Roy Wood Jr. will add another feather to his cap this year, as the featured entertainer for the 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He’ll bring his brand of socially conscious comedy to the event, set for April 29 at the Washington Hilton.

Headlining the dinner in D.C. is a high-profile assignment — and a high-pressure one — as the proceedings are nationally televised and closely watched by folks who follow politics and entertainment. The headliner typically follows the president on stage, and Wood’s job will be to roast POTUS, the press and more.

“It’s an honor to be a part of a long-running tradition of celebrating those members of the media, who work so hard to uncover the truth, and hold our government accountable,” Wood said via a press release. “It will be a great night that will go down in the history books, or not, depending on which state you live in.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Wood’s participation on Thursday. The comedian, who grew up in Birmingham, has been a correspondent on “The Daily Show” since 2015, commenting on everything from racism and white supremacy to gender issues and financial legislation.

“Roy Wood Jr. brings a journalistic eye to his comedy. He’s hilarious — but also makes sure his audiences are thinking as they laugh,” said Tamara Keith, WHCA president and White House correspondent for NPR. “My aim with this year’s dinner is to lift up the importance of a free and independent press to a functioning democracy, so I am thrilled to be able to feature a comedian who gets what journalism is all about.”

Trevor Noah, former host of “The Daily Show,” was the featured entertainer at the correspondents’ dinner in 2022. Other headliners for the dinner have included Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jay Leno, Wanda Sykes, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Colbert, Cedric the Entertainer and Rich Little.

Wood retweeted the WHCA’s tweet on Thursday morning and has been fielding a few congratulatory tweets.

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The comedian, 44, has been building a career in the entertainment world since the late ‘90s, when he started working as a standup while majoring in broadcast journalism major at Florida A&M University. During the early 2000s, Wood emerged as a quick-witter jokester making prank phone calls on radio station 95.7 JAMZ.

Wood’s resume also includes a 2010 stint as a contestant on “Last Comic Standing,” standup shows, a role on the sitcom “Sullivan & Son,” appearances on late-night talk shows, comedy specials and albums, movie roles, podcasts and more.

Wood, who maintains strong ties to his hometown, has been mentioned as a likely candidate for the new host of “The Daily Show.,” succeeding Noah after his departure late last year. Wood has said that he “absolutely” wants to be considered for the job, but a new host for the Comedy Central series has yet to be announced. Right now, “The Daily Show” is being helmed by a list of guest hosts, such as Leslie Jones, Wanda Sykes, D.L. Hughley, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman.

Wood’s journalism roots run deep, as well. His father, Roy Wood Sr. (1915-1995), was a radio and TV journalist who covered the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and more. Wood paid tribute to his father with a Twitter thread in 2020 for Father’s Day, lauding his achievements and calling his resume in civil rights journalism “very unsung.”

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner went on hiatus in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, but the event has a long history that dates back to 1914. The WHCA operates independently of the White House, but presidents and vice presidents usually attend the dinner, along with senior government officials and members of the press.

Former President Donald Trump skipped the dinner in 2017-2019, during his first three years in office. President Joe Biden attended last year, along with First Lady Jill Biden. During his remarks on stage, Biden joked about his standing in the polls, calling the assembled journalists “the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have.” Biden also took a jab at Trump, saying that if the former president had attended the dinner in 2021, “that would really have been a real coup.” (“A little tough, huh?” Biden added.)

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