Colbert A-Z

So... this happened recently. I can’t even.

It's not easy to get this kind of access, especially to the hallways under the stage where the licence plate sign from Stephen’s old Colbert Report office hangs. I have an absurd emotional attachment to physical items from that space, and there aren’t many such relics that made the move to the Ed Sullivan Theatre. The rare times it makes an appearance in Late Show footage, my heart bursts. I’m simultaneously shook and at peace now that I finally unlocked the achievement of a pic at the desk. One of my biggest regrets was not pushing for one at the Report, because I was (stupidly) afraid to annoy my contacts there. Happy to say I got hooked up by a wonderful person who was definitely not annoyed.

Hey, I’m back! Life has been nuts recently, but I did manage to swing down to NJ last weekend and cover Stephen’s annual fundraising event for Vanity Fair (this is the fourth year in a row I’ve written about it for them, and the sixth one I’ve attended). This year’s with Julia Louis-Dreyfus was one of the best yet. 

Many Stephen moments didn’t make it into my piece, but a couple I’ll share here:

He auditioned for (amongst many many things) the pilots of Ally McBeal and 21 Jump Street

An audience member asked about balancing family and work. Stephen talked about when he was working around the clock on the finale of Strangers with Candy, with a young family at home. “I thought I had to throw everything at [my career] or nothing would happen for me,” he said. He was driving home after an all-nighter, and listened to Beck’s song “Jackass.” The lyrics “I been drifting along in the same stale shoes / Loose ends tying the noose in the back of my mind” got to him. He realized he’d been putting his family second, and vowed to do better going forward. 

Silly exchange when Stephen mentioned the often-cited nude scene he did in a play when he was 19:

Julia: Was it Hair?

Stephen: No, I shaved.

And fun personal moment at the reception: Evie and I were wearing similar pants, almost a negative image of each other with sequins going down the side. I pointed it out and she was like, “we should take a picture!!” Who was I to argue? (Similar shoes and same nail polish, too.) 

Sam Bee starring in a “hidden camera” commercial to promote Canadian cheese in 2002. Yes, that’s a sentence I just typed. 

Jon Stewart hosted SNL in April of 2002. I just ripped my VHS of the original airing (just missing the cold open and some of the opening credits). Includes sketches that aren’t on the NBC site, and even a lot of the original commercials (which are arguably funnier than the sketches). 

Download (1.8 GB): https://we.tl/t-uPMZnnjKbA

I recently went to my 7th Late Show taping, and successfully met a longtime goal: travelling from Toronto and back in just one day. 

Here’s how it went! All shot by yours truly day-of (minus the show footage, of course). 

Taping notes (Apr 8/19):

Stephen gave a non-answer to my question (”when was the last time you asked Jon Stewart for advice?”) by just generally talking about how they are actually friends. Nothing new there. I tried! 

Also during the Q&A, Stephen yelled over to Paul Dinello to help answer something (he stayed hidden in the producers’ alcove) and they had hilarious banter about an old Second City basketball sketch. (Stephen: “I was Pippen and you were Jordan, or I was Jordan and you were Pippen.” Paul: “Yeah, that’s right.” Stephen, exasperated: “I said it both ways!!”)

Musical guest was pretaped, but we got to to see Ruth Wilson pre-tape.

Y’all, I got to interview one of my favorite celebrities ever. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to just meet this guy, so an hour of one-on-one time - and then getting to hang out and watch him practice - was beyond a dream come true. 

6 minutes of pure, utter adorableness.

1) I sold some of my photos to Maria Bamford.

2) I got my ticket confirmation for a Late Show taping.

So effectively, Stephen’s “favorite comedian on planet Earth” just funded my next flight to see him. 

Want to watch Stephen repeatedly scream “FUCK” at one of his comedy idols? You’ve come to the right place. 

I can’t believe it’s been over 10 years since I took this photo of Stephen at the 2008 New Yorker Festival.