Colbert plus 1

What a great experience. I think I’m going to divide my timeline from now on into two segments – BC (before Colbert) and AC.

Yesterday was a marathon, the interviews went well at Bloomberg and CNN although the latter was a bit eerie – talking to a blank screen with an interviewer in London. All this preceded our arrival at the jaunty blue awning of the Colbert Report world HQ.

The Colbert team was hospitable beyond measure, everything you’d want. Their green room was cozy and featured platters of food – crudite, cheese and crackers, iced expresso – and my name on the door in a star.

Emily, the show’s producer, came by to chat, and gave me some useful notes. More examples, fewer concepts.

In a funny kind of way, all this TLC actually got me more keyed up. I take journalistic interviews completely in stride now, but this was the COLBERT REPORT.

Then, Stephen himself popped by. We had a nice chat about improvision – I gave him a copy of Jamming – and he talked a bit about how the language of jazz had been kind of a lingua franca for Second City, where he spent a fair amount of time.

No hint of mania, no short fuses. Just a courtly smiling guy giving plenty of eye contact and even… reassurance.

You can tell a lot about a production team by the vibe on a set. The Colbert Show’s vibe is family. Friendly, helpful, supportive. The makeup artist smiled at me when she was done, offering a “have fun,” as I got ready to go on stage.

Then it was time, following the second commercial break – getting miked – stepping over cables in the darkness – flashlights from the production assistants guiding the way – the rumble of the crowd – and there I was sitting in the famous guest seat while Stephen warmed up the crowd – popping his fingers and jiving to the music and then when the cameras were on doing his signature victory lap and bow before sitting down to start the interview.

I knew we were off and running when the exchange around assonance and alliteration – it was right out of improv acting – “take the offer without reservation and do something to it.” I remember paying close attention as we talked – so that I could imprint the memory on my mind. The six minutes went by like a flash and like an eternity.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.