Pete Holmes turns to his old boss, Jon Stewart, in show debut

By Patrick Kevin Day

Oct. 29, 2013 11:34 AM PT

Once upon a time, stand-up comedian Pete Holmes had a job as the warm-up guy for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Now, he’s the host of his own basic-cable comedy show, “The Pete Holmes Show,” which debuted Monday night on TBS after “Conan.”

So it makes sense that for his inaugural program, he went back to his old boss, Stewart himself, for a little advice in hosting a show.

Holmes sat down with Stewart on the “Daily Show” set in New York for a conversation about the finer points of taking on a show with one’s name in the title.

First, Stewart pointed out the importance of optical illusion to make it appear that the host is in command of the set at all times. Stewart is quite diminutive compared with the towering Holmes, but seated both men appeared to be the same size. Stand up? There’s a big difference.

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“Here’s your first lesson right now,” Stewart said. “Rig the whole show to your advantage.”

“So on my show, I can not look like an ogre,” Holmes said.

“Let’s not get crazy,” Stewart cautioned. “There’s not going to be CGI.”

Stewart continued with the homespun advice: “You’re gonna need to bring the cynicism.”

Holmes, clearly in awe of Stewart’s mastery of the airwaves, admitted he’d prepped quite a bit for the interview. He asked if, possibly, Stewart had done the same.

“Yeah, a lot of Purell,” Stewart deadpanned.

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Stewart did reveal some “Daily Show” secrets, however. What does he keep in the desk on the set? A pen. “A Round Stic, as they call them,” he said.

But it wasn’t all surface-y blah, blah, blah. Holmes asked Stewart: With the “Daily Show, his directorial debut, “Rosewater” and his role as a dad, how does he strike a balance?

“Pete, you really don’t,” Stewart said. “That’s the secret here. You’re on your way to being a shell of a man. All I can say is, welcome to the team.”

And with that, young Mr. Holmes embarks on his own late-night odyssey.

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