone who thinks deeply about responsibility. Do you ever feel a moral tension between making people laugh and helping people understand the world?
Humor is a helluva tool to contextualize the world, to cut to the quick, or point out the BS. If we can’t boil down the inanity of existence to a clever genitalia reference, we’re not working hard enough.
Can you remember a moment in an interview when someone surprised you in a way that actually changed your mind or shifted your perspective?
I confronted a woman with a pretty obvious hypocrisy and she took a long beat and told me “I don’t care.” It was a refreshingly honest response. She believes what she believes because she wants to believe it. It was clarifying.
How do you find levity when the subject matter is heavy?
You don’t have to comment on everything. Or, if something is too raw or comedy doesn’t feel like an appropriate response, we look at HOW something is being handled. The presentation of information, the way news is distributed, that always is ripe for satire.
You’ve stood on the front lines of some of the most volatile political events of the last decade. How has being inside those moments reshaped your understanding of risk? Of your own fear? Of your own limits?
My bravery is buffeted by bodyguards off-camera. God bless. If I could do pull-ups I’d be able to travel lighter.
If you had one question to ask anyone, living or gone, who would you ask and what would you want to know?
I’d ask the genie for three more questions, duh.
Backstage before showtime on his Suffering Fools tour, Jordan chats with opener Langhorne Slim.
What has fatherhood shown you that you didn’t see coming?
Enjoy the rain. My little one’s eyes brighten every time there’s a downpour and he insists on running out into the wetness and frolicking. For a while I did this grumpily, soaked and full of eye rolls until it became clear I was the lame one. When given the choice to recede or frolic in the storm, fucking frolic.
There’s the public Jordan, and then there’s the private one your friends know. What’s something about that private version that would surprise even longtime viewers?
My desk is cluttered with acorns.
What’s been inspiring you outside of work lately, whether it’s music, books, film or something new you’re discovering?
I recently joined a Ulysses book club. I’ve always wanted to read it, gotten befuddled in the past and am now being walked through it like I was a toddler approaching stairs for the first time. I love it. The book is difficult, dirty, obtuse and at times impossible. It’s hard to wrap my head around Joyce’s confidence and how little regard he had for holding his audience’s hand. Allusions, stream of consciousness, Dublin minutiae, Shakespearean deep cuts, dick jokes, philosophy, invented language. The book is just so much. When I grasp any part of it I feel like I aced the days crossword. An antidote for the digestible snippets of culture I get fed everyday.
What part of the next election cycle are you most curious to explore?
Consequences. Do actions still have those or are they a thing of the past? It’s been a pretty consequential year, so I can’t wait to see if those actions actually pierce the skin of political tribalism.
You’ve been out on the road with your one-man show Suffering Fools in between hosting duties at The Daily Show. What has the audience response been like, and what has performing it been like for you?
Oh man, the live performance has been a true joy. People have been hungry to get together and laugh, and cheer, and seeing these houses full of engaged folks has been humbling. When I run into people on the street they always ask about stories from the road, so this show has been a chance to pull back the curtain and talk about what happens off camera. Also, Langhorne Slim has been traveling with me for a bunch of these shows and it’s it made the atmosphere celebratory, part revival. As an atheist, I don’t go to church, but I think we’ve got something approximating that communal love- just replace the collection plate with the merch table.
For Jordan’s upcoming projects and tour dates, head over to officialjordanklepper.com