An anonymous Quora member asked ‘What is it like to be interviewed by Stephen Colbert?’ In short, the simple answer is ‘a whole lot of fun’, notes American engineer, former NASA astronaut and two-time ‘Colbert Report’ guest, Garrett Reisman, who recently responded to the question providing insight into what it is like to be interview by Stephen Colbert both face-to-face and floating about in space.
My first appearance on the show was a bit unusual. I was aboard the International Space Station and we conducted the interview using the NASA communications assets. We spoke over the S-band space-to-ground system and I was just looking at a hand-held camera but had no video from the ground.
When the interview started, I couldn’t tell who was speaking. It didn’t sound like Stephen, and I thought it was someone on his staff warming me up. I almost asked, “With whom am I speaking?” and “When is the interview going to start?” Then about a minute or so into the interview Stephen said something that was unmistakably “Stephen” and I realized that I had been talking to him all along!
I had been a little stressed out prior to the interview since I really wanted it to go well. When the interview was over, I remember floating around the space station just feeling great. Don’t psychoanalyze this please, but it was kind of like the feeling you get after a really good first date.
You can watch this interview here: May 8th, 2008.
When I got back to Earth, I had another interview with Stephen in his New York studio. (I almost missed it, but that’s a really long funny story that I’ll save for another post.) This experience was entirely different from the first interview. I remember thinking, how the hell is this going to be funny without me laughing at his jokes with a 5-second time delay? (see first interview)
They sat me down at the table on the set and then right before Stephen ran out to bask in the applause the production assistant told me, “See you in 6 minutes.” It suddenly hit me that although this wasn’t a live broadcast, we were going to tape it like it was – without the luxury of editing! I was used to doing interviews where we shoot for an hour just to get 6 good minutes to broadcast. Before I could stress out too much, Stephen began his introduction and it was on.
You can see this in-studio interview here: July 24, 2008.
Afterward, I had a great private meeting with Stephen and then went out drinking with a good portion of his staff at a neighborhood bar. It was almost as much fun as flying in space!
Garrett Reisman on What It's Like to be a Guest on 'The Colbert Report'
An anonymous Quora member asked ‘What is it like to be interviewed by Stephen Colbert?’ In short, the simple answer is ‘a whole lot of fun’, notes American engineer, former NASA astronaut and two-time ‘Colbert Report’ guest, Garrett Reisman, who recently responded to the question providing insight into what it is like to be interview by Stephen Colbert both face-to-face and floating about in space.