As has been mentioned approximately 400,000 times on here, I’ve wanted to work for The Daily Show for a long time. And it is crazy and super exciting that I’m here.
But I’m here in a really good place… I have a really good job, doing something I love and am good at, and it just worked out really well.
I got to be the headlines editor at The Nightly Show. And headlines is really kind of a very specific thing. I’m positive that any editor would be capable of doing it, for sure. But there is kind of this second nature you thing you get after doing it for a while about making sure the b-roll doesn’t change in the pad you give the control room, and all these little things.
And I think it really helps to have done this specific kind of editing before. It helps to fit a liiittle more seamlessly into the well-oiled machine they have going here. And I was really lucky because while other types of editors for sure have stronger skills in various things, they may not have caught on as quickly to this specific thing in this specific chair. So, I just feel like I was in the perfect position for this position (and I’m so happy I was!).
And the days are not wildly stressful or anything, but they are pretty fast moving. And while I like to think I caught on pretty quickly at Nightly Show and did well overall, there was a learning curve.
But here, things are going smoother for me… And of course they are. I’m stepping into a job I already did for a while. But it’s just weird how timing works…
How perfect was it that that spot happened to open up at The Nighty Show, and that I had such a glorious boss who believed in me and was so wonderful? And then that that same spot would open up at TDS, and that it would line up so perfectly with the end of my job on a show at TruTV. Like… what? I was basically perfectly set up for this job and it perfectly opened up for me at a very opportune time.
It’s really nice.
On a related note (sort of I guess the second part of this post):
One of the (many) things that has been exceptionally hard for me during all of this is dealing with the idea of “my life has been set back.” I think about that kind of a lot.
“If only I would’ve continued with BMI, I would’ve graduated by now!” etc. etc.
But alas. That didn’t happen.
And I get worried that my “life’s trajectory,” or whatever, is “messed up.”
But I really felt that a lot after all my time in the hospital during college. “This isn’t the plaaaaaan!”
But now look what happened. All this time later, I still made it to working on The Daily Show.
And sure, you could argue that my dream was actually to work for Jon Stewart (not just on any “The Daily Show,” and that would be correct). But I worked for him too! He was an executive producer on The Nightly Show.
Like, I got all this stuff I dreamed about still – New York, late night political TV, the BMI workshop, etc. etc. All these things I’d dreamed of and wanted so deeply, I got. Even when my life was flipped more than upside down – like 540 degrees… I still got so much I reeeeeeally wanted.
Setbacks don’t have to be the end.
So, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still feeling “behind.” I’m still feeling frustrated. I’m still worried and nervous because I know timing is a lot. But, I also have seen the “happy ending” anyway. And maybe I can have it again…
If I could have aaaaaanything in this whole life I’d be a media mogul (with a definite inclusion of popstar as one of my specific jobs)! So, 6 or so years from getting sick, I had one “happy ending” with a lot I wanted coming true… 6 years from now, let’s see if you’re buying tickets my shows. 😉