Check out our exclusive interview with Jordan Klepper on his new Comedy Central Series, “Klepper”
Jordan Klepper, known for being one of the correspondents on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”, Klepper is starting a new Comedy Central series called “Klepper”. In it, Jordan steps away from the desk and into the field, diving deep into the heart of the interesting stories and issues going on in the country. In the show, Jordan travels around the country, putting himself right in the action, meeting interesting people and gaining a deeper understanding of them and the struggles and issues they are fighting against, all while throwing in some comedy. We got a chance to speak to Jordan and get his thoughts creating the show.
The Knockturnal: I think that you are just one of the comedic geniuses that are out today, but you are tackling something brand new– a narrative that no one is talking about.
Jordan Klepper: Yeah well, I appreciate that. I’ve often called myself a comedic genius, so it’s nice to hear it put back upon me. Uh, no the show is, it’s a show I’m super proud of. I think we had the opportunity to do something I haven’t had a chance to do beforehand which is like, leave the desk behind and go out into America; find some really interesting stories that aren’t being told and try to find a way to fight comedy into it. So we found people who are taking action, doing positive things. We got right up there on the front lines and… it can get a little dicey on the front lines. You can find yourself getting body-slammed through a table, sinking into a bayou, or getting arrested. To me, that was the kind of story I wanted to tell.
The Knockturnal: What’s been the most challenging part, I mean, we know you don’t like to be outside –
Jordan Klepper: I don’t enjoy being outside. [laughs] The sun is bad for me. the wind is bad for me – did I say the sun? Also bad for me.
The Knockturnal: Gotcha. Now tell me a little bit about the process, you know, behind the scenes in terms of creating the show, how the idea came up. You know, again, you said that you wanted to just take a whole different direction.
Jordan Klepper: I did a special on gun control where I went out and I talked to a bunch of people on both sides of the aisle of the gun issue, and it was really eye-opening to be able to give a little bit of air and space to that debate, and so given this opportunity to go out and talk to people, we wanted to get into the gray areas. You don’t usually get to do that with comedy. Oftentimes, it’s all about scorched earth or being hyperbolic in some sense. For this, it was like, let’s find complicated stories. Let’s talk about PTSD. Let’s talk about environmentalism and the pipeline protest, and I know a lot of people in these areas have a lot of different conflicting views on it. I want to get in the mix there, and I want to be able to tell something that you wouldn’t usually get to tell.
The Knockturnal: Speaking of “gray area,” what do you think about everything that’s going on in Alabama right now with abortion?
Jordan Klepper: Yeah, I don’t have a gray area on that. I think right now what we see is a rollback in a way that’s really depressing. As somebody who uh, sees themselves as progressive, I think women have the right to their own bodies and they should be able to make those choices. And I think you’re seeing a really shameful thing happening in the South – women are beginning to lose that right in shady manners. And so I think wherever people have the ability or pulpit, or way in which to amplify the voices of women who are having rights taken away, they should use it.
The Knockturnal: Is that something that we can expect later on that you may tackle?
Jordan Klepper: I think that’s definitely an issue I’m curious in. I think in our next season if we get to cover some more issues, I would love to go into the South and hear why that is such an intense topic right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJpnDvaG61g
