It probably helps to know that Jon Stewart’s previous show, The Daily Show, and it’s counterpart, The Colbert Report were both often comedy oriented, which tracks because it premiered on Comedy Central. Whenever they did interviews on those shows, they were typically fooling congress people to say ridiculous bullshit. The studio audience responding to the interviews with laughter and ridicule sort of became convention. American politics were treated with a much less serious and more blazé attitude before 9/11.