“I feel very bad about how this call is lit,” says Josh Johnson on Zoom. “I did my best, but I am in a hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida and there were only so many lights to work with. There is some shadow being cast that is not wholly flattering — so you have caught me.”

It’s a few days before Johnson, 35, takes his third spin as one of the revolving hosts of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Nov. 11-14 — the program’s pater familias Jon Stewart hosts on Mondays — but the weeks before and after are bookended by his extensive Flowers stand-up tour. Hence, his location.

Johnson’s reference to the shadows in his hotel room has to do with his college major: theatrical lighting design at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. (He grew up in Alexandria.) Although he had done stand-up a

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