Thoughts from a taping of the Colbert Report...

Last night, due to the gracious offer of my friend Megan, I got to see The Colbert Report in person!
For certain work-related reasons we were able to get ourselves in an VIPs for the event. Which meant that I got to get my picture taken on the set after the show (awesome), that we were able to avoid sitting in the holding pen with the other guests before the show starts (really quite awesome), and that we were seated front row center for the show (yes, also awesome)! It was an overall amazing experience as well as a chance to finally cross "go see a tv show" off my list of 432 Things Everyone Should Do if They Live in New York. Thanks again, Megan!



A couple thoughts:

• Unlike a lot of celebrities that uphold the cliché and do look smaller in real life, I actually thought that Stephen Colbert was bigger than I would have expected. Even though he seemed like a genuinely nice and friendly guy, he had a lot of presence and was actually kind of intimidating. Jon Stewart (who made a surprise guest appearance midway through the show) was also sort of intimidating. They both, however, had extremely nice suits on, so perhaps that was part of the intimidation? (note to self: get nicer suit)
• Being in the front row was fun, but a little nerve-racking. The extremely friendly staffer that was helping us out all evening told us that, because the crowd was low-energy that night, he was hoping Megan and I could make up for it by being extremely energetic in our clapping and laughter (and hooting, and booing, and hissing, etc.) Although I think we did a pretty good job of it, I remained slightly worried all show that I would fail to be loud enough (a problem, in every other walk of life, that I never have to worry about).
  
• You really feel the effect of the writer's strike when you see the show live. There were constant references to it by Colbert himself and others. We even got to see Colbert and Jon Stewart discuss what the heck they were going to talk about during "the toss" (where Stewart talks to Colbert at the end of The Daily Show about what's coming up next), something that is rarely done any more because it's apparently too much of a chore without writers. Even after the show was over, Colbert's last words to the audience was a half-joke that we should "come back when we have writers!" Still, Colbert natural comedic gifts, combined with the wired feeling that I had at just being a part of the show in some way, had me laughing at basically every word that came out of his mouth. A great time all in all, and definitely worth doing if you get the chance!