Desi Lydic

She also starred in the Spike miniseries Invasion Iowa alongside William Shatner, and the parody series The Real Wedding Crashers. She appeared as Shea Seger in the 2011 film We Bought a Zoo alongside Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, and in the 2013 film The Babymakers with Olivia Munn. Lydic appeared as one half of a lesbian couple on an episode of the Disney Channel series Good Luck Charlie in 2014. She joined Trevor Noah's lineup of correspondents for The Daily Show on September 29, 2015. Lydic was among a number of guest hosts of The Daily Show after the departure of Trevor Noah.

• Name — Desi Lydic • Birth Name — Lani Desmonet Lydic • Born — 30 June 1981 • Birthplace — Louisville, Kentucky, US • Occupation — * Comedian • actress • Years Active — 2001–present • Spouse — Gannon Brousseau • Children — 1

Desi Lydic was born in 1981 in Louisville, Kentucky. At the age of three, she became interested in comedic acting by watching Carol Burnett play Miss Agatha Hannigan in Annie. As a child, she enrolled in the Young Actors Institute at the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville and starred in a Kroger commercial. After she graduated from Eastern High School in the city, she attended the University of Louisville for two semesters before deciding to move to Los Angeles. When she told her parents about her plans, she was not sure what to expect. “I think they saw this creative side in me growing up,” she said. “I'm so fortunate because a lot of people don't have families that would've supported them in making such a huge decision like that. But not only did they give me their blessing, my mom and dad packed up a U-Haul and drove us out all the way across the country.” She told Kyle Meredith in a 2024 interview that it was during this time that she had an obsession with late '90s Saturday Night Live. She later moved to Los Angeles and became an improvisational actor, performing at The Groundlings and Improv Olympic (iO). At the time iO had a branch in Los Angeles. It opened in 1997 and closed in 2018.

• Illustration — Lydic at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards held at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California While on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Lydic said she viewed herself as being a comedic actor with "a journalistic responsibility" to the truth, in regard to the serious topics she approaches through a humorous lens, as a correspondent for the show. She created her first one-hour special which aired on May 13, 2019, on Comedy Central, and entitled The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents Desi Lydic: Abroad. The special explores how the United States is now further apart in gender equality than many other countries in the world. The special was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Best Comedy/Variety – Specials at the 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards. After the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lydic paid tribute to her work and life in a half-hour special entitled The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Remembering RBG – A Nation Ugly Cries with Desi Lydic aired on Comedy Central on October 30, 2020. Lydic was among a number of guest hosts of The Daily Show after the departure of Trevor Noah.

Lydic has a son, born in late December 2015, with her husband Gannon Brousseau. While filming her Comedy Central special Abroad, Lydic got a "small upside-down triangle tattoo representing female empowerment" as a commemoration of her time spent with Icelandic all-female rap collective Daughters of Reykjavík, marking her as the "23rd member" of the group.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2003 — What I Like About You — Becky — Episode: "No More Mr. Nice Guy" • 2004 — Complete Savages — Woman #1 — Episode: "Savage XXX-mas" • 2005 — CSI: NY — Elaine Curtis — Episode: "Recycling" • Invasion Iowa — Gryffyn Greene — 5 episodes • 2006 — Pepper Dennis — Melinda — Episode: "Poker Clubs and Boob Cams - Film at Eleven" • 2008 — Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan — Herself — Episode: "Spoiled Rotten" • 2010 — The League — Waitress — Episode: "The Marathon" • Two and a Half Men — Veronica — Episode: "Chocolate Diddlers or My Puppy's Dead" • 2011 — Traffic Light — Renee — Episode: "Where the Heart Is" • 2011–2016 — Awkward — Valerie Marks — Main role; guest (season 5) • 2012 — Raising Hope — Uma — Episode: "Sabrina's New Jimmy" • The Client List — Dee Ann — 7 episodes • How to Be a Gentleman — Chelsea — Episode: "How to Be Shallow" • 2013 — Dads — Joan — Episode: "Dad Abuse" • 2014 — Good Luck Charlie — Susan — Episode: "Down a Tree" • Friends with Better Lives — Jess — Episode: "Window Pain" • 2015 — The Odd Couple — Kim — Episode: "The Blind Leading the Blind Date" • 2015–present — The Daily Show — Correspondent, Host • 2019 — Desi Lydic: Abroad — Herself — TV special