Stewart Puts Canada On The Agenda

Stewart couldn't lose returning to his stand-up roots, drawing constant guffaws from an audience that clearly loved him. The Daily Show host proved he hadn't lost his chops as a comic, albeit one with weighty issues on his mind. Lamenting that the modern human lacks even an elementary understanding of the modern world they've created, Stewart tore into a gag about video gaming on his home PC. "As far as I'm concerned, there's eight really smart gerbils in that box." On science's pre-occupation with curing erectile dysfunction, he was blunt. "We're hard, move on to cancer." On U.S. President George W. Bush and the perceived rush to war in Iraq, he was merciless. "He's not stupid.. he's not a retarded man...he just doesn't give a shit about you, or anything," Stewart said to howls of approval. "Germany didn't want to go to war (in Iraq). I don't know how to say it any more simply than that." While the United States remains mired in the fragile politics of Iraq and the Middle East, Stewart served notice to his neighbours to the north. "You may be next, I don't know. You'll all be at some hockey game somewhere and you come out and our flag will be flying." The event that would precipitate a hostile takeover by American forces? Tim Horton is mistaken for a terrorist. Stewart clearly relished the freedom of language a stand-up enjoys as opposed to a TV host, with expletives punctuating most jokes. "You're thinking, 'You're not the nice man from the TV. You're a dirty little man,' " said Stewart, whose U.S. cable show on Comedy Central is seen in Canada most week nights on CTV and The Comedy Network. Notably absent, though, were any vitriolic attacks on the media — a practice Stewart frequently engages. Last year, when invited on CNN's Crossfire as comic relief, Stewart launched into host Tucker Carlson for his "partisan hackery." Last week at an industry panel discussion, Stewart tore a strip from some of America's most powerful magazine editors, including those from Time and Vanity Fair, for failing to live up to journalist standards. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051007.wstewart1007/BNStory/Entertainment/

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