The Daily Show pokes drought-stricken California by wasting huge amounts of water

The Daily Show pokes California by wasting a ton of water

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

published 11 June 2015

California is in a terrible, four-year-old drought, and that's not very funny. But on Wednesday's Daily Show, Jon Stewart found some comedy in the reactions to "toilet-to-tap" wastewater recycling, Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) poetic musings on water, and "water snitching." But then "Senior California Correspondent" Al Madrigal came on and started thumbing his nose at his home state from The Daily Show's "unregulated East Coast watertopia."

When Stewart objected that Madrigal was not only wasting water but ruining his set, Madrigal accused him of ruining his "drought rumspringa" and went out to waste water all across New York City. It's hard to tell if it's more an act of catharsis or aquatic vandalism, but at least Madrigal got it out of his system to a nice Latin beat. You can watch below. Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.