When Stephen Colbert sat down with Adweek for his first major interview since starting The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in September, he had a lot to get off his chest. So much, in fact, that it couldn’t all fit into this week’s cover story about his post-Super Bowl show on Sunday. […] Here are six other bonus elements that weren’t able to fit in our cover story.
1. He’s looking for a sidekick.
While he’s not necessarily in the market for a full-time foil, à la Andy Richter or Ed McMahon, Colbert is trying to find more people he can “play with” onstage as he looks to fill an hour program each night. “I realize that I started off as an improviser, and I was never a standup. That was what [Johnny] Carson created originally, Ed McMahon became that for him, and [Steve] Higgins is a wonderful foil for Jimmy [Fallon]. It’s not something I really thought I’d want. But now I understand that you’re hosting a party and it gives you a co-host, allows you someone to play with,” says Colbert.
2. His nine-month talk show hiatus was pure torture.
Other than a guest appearance on The Mindy Project, Colbert didn’t have much of an outlet during his nine months in between late-night shows. And he felt every moment of that hiatus. “Having to think about it without having being able to do it is maddening, because I need the release of connecting with the audience,” he said. “There’s a lot of worry involved in doing any show and when it’s all just theory, you’ve got no way to quiet the voice in your head.”
3. The “Colbeard” could be making a comeback.
“I’ve got an idea, a reason to grow it back, but that’s a surprise. We’ve got a big game we want to play this spring, and there might be reason for the Colbeard to come back,” he said. “I liked it, but my wife Evie didn’t. Not having really broad shoulders, the beard was my first real secondary male sex characteristic. I really miss it. It gave me cheekbones, because that was the only part of my face you could see.”
4. Being “Stephen Colbert” was exhausting.
Now that he is no longer conducting interviews as his “Stephen Colbert” persona from The Colbert Report, Colbert has a lot more energy at the end of his show tapings. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m not exhausted at the end of the interview!’ Because I used to have to run everything through the character’s CPU and then spit it back out with my intention and his words. And I don’t have to do that anymore,” he said. “I would literally have a headache at the end of those interviews on the old show. As much as I enjoyed them, they were exhausting. Now, I can do three or four interviews in a night and I’m like, ‘I am not dead!’”
5. He’s only a football fan on Super Bowl Sunday.
“I have no opposition to organized sport. It’s just not my first choice,” he said. But that all changes on Super Bowl Sunday. “My wife is so great. She’s like, ‘Stop pretending you know how football is played. Who is this guy who just shows up in a jersey one day here? You think I’m going to buy this?’”
6. He’s ready for election season.
This year will mark the fifth presidential election that Colbert will cover on TV, between his years on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and now The Late Show. And he knows from experience that after the Iowa caucus, “every single water cooler conversation in America for the next 10 months is going to be about this election,” he said. “The next year is going to be great, because it’s a story that everybody cares about and nobody dies. You can make any joke you want and everybody will get it, because everybody knows the story. You can go straight to your joke because, everybody already knows what the setup is. That’s the great gift of the next ten months.”
Full Article: Adweek
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If you’re lamenting Jon Stewart’s departure from The Daily Show last August and wishing he was still a presence in late night, your wish has come true.
In the end, Stewart’s late-night hiatus didn’t even last a month. The former host has been an important force on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert where he serves as one of the show’s four executive producers, Colbert told Adweek during his interview for this week’s cover story.
Colbert said Stewart has been a part of his Late Show plans since April 10, 2014 when CBS first revealed that Colbert would leave The Colbert Report and take over the show after David Letterman’s retirement. “The minute it was announced that I was going to be the new host, that day, he called me up to congratulate me and I said, ‘Thank you. Would you come help with the show and be an executive producer?’” said Colbert.
“I had many motivations for that. One is I’m very grateful to Jon for everything I learned from him at The Daily Show and for him putting his weight behind my last show [The Colbert Report] getting on the air and helping us with that show. I wouldn’t have this position if it hadn’t been for what Jon did for me. So on one level it’s gratitude and loyalty to Jon,” said Colbert.
“But on another level, he’s been immensely helpful because he’s also a real consultant. As a matter of fact, the reason this interview started late is that I have not had a moment for him to download his thoughts to me. We were talking about ways to open up the show, how to make it more play, less planned. Because our head is in it so much, he is someone who I trust completely. He understands me and my personal process and also understands the flaming toboggan ride that is doing a nightly show. And he’s a constant resource.”
In addition to frequently checking in with Colbert via phone, Stewart has also been hands-on with helping the Late Show staff figure out their day-to-day producing process. “After the first two-and-a-half months, he came in and spent a week with us, watched everything and went, ‘This is what you’re doing right, this is where people are getting in each other’s lanes.’ He worked with my executive producer Tom Purcell—they get along famously—and they came up with lane charts. They changed everything,” said Colbert.
Full Article: Adweek
Bonus Features In 'Adweek' Interview With Stephen Colbert
On the heels of the wonderfully-needed recent Colbert interview in Adweek, the magazine has followed up with two additional articles with items that could not be included in the original piece. Stephen discusses having potential sidekicks, plans for his Colbeard, hating being off the air, his ambivalence about sports, and his relief at not having to pretend to be a conservative blowhard anymore. A second article is dedicated to how Jon Stewart is impacting Colbert’s new organization. Enjoy!