Seed art saved Lizz Winstead's 2016

The best part of Lizz Winstead's year?

Seed art.

At the Minnesota State Fair this summer, the comedian caught sight of a crop-tastic piece that combined the musical "Hamilton" with a tribute to Prince. She put a bid on it — "I don't even care how much that costs, I am buying it" — and is now, proudly, showing it off.

"People in New York are looking at that going: 'Is that made of seeds?'" Winstead joked with MPR News host Tom Weber. "Yeah it is, and don't question it."

Winstead, the co-creator of "The Daily Show" and a Minnesota native, is in the Twin Cities for her annual year-end show. "Controversy 2016: The Year in Review" runs Dec. 30 and 31.

2016, Winstead laughed, was a big year. So big, it's hard to remember all the controversies that filled its days. It even kicked off with a bang: On Jan. 2, Ammon Bundy and his militia took control of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon, starting a month-long armed occupation.

"Two days later they're on Twitter asking: 'Can you send us some snacks?'" Winstead said. "If you're going to literally have an occupation of federal lands, maybe you should go to Costco first."

After years of doing the show, Winstead has the writing process down to a routine. She posts about news stories on Facebook throughout the year, gauges people's emotional reactions, tries out her first round of jokes on Twitter and then puts the best ones in a document for the year-end show.

This year, "I had 48 pages of material," Winstead said. That's more than double what would fill the show. "It was a year like no other ... I'm editing my tush off."

"The exploration of humanity plays a very big role in the show this year. ... Bernie supporters not understanding race. Hillary not understanding the economic message and what Bernie's popularity was. Nobody understanding Trump's populism. All of those things will play a very big role."

For the full interview with Lizz Winstead about the biggest stories of 2016, use the audio player above.