Roy Wood Jr. may be a former contributor to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and the current host of CNN comedy panel show “Have I Got News For You,” but when he comes to Pittsburgh on Saturday, he’s looking forward to just having fun.
“I’ve done a DVE Comedy Festival before,” Wood said in an interview. “My biggest claim to fame is the Pittsburgh Improv; I was there a week before the country shut down” in 2020.
Wood will headline the annual Comedy Festival from Pittsburgh classic rock radio station WDVE on Saturday, along with a stellar slate of local and touring comedians.
With more than a quarter-century’s experience as a stand-up comedian, Wood has explored a wide range of topics. Right now, he’s interested in the humor found in a life full of changing technology.
“My mom is dealing with a smartphone now. All of my mom’s appliances keep texting her. For me, I think that’s a bigger crisis than the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
He is also looking forward to hanging out and sharing a bill with the other comedians performing for the June 27 comedy festival, which is being held at the Byham Theater.
“I’ve been a pretty regular mainstay in Pittsburgh. Comedian Steve Byrne has brought me back a couple of times to do stuff. … I get to see Lynne Koplitz, who I know from around New York City and we’re always pretty tight.”
Wood is also a lifelong baseball fan who has hosted the MLB Awards for the last three years. He said he may try to catch the first four innings of the 4 p.m. Saturday Pirates game before the 8 p.m. show.
“The plan is to catch a few innings, even if Skenes isn’t pitching,” he said. “My debate in Pittsburgh is always rest versus recreation, there’s just so much fun (stuff) to do there.”
While right now he’s happy to talk about everything going on in the world that isn’t politics, Wood came to prominence as a correspondent on “The Daily Show.”
“It was a good time. I didn’t get the pleasure of getting to work under Jon Stewart, so I can’t speak to whatever the workflow is over there now. But to just be able to be a part of building some degree of awareness of what’s happening in the world and try and inform people, I think you take that a little seriously,” he said.
On “Have I Got News For You,” the comedy panel news show that Wood hosts on CNN, “that show has been fun for a whole different reason, because we get to have fun with the news,” he said.
With panelists and “team captains” Michael Ian Black and Amber Ruffin — who he affectionately referred to as “agents of chaos” — he runs through news stories quickly on the show, injecting humor and bringing new audiences to CNN for the lighter side of the news.
“It’s just a testament to there being an appetite for some degree of lightness fun with everything that’s going on right now,” he said.
He hopes to bring that same lightness to the Byham Theater stage on Saturday, along with other comedians Ian Bagg, Dana Gould, Lynne Koplitz and Joe Bartnick.
“I just want Pittsburgh people to come out and laugh — just come and have a good time,” he said.
The DVE Comedy Festival will be held on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Byham Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh. For tickets, visit trustarts.org.