HILARIOUSLY DELICIOUS.
- MEET MADELEINE SMITHBERG -
Madeleine Smithberg earned Peabody and Emmy Awards, for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which she co-created and ran as executive producer for seven years. During her tenure, she was directly responsible for the hiring/casting of performers such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Ed Helms, and Rob Corddry, Mo Rocca, Lewis Black, among others. She served as producer/show-runner for The Daily Show forerunner, “The Jon Stewart Show, on MTV and later in syndication. She also brought her skills as executive producer and writer of The WB comedy/variety show Steve Harvey’s Big Time. She spent six years as a talent coordinator, then producer, for NBC’s original Late Night with David Letterman after beginning her career as a field producer for RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana (Italian national television).
With her production company, Mad Cow Productions, Smithberg has developed and produced interesting and intelligent comedy projects for a wide range of networks including HISTORY, [adult swim], TBS, FOX, BLOOMBERG TV, BET, Nickelodeon, CNN, TV LAND, and SHOWTIME. She created and launched a successful news franchise, “INFOmania,” for Al Gore’s CURRENT TV, and recently earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for the BET late night show, Don’t Sleep! which she created and ran as executive producer. She has enjoyed playing in the digital space, producing a web series hosted by an actual chameleon commenting on viral videos for DreamWorksTV, and a sketch series for ABC Digital called The Gaggle. She recently returned to New York, her hometown, to jump in as executive producer and head writer on the relaunch of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’s flagship documentary series, Explorer. Madeleine moved to Seattle in 2018 and has turned a lifetime passion for cooking into a career change, becoming a Teaching Chef at Blue Ribbon Cooking. In March of 2020 she launched her YouTube Channel, MAD IN THE KITCHEN.
And then it just kept growing. MAD IN THE KITCHEN is growing every day.
We hope you will come along for the ride.
- THE ORIGIN OF MAD IN THE KITCHEN -
Madeleine Smithberg is a Covid success story. As the successful Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television executive producer and co-creator of The Daily Show, Madeleine followed a life-long passion for food and cooking and pivoted - at the age of 60 - from producing television, to working as a chef teaching corporate team building events, to creating a hilariously delicious new cooking program, MAD IN THE KITCHEN. Oh, and along the way, she also got married (but that’s another story!).
As American went into coronavirus lockdown, Madeleine seized the stuck-at-home opportunity and cooked up the idea for a hilariously delicious YouTube cooking show, MAD IN THE KITCHEN - which instantly became must-watch TV for the quarantined cook! Foodies and friends, old and new, fell in love with Madeleine’s offbeat, silly approach to cooking. So much so, she is now a regular guest on several morning television shows, including The TODAY SHOW with Hoda and Jenna.
Madeleine’s cooking aspirations are no flash in the pan. It's the result of a good long simmer of Madeleine's natural talent for creating stick-to-your-tickled-ribs savory television. Before The Daily Show, she spent six years at Late Night with David Letterman producing cooking segments with famous kitchen eccentrics Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and everyday eccentrics like the lovable oddball baker from Boise, Bev Tanner, who Madeleine plucked from obscurity.
As a former TV producer, Madeleine knows how to make good TV. As MAD IN THE KITCHEN keeps growing and expanding, her videos continue to impress, not only on YouTube, but also on Instagram (Reels) as well as quick hits on TikTok and Stories (her secret stuffing recipe became a viral hit!). Madeleine has also begun offering virtual cooking classes and events specializing in corporate team building, and is launching a bi-weekly instructional (and entertaining) Saturday night live-stream to engage with budding cooks in real time.
The most important ingredient to the success of MAD IN THE KITCHEN is Madeleine herself, serving heaping portions of warm laughter and super silly enthusiasm for truly delectable and wholly original dishes. Madeleine Smithberg is now self-producing the most lovable oddball eccentric chef yet - herself!
