With his patented exasperation, Jon Stewart devoted the start of last night's Daily Show to critiquing the NYC media for their breathless coverage of the blizzard. "Tonight we are moist but unbowed, surviving the only story that mattered," he began. Then came the litany of offenders: Mayor de Blasio and his draconian views of food delivery bicycles; Michael Bay-inspired cable news graphics; media organizations that "desperately cling to the original narrative like dingleberries on a sheep's ass;" gravity-confused anchors; and Google Street View: The Show.
Stewart saved particular vitriol for Don Lemon and CNN's Blizzardmobile, which was roaming the streets of Manhattan after the 11 p.m. curfew for non-essential vehicles. "Blizzardmobile? Settle down Batman, it's a Ford Explorer," Stewart noted. "And by the way, with the way you've been reporting lately, you're lucky you're not in an actual Blizzard mobile."
But it wasn't all bile: Stewart gave plenty of praise to the "charismatic sign language interpreters vying for the title of best silent mayoral hype man." And this year's clear winner was Jonathan Lamberton, de Blasio's sign language interpreter whom Stewart said "nailed it" by infusing his gestures with old school NYC DGAF attitude. The Times profiled the 38-year-old Lamberton, this year's Lydia Callas, and learned he actually is deaf, which is a "relative rarity in his profession."
"I have some mixed feelings about it," Lamberton told the Times while speaking in sign about his newfound fame. "I want to emphasize, I’m really not there to put on a show. I’m not part of the entertainment. I’m there to facilitate communication."
The Village Voice also talked to Lamberton about his job and getting recognized after his first big press conferences last fall during the Ebola mess: "Mostly either just, 'are you that interpreter guy' or 'good job.' This is NYC, so fame comes and goes quick, and also I've lived in my neighborhood long enough that people don't care, I'm probably just the deaf guy, ha."
