The Daily Show's latest recruit on life in the comedy trenches

Rob Riggle knows all about bombing: He was kicked off Saturday Night Live after just one season. But what sets him apart from almost everyone else in comedy is that he's actually experienced real-life bombing, too. As an active duty U.S. Marine officer, he was deployed to hot zones like Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, eventually rising to the level of major.

When he wasn't defending freedom, he was cutting his teeth with Respecto Montalban, one of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre's most popular improv teams. Then, after playing a tough-guy in some Conan O'Brien sketches, Riggle got his big break on SNL. But it wasn't a love match. Now, at 36, Riggle has ascended the comedy ranks once again to become The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's newest correspondent. Still a Marine reservist, Rob spoke to Radar from his TDS office, where he told us what it's like to be a jarhead in a business full of punks.

RADAR: So you were doing improv at the same time you were on active duty?
ROB RIGGLE: Correct. I was supposed to get out of the Marine Corps in 1997; I was going to be a waiter and study at Second City, take classes, because that was my dream. The Marines asked me to stay in, and I said no, because I was going to be a comedian, which they didn't understand at all. They asked, "What would it take for you to stay in?" I said, "Well, I know New York has a public affairs office, and I know Los Angeles has a public affairs office. And if you can get me orders to those places, you can extend my contract, and I will stay in." The next morning they had orders for me to go to New York City.

Out of sheer boredom, I would say obnoxious things to get a rise out of people in meetings, but then everyone would just look at me like I was a jackass, and I'd be like, Oh, yeah, I'm in the Marines nowOperation Enduring Freedom happened after you moved to New York. What was your role during that engagement?
I was a public affairs officer. I would go out on patrols, I would go do things, but I was usually escorting the media folks. I had been to Defense Information School, so I understood journalism and journalists.

You were in intense life and death situations in Afghanistan and then you were back in New York doing improv. Was that hard to resolve in your mind?
No, not at all. In fact, it was the best thing in the world, because a big part of my life is comedy and improv, and I need it to live, so to speak. I was doing it from 1997 right until 2001 every night of the week, in one form or another. Whether it was a rehearsal, teaching a class, taking a class, or performing, it's fair to say five to six nights a week I was doing something comedy related. And you can ask my wife, because we never left the city on the weekends. I had shows, which didn't make her all that happy.

I left active duty in 2000, and then in 2001 I got called back for 365 days and all of a sudden I was yanked out of New York, and I was overseas. I wasn't doing improv, and I wasn't doing any comedy. And that sucked.

Was there anything you could do over there to alleviate that?
[Laughs] No. You need people to improvise with. I mean, just out of sheer boredom, I would say obnoxious things to get a rise out of people in meetings, but then everyone would just look at me like I was a jackass, and I'd be like, Oh, yeah, I'm in the Marines now.