So thanks to the ever-reaching contacts and generosity my friends have in New York, Travis - visiting us from Austin, TX - and I were able to attend the taping of The Colbert Report last night. This was fortunate since the actual tickets I have for Colbert Report are not until next month…
We arrived shortly after 6:00pm to the studio at 54th between 10th/11th ave - I was with a work colleague who had legitimate tickets for the show while Travis and I were instructed to talk to someone and our names would be on “the list”. As it turns out, showing up by 6:00pm with tickets in hand does not guarantee entry. Customary with most live-audience television shows, the audience is overbooked to prevent any empty seats. So my work colleague and his friend were told they wouldn’t be able to get in to that show but they would be issued VIP tickets for a later date. That was decent of them.
Travis and I entered the studio building, went through an airport-lite security screening, then sat and waited for everyone to take their seats. We were told early on that there would only be standing room for us so we didn’t feel the rush the get into the studio. Makes sense: considering the holidays in New York City not to mention the popularity of the show (at least among its fans), there is a lot of demand to be in the Colbert Report audience.
After being seated, we were treated to a rare audience taping of “the toss” - the banter at the end of The Daily Show between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Since TDS is taped in another studio 3 blocks away, they have to do it via remote satellite. The toss is typically taped at the end of TDS but before the Colbert audience arrives - but TDS taping was running late. When Colbert and Stewart got linked up, they started with what I thought was scripted banter but was actually just “how are the kids” type of discussion.
Then they started taping the toss - if you watched December 11’s TDS, you’ll remember Lincoln Chafee as the guest. Jon Stewart said something hilarious about him (I forgot) - and then cut to Colbert who after a few lines starts laughing because they misread the teleprompter. Colbert says “fuck, I ruined that funny stuff he said about Lincoln Chafee” and while he was smiling, appeared to feel bad about it. They re-did the bit with Jon Stewart ad libb’ing his line about Lincoln Chafee, “I think Mr. Chafee needs a ride home if anyone in the audience can help him out”.
After a short break, the actual episode taping began. Colbert was very focused - and under a bit of stress due to Representative Jack Kingston waiting on a satellite feed via Savannah, GA. The show went well - a few spoofs but otherwise well performed on Colbert’s part.
It wasn’t the best show we’ve seen from Colbert but it was still fascinating to watch him work, specifically going in and out of character between commercial breaks. It’s clear he loves his job and he is very, very good at it.