While watching Jon Stewart interview Neil Degrasse Tyson on The Daily Show I noticed that some of the editing done on the interview was not done well. Most interviews that I’ve seen that are abridged are done in a way in which it is near impossible to tell where it has been cut, making the experience of that person or interview feel more genuine. In this example (at 2:00 below), the cut is very sudden. The audience stops laughing very abruptly, and Neil doesn’t even appear to have finished his sentence, nor does he have time too put his hand down to where it sits after the cut.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart editing team normally does very well but on this occasion the result is clunky and uncomfortable. This goes to show the importance of smooth editing for continuity and appropriate selection of material to bookend shots.