Madeleine Smithberg helped define two eras of late-night television: first by finding the offbeat guests who became a hallmark of Late Night with David Letterman, and later as the co-creator and founding executive producer of The Daily Show.
Now she’s telling her own story.
Finding the Funny: My Mad Ride Thru Late-Night Comedy will be published by Regalo Press on March 2, 2027. Written with Betsy Block, the book runs 272 pages.
Smithberg first disclosed that she was working on her memoir in 2024, when it carried the tentative title Almost Funny: My Life in Late-Night Comedy. Its final title is a fitting one for a producer whose career was largely devoted to recognizing comedic possibilities that others might have missed.
At Letterman, Smithberg began as a talent coordinator and later became a producer, tracking down guests like KAMARR the Discount Magician, Harvey Pekar, and Rena Smaha and her monkey friends—all of whom helped give the show its distinctive sensibility.
This was before social media—or even widespread internet access—so Smithberg searched newspapers from around the country, called local television stations and sifted through stacks of VHS tapes in search of people who could become memorable television.
At The Daily Show she was instrumental in establishing a format that would reshape both Comedy Central and late-night television. During her seven years running the show, Smithberg hired Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Mo Rocca, and brought Jon Stewart into its orbit.
She also created “The Moment of Zen,” though she credits that discovery to her cat.
Her work on The Daily Show earned her three Peabody Awards and an Emmy.
Finding the Funny is described as part memoir, part comedy history and part master class in creative risk-taking. The book promises behind-the-scenes accounts of the triumphs, disasters and unexpected lessons that came with producing daily late-night television, along with Smithberg’s perspective on building a career in a field largely dominated by men.
A newly launched website for Finding the Funny features advance praise from Letterman, Paul Shaffer, Carell, and Rocca. The book is available for preorder now.
