Samantha Bee on ‘Full Frontal,’ Trump Steaks and President Hillary
Samantha Bee only has four episodes of her weekly late-night program — Full Frontal With Samantha Bee — under her belt, but the Canadian comedienne has already carved out a spot as the “fierce, fiery” feminist voice of late night. Those who followed her work on The Daily Show, where she spent 12 years as a correspondent, will be unsurprised to see her tackling issues like sexist dress codes and anti-abortion Republicans. And those unfamiliar with the host’s ideology will get the gist from the theme song, Peaches’ “Boys Wanna Be Her” — the lyric “You’ve got them all by the balls” pretty much sums up the show’s sensibility in a nutshell.
Bee, whose new show airs Mondays at 10:30 on TBS, has also been heralded as “the host furious liberals need right now” and “the true successor to Jon Stewart,” and it’s easy to see why. Full Frontal premiered during one of the most important, and bizarre, presidential elections in modern political history, and she’s deftly deployed what she calls her “comedy laser” on the proceedings — for instance wiping barf from the camera lens after Donald Trump bragged about his penis at a recent GOP debate, and holding a funeral for the Republican Party. The show also makes good use of the field-segment muscles that she developed at The Daily Show, sending Bee and others on the road to interview Syrian refugees on America’s incredibly tough screening process, and to report a Werner Herzog-style documentary on Jeb Bush’s pathetic campaign.
Rolling Stone recently chatted with Bee about covering this election — as a new American citizen, no less — her thoughts on Trump and Hillary Clinton, and how she’s busting up the late-night boys’ club.
Let’s start with this wild election, especially the literal dick-measuring contest on the Republican side. Do you see it more as a wonderful gift for comedy, or a terrible nightmare for America?
It’s both of those things. It is a gift to a show that is launching in the realm of political comedy. But it is awful for the country. We’re going to survive it. It is survivable. I’m not sure how yet, but I think we’ll overcome. But it certainly feels very urgent right now.
By the way, you’ve put in your order for Trump Steaks, right? Because those are going to sell out. You’re gonna want to put in a biiiig order for a side of cattle from Trump Steaks.
So what’s your bet for November?
I wish I knew! I certainly hope it goes one way over the other. But I’m not so sure it will. You can never be 100 percent confident about the future, of course, but I am a little worried.
Who do you hope wins?
I don’t think I should say. I mean, I think it’s a little obvious? But I don’t think I should say.
You know, this is my first time voting, because I just got my U.S. citizenship. And I’m giddy about being able to cast a vote, finally. I’m overly excited about it. For everybody else, it’s so run-of-the-mill, but I’m going to wear my little sticker and be very proud – for whatever difference it makes in New York. Of course, I’ve gone to register in all the states. You’re supposed to do that, right?
Breitbart.com is going to love that.
[laughs] Yes.