'If we know how to behave': Tom Shillue, opening for Greg Gutfeld at PPL Center, on the political climate for comedians

EDITOR'S NOTE: This interview was conducted before the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Comedian Tom Shillue said he has noticed a difference in the atmosphere for conservatives in show business, especially comics, since President Trump's re-election.

“We call it ‘Trump 2,’ me and Greg," Shillue said, referring to conservative political commentator, comedian and FOX-TV talk-show host Greg Gutfeld.

"We talk about, you know, Trump 1, the 2016 election, and then Trump 2," Shillue said in a phone call from Westchester, New York, where he lives.

"After "the 2016 election people just didn’t know what to do. I was hosting [the Fox News late-night/early-morning satirical talk show] ‘Red Eye’ at the time, and we had trouble getting guests on the show who even wanted to talk about Trump.

"Because comedians were thinking, ‘I’m going to get blacklisted' because the people out there are saying, ‘We can’t normalize Trump.’

“But you hardly hear that phrase anymore, ‘Normalize Trump.’ Now, people can like him or they can hate him, but he’s normal because he’s back,” Shillue says with a laugh.

Shillue at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, will be the opening act for the Gutfeld Live 2025 show at Allentown's PPL Center. Tickets, at $49.60-$86.90, remain available at the PPL Center website.

And talk of President Trump likely will fill much of the presentation.

“And I think part of that is because they seem to be having fun," Shillue said. "I’m thinking of people on the ["Gutfeld"] show.

"The other night, for instance, I sat in for Greg, and we had [comedian] Jim Norton on the show. I don’t think Jim Norton is a conservative; he’s certainly not a Republican.

"But he is politically incorrect, so he finds home with conservatives who are willing to laugh about things, in a way that, I think, people on the left — and he might be politically left in many areas, I don’t even know, he just doesn’t seem to me to be a doctrinaire conservative.

“But he likes to hang with conservatives, not because of their politics, but because of their attitude on the world.”

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PPL Center

Connecting with Gutfeld — and a Valley connection

Gutfeld, who will headline Saturday's show at PPL Center, hosts the conservative/comedic FOX TV talk show "Gutfeld!" which has become the most-watched late night show on TV, with 2.5 million nightly viewers.

Gutfeld also is a cohost/panelist on the FOX political talk show "The Five."

Since the Sept. 10 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Gutfeld has been among the most consistently outspoken voices criticizing those who have not supported Kirk, who he says was a friend.

It's likely Kirk's death will be a major topic for Gutfeld's PPL Center show.

Shillue is a supporting cast member on "Gutfeld!" and sometimes fills in for him. He as been with the show since it premiered as "The Greg Gutfeld Show" in 2015.

Shillue also is a FOX News contributor.

He previously was a correspondent on the late-night talk and news satire series "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central and a contributor to the FOX satirical talk show "Red Eye" from 2015-17.

Shillue said he met Gutfeld through conservative activist Andrew Breitbart.

"This was sometime in the early 2000," Shillue said. "I was reading about Andrew Breitbart online and I sent him a Facebook message — this was the early days of Facebook.

“And he immediately messaged me back. Because I told him, I said ‘I’m a comedian and I’m right-wing. That’s all I said, basically. I said, 'If you’re in New York, I’d love to buy you a beer.’

“So he messaged me back and he said, ‘Oh, I’m coming to New York, and you have to meet Greg Gutfeld.’ So he introduced me to Greg."

When Gutfeld stepped away from host of "Red Eye," Shillue replaced him, and started to appear as a guest on Gutfeld's show.

"Greg liked what I had to say, so he had me back more often" as a guest on his show, he said. When "Red Eye" was canceled, Shillue quickly joined "Gutfeld."

Both Gutfeld and Shillue have connections to the Lehigh Valley.

Gutfeld started his career as a staff writer at Emmaus-based Rodale Press's Prevention magazine and an editor for other Rodale magazines.

In 1999, he became editor-in-chief at Rodale's Men's Health magazine.

Shillue's time in the Lehigh Valley was perhaps less prestigious.

"My first job in show business, I was in an a cappella group and we used to play Lehigh [University] and Lafayette [College]" in the 1980s, Shillue said.

"We would be there twice a year, every semester we’d do Lehigh and Lafayette because they were close to each other and they were great schools, and we would play the college circuit."

Shillue also was a "spokesman" for Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.

"Remember the old days, 'Wet Guy' and 'Dry Guy' in commercials? he said. "That was me; I was Dry Guy."

Conservatives go 'direct to consumer'

Shillue said he thinks “it’s a better time than ever to be conservative and in show business."

"Not just because of 'Gutfeld!'" he said. "I mean, he’s changing the whole landscape because his show’s No. 1 in late night, we just have lots of people watching.

"But also because the fans are just very reachable.

"I think in the old days, especially when I started stand-up in the ‘90s, you were afraid to come out as a conservative because show business was still run by a handful of people — agents, casting directors, moguls — people who ran the studios and TV networks.

“But now, show business is essentially run by the people — you can reach everyone on your phone, you can have your own show on YouTube or TikTok.

"So people are able to go, essentially, direct to consumer. And I think for comedians, that’s everything.

"Because comedians never really relied on casting directors to cast us in a movie. People do that, obviously, but we went from club to club, and in the ‘90s we had to rely on maybe your agent, maybe your comedy club owner and people like that.

“We still have those people and we rely on them, but more than anything, we rely on people. We just send out an Instagram video and we say, ‘I’m going to be at this comedy club,’ and people come.”

'My own censorship'

That's not to say Shillue thinks conservatives in show business now should say anything they want.

"There are a lot of things that are untouchable for me because of my sense of decorum," he said.

Shillue specifically mentions talking about sex or scatological humor.

"Greg loves it," he said. "He references poop during every show. But that kind of stuff, I don’t like it. But I can deal — Greg does it, he gets a laugh, part of it’s persona.

“But I think, obviously, I’m against censorship, when people are saying, ‘You can’t say this, you can’t do that.’ But we all censor ourselves — I certainly do. To me, I have a certain sense of decorum, and I want to uphold that on stage.

“So that’s my own censorship.”

Shillue noted he also has worked with liberal comedians and maintains friendships with them, he said.

He credits former "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart with making that show a hit.

“Before Jon Stewart came in, it was actually a less politically correct show in those days, and it wasn’t really about politics — it was funny. ‘The Daily Show’ made fun of media, and were all doing mock reporters and making fun of the news.

“And to give Jon Stewart credit, he kind of saw where American politics and entertainment were gonna intersect. And when he took over the show, he said ... ‘We’re gonna make fun of politicians and people in power.

“So even though he was liberal, he had a perspective, and he was very smart, because the show took off.

“So again, Jon Stewart, politically we don’t agree, but I have great respect for him as a human being and really as a producer. And by force of will he changed that show and made it successful, and it was a great lesson.

“He’s political, but he admits it. And when people say, ‘Oh, people get their news from Jon Stewart,’ he says, ‘Don’t get your news from me. I’m partisan, I have an opinion and I’m gonna give it to you.’ So at least he’s honest.”

'If we know how to behave'

Shillue also spoke well of Stephen Colbert, with whom he worked on "The Daily Show" in the early 2000s.

Colbert's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" recently was canceled (it will stay on the air through May 2026) amid the heated political culture.

“Stephen has always been a great guy to me," Shillue said. "When my book came out in 2017, he had me on the show to promote my book, and it was great to do it.

"And he was actually very gracious, and he said, ‘Here’s a guy, he’s a host on FOX News,’ so he kind of knew his audience would react to me in a certain way.

"And he kind of buttered up the audience for me and it was very good. Because I think he’s a left-winger, right? And he’s always making fun of conservatives and a lot of people would think he’s a hater.

"But in fact, I think the brotherhood of showbiz trumps politics. Someone like myself — I worked with him, I knew how talented he was, back when we worked on ‘The Daily Show’ together.

"And, I mean, I guess he thought I was talented, too, because he had me on the show and he was nice to me.

“I think there’s a lot of people who say things like, ‘Oh, how could you associate with this guy?’ or ‘I can’t believe you sit next to that liberal on the show, and if I were you, I couldn’t even restrain myself.’

“And I say to them, ‘Listen, do you know anyone who’s liberal? [They say] ‘Well, my brother! He’s a left-wing, he voted for Hillary Clinton. And then most people know people. And I say, you know, ‘How do you get along with your … [They say], ‘Well, you know, we don’t talk about it.'

“In the end, most people get along if we just … if we know how to behave," Shillue said with a laugh.