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Jon Stewart’s first stand-up special in 20 years will air on HBO

Jon Stewart’s first stand-up special in 20 years will air on HBO

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Stewart last took the stage in 1996

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The New York Comedy Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation Present the 10th Annual Stand Up for Heroes Event
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Bob Woodruff Foundation

Jon Stewart will be performing his first recorded stand-up comedy special in more than 20 years for HBO, the cable network announced this evening. The special doesn’t have a name, date, or location yet, but it will be Stewart’s first time performing traditional stand-up since his HBO special, “Jon Stewart: Unleavened,” all the way back in 1996. Stewart took his most notable job as host of The Daily Show in 1999, performing there for 16 years and shepherding it through its meteoric growth and success as the premier nightly political commentary and comedy program in the US.

“I’m really thrilled to be able to return to stand-up on HBO,” Stewart said in a statement. ”They’ve always set the standard for great stand-up specials. Plus, I can finally use up the last of the Saddam Hussein jokes left over from my first special.” Stewart will also host HBO’s “Night of Too Many Stars,” a benefit show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on November 18th for the non-profit organization NEXT for Autism.

For those who want a taste of Stewart’s two-decade-old stand-up skills — which were as you might expect, very politically charged — you can watch a 45-minute edited cut of “Unleavened” here on YouTube: