If you enjoy a comic rapport with Stephen Colbert, you probably had a very satisfying weekend. If you don’t, well, you’re probably the President of the United States. Colbert, the merciless political satirist with the slyly ironic O’Reilly carapace, brought the pull-no-punches humor of The Colbert Report to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he quickly let it be known he wasn’t there to make friends. Excoriating both the administration ("’[R]earranging the deck chairs on the Titanic‘… is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!") and the media ("tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew"), he found himself faced with the toughest of tough crowds. Not since Yakov Smirnoff played the Politburo* has such fine material foundered on the rocks of such sullen shared guilt. (You can read Colbert’s full, uncut transcript on this totally nonpartisan site.) And the Prez? They hardly ever cut to him. The only person who looked less amused was Laura.
What makes the Colbert tick? Friends and enemies alike should check out Morley Safer’s interview with the comic on 60 Minutes. Rounding off this very Colbert weekend: Re-airings of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," a classic Robert Smigel cartoon series from SNL’s TV Funhouse. Colbert and former Daily Show colleague Steve Carell provided the voices. (Yes, much like fellow "journalist" Jeff Gannon, Colbert once did "gay-for-pay.")
So our man Steve continues to prove his mettle. If nothing else, this weekend’s work earned him a shiny new wiretap.
*(this never happened, but should have)
I just watched Colbert’s speech. It was unbelievably, mortifying, horrifyingly good — it’s painful to watch, though, because NO-ONE is laughing. Wow. The man has some serious cojones to take it to the Prez and the sycophantic press corps like that IN THEIR OWN HOUSE!!!
it’s about time someone did it! bravo!
This was one of the greatest feats of comedy/social-political criticism I’ve ever seen. I really feel like this is the sort of thing, 50 years from now, when historians talk about the disaster that was the Bush White House, that will be shown to prove a point. The fact that Colbert delivered this with Bush so close….amazing.
I hope he likes having his phone tapped and getting audited!
Comedians RARELY do well in front of people who take themselves way too seriously. Witness the lack of audience response at Awards shows whenever someone makes fun of the industry. What? We’re NOT as important as we think we are? Hey,that’s NOT funny.
I LOVE Stephen Colbert. I think his show is now more of a must watch than The Daily Show since he(and Carell) left. However,those of you who think what he did Saturday is unprecedented need to relax. Mocking the President and the press happens pretty much EVERY year at this event. It’s kinda why they hire outside entertainers. Imus and Norm MacDonald, to name a few, made equally ballsy jokes with Clinton in the room. Those of you looking for some kind of unprecedented, historical need to gain a little perspective.
I can’t say anything except awesome, bad-a**, and I wish I had been there!
I’m not surprised that nobody in the audience was laughing. The truth hurts.
First Jon Stewart doesn’t get any love from the Oscar audience, now Stephen Colbert not getting any at the White House Dinner? Are we of the minority that actually watch THE DAILY SHOW & THE COLBERT REPORT and actually get them? It’s looking that way. This audience deserves the WAG OF THE FINGER instead of the TIP OF THE HAT.
I’ve always said that Colbert was one of the best writers on the “Daily Show” staff.
Now the world is getting a better look at what I saw back in 2000.
Way to go “Colby”…
–Steve Carrell
Three groups got much deserved whacks up side the head this weekend. Stephen Colbert blasted the administration and the recently awakened press corp. The other group is the Disney co. with the reairing of the Disney Vault on best of Funhouse on SNL.
It could have been much, much worse! Colbert could have whipped out a copy of the current Rolling Stone magazine labeling Bush “The Worst President in History.” And then he could have asked the president to autograph it!
That video was Hilarious
If you want to say thanks go to thankyoustephencolbert.com. There are 9531 thank you’s on there so far.
I made a comment earlier in these postings that I think may have been misinterpreted, or I didn’t express clearly. Obviously, comedians poke fun at the president at this dinner (I’ve watched a number of them). What set this one apart, for me at least, in a historic perspective, is that 1) It is rare that SUCH scathing commentary is allowed to get close to Bush, and 2) Making fun of Clinton generally involved being “Slick Willie,” etc.–nothing to the level of what’s going on in the world right now. So, comparitively, this just seemed so much stronger. Now, back to relaxing…
LOL…Love it! Sounds like he was in fine form.
Colbert’s got some big ones! Holy cow! It’s one thing to do that sarcastic stuff on TV, but to do it right in front of the guy you’re mocking is courageous. We’re not worthy!