'Daily Show' writer brings central Illinois values to comedy

  EUREKA, Ill. (AP) - Jon Stewart may have bid farewell to "The Daily Show" earlier this month, but a writer with roots in central Illinois is staying on as the late-night comedy show gains a new host and a fresh voice. Dan McCoy, who graduated from Eureka High School in 1996, won a writing job at the Comedy Central show in 2011 without a previous television credit. McCoy says he was performing improv and hosting a podcast when "The Daily Show" hired him, and it was "a huge magical change." McCoy credits the values he learned growing up in Eureka for providing him "a certain underlying decency" in his writing. Trevor Noah starts hosting "The Daily Show" in September. McCoy says the transition will be interesting and exciting.