www.thewrap.com: “The Daily Show” is laying down the law for Jon Stewart, specifically when it comes to drinkware. After the late night host cut his hand on a ceramic mug on air in late February, the Comedy Central show actually scheduled a meeting about what Stewart is and is not allowed to drink out of while filming.
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I think the whole situation with Jon Stewart and the mug is pretty funny. It’s wild that the show had to have a meeting about what he can drink out of now. The fact that a simple mug caused so much trouble is ridiculous, but it’s also kind of funny how seriously they treated it. It’s like they’re treating him like a child who needs things to be baby-proofed, which just makes it all funnier. When Stewart showed his tiny wound and joked about how it almost took him down, it felt so typical of him. He knows how to take something like that and make it funny without going over the top. His new plastic mug with the sippy cup lid is a perfect response to all of it. The "World's Most Dad" phrase on it is just the right amount of silly. It’s a good example of how Stewart can turn something small into a joke.
Just the whole situation of a room full of adults having a serious meeting about how another adult cannot be trusted with ceramic mugs for his own safety in a real place of business is so wonderfully hilarious to me. That's one of those meetings that no one ever thinks they are going to find themselves in, but it does raise an important point about prop safety, and thinking about worst case scenarios especially when it comes to things breaking. This whole situation really brings light to the no glass on stage rule, because while the idea of actor proofing things because actors are delicate is funny in concept, it's important. Shit happens that can't always be expected, and the very last thing you want is for the talent to start bleeding out because of a mug you supplied. So I love that Jon Stewart turned this into a bit because it really gives a glimpse into the mundane yet ridiculous situations that are a part of the entertainment industry.
I’ve been watching the daily show since 2020, and I watched both the episode in which Jon Stewart injured his hand, and the one after that where he mentioned the safety meeting. My immediate thought was that the mug breaking was scripted, because Jon just continued his monologue like everything was normal. It wasn’t until a minute or so later when he briefly showed the audience his hand that I realized he was actually bleeding. I admired his ability to finish the monologue and stay professional, but I also can see how waiting to seek medical assistance could have been dangerous.
Safety on set has always been something I have thought about, especially when stunt work is involved. I was a massive potterhead as a child, so the accident on the set of deathly hallows that caused David Holmes, the stunt actor for Daniel Radcliffe to become partially paralyzed, has stuck with me. This incident on the daily show has only brought David Holmes’ story back to the front of my mind.
It’s so funny to me that the concerns around safety on set that seem so childish and irrelevant are almost always very applicable in real life, and do on occasion impact professionals. Stewart breaking his mug live on camera is certainly unexpected, but not completely unreasonable when you are working with ceramic instead of plastic. But if I was in the props department, I would have never anticipated the event, and I really hope that nobody was fired or talked too harshly for giving Stewart a traditional mug instead of a plastic, non breakable one. At least nobody was injured too badly, and Stewart was able to turn the injury into a comedic bit quickly. I’m glad that his hand recovered from this traumatic event.
I remember watching these episodes! Both the one with the broken mug, and the one with the sippy cup, and at the time I thought nothing of it. I was only half paying attention when Jon Stewart broke the mug, and I had honestly thought that it was a planned gag (I am very used to John Oliver and his shenanigans) so when I watched the sippy cup episode I had no idea what they were talking about. Reading this now, it makes so much sense that the network would do this. I feel like the entertainment industry as a whole has been moving away from using glass props, and even though it is objectively funny when they break, the safety hazard is not one to be messed around with. Especially as a WWE fan who has watched the footage of Shane McMahon being put through the plexiglass, I HATE the idea of glass set pieces and props being used without considering safety precautions. As frustrating as it can be for TV presenters, I feel like this also gives Jon Stewart an incredible opportunity, which he has already begun to utilize, to use the variety of his new drinking implements as a comedic bit, and continue to display his anger without fear for his safety or for the crew who has to clean up the set.
I think the premise of this is honestly quite hilarious. I’m just imagining a group of technicians all sitting around a table discussing how Jon Stewart isn’t allowed to have a ceramic mug anymore because he accidentally cut himself and they’re too concerned about it happening again. Its such a silly idea to think of an actual professional conversation being had about that. I understand it from the perspective of the technicians though. It was probably really annoying to have to deal with Jon Stewart being injured during the middle of the show, and dealing with the clean up of his blood, the clean up of the ceramic mug, and the clean up of the contents of his mug. The joke about his mug being baby proof is a bit funny though as it does make sense to have something that won't potentially break for him to use onstage. I’m sure the kind of mug they gave him was similar to something found in live productions to prevent the potential of ceramic breaking during a show.
This is such an interesting part of the entertainment industry because the rules and regulations require us to be so precise and meticulous about any and all injuries. This in the long run is probably one of the most helpful and careful parts of theater but in the short term may seem like it's just wasting time. Having a grown man be unable to use normal everyday dishware makes it seem as though he is a toddler. It also makes it seem like humans don't have the ability to heal. Yes actors have large swaths of time that their bodies have to be in top shape in order to put on the best performance but that is never attainable long term. Movies can combat actors hurting themselves with things such as stunt doubles but in John Stewart's case there's little to nothing that can be done. And I don't think the Daily Show is willing to hire someone onto the staff just to assist with drinking water is a bit extreme.
It is actually funny to think about how the team for the daily show had a meeting to discuss what a grown man can now drink on air. I do think it’s a little silly considering how it wasn’t that severe and banning ceramics entirely for the rest of his career there is a bit of an over reaction in my eyes, though I think Jon took it pretty well as I know I personally would have been pretty annoyed.However I do understand the need to ensure safety on set as there has been many examples in film and television of dismissals of safety being the thing that kills or injures people the most. Safety should come before anything else and I’m glad people are recognizing that however I think this reaction is coming more from the fact this happened while he was live vs the fact that this happened at all
This article was both deeply entertaining and also brings up a pretty good point about the difficulties of creating an environment or set that is both aesthically pleasing and aligns with the design of the set, but also is safe in the unpredictable environment of live television or theatre. Glassware on stage definitely comes to mind as an example of this. While a lot of super cool items are made with glass, obviously those can be dangerous when broken, and broken glass can stall an entire show. While ceramic is not thought of as much as a massive red flag in a live entertainment environment as glass is, it can definitely cause some serious issues when something happens. As silly as a safety meeting about what types of vessels someone can drink out of sounds, it makes a lot of sense that there would need to be a serious conversation weighing the pros and cons of using a specific material.
While this piece makes fun of the incident and so does Jon Stewart, there should be a lot of thought into how a performer uses the stage for either a talk show or performance and how they can do that safely. While this may seem to be too much for actor safety and making him drink out of what some might call a sippy cup, a lot of productions do not want the liability of having glassware on stage because it can break and disrupt a performance or even worse injure a performer or audience member. This level of care about the performers and audience should be taken into consideration because of the level at which performers will set aside their safety for the sake of the production and that should never be asked of them. It happens a lot that a performer is sick or gets cut or breaks a bone on stage and they play it off like it hasn't happened while they go through their performance and that shouldn't be the norm.
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