EYES ON THE PRIZE Writer and talk show host Stephen Colbert (center) accepts the Best Writing For A Variety Series award for The Colbert Report
onstage during the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards with Glenn Eichler to his left.
Those scripts were at times very
complicated. I spent a year writing
about Super PACs [political action
committees that can raise unlimited
amounts of cash], which is not a nat-
urally funny topic. They’re nonprofits
that can’t interact with campaigns,
yet secretly do. Stephen started a
Super PAC for satirical purposes; I
was proud we educated the public
on it. They might not have followed
along without jokes.
HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT
YOUR BOSS’ MOVE TO THE LATE
SHOW ?
One day Stephen called the staff
down to the studio and said, “I’m giv-
ing the show up.” He took a breath,
then said that it was because he was
going to take over David Letterman’s
show. He invited the whole staff to
work there, and most of his employ-
ees came over.
IS IT TWICE AS HARD TO FILL A SHOW
TWICE AS LONG?
Though The Late Show is an hour
long and we’re on five nights a week,
in some ways it’s easier, because we
don’t have Stephen say the opposite
of what he feels. And we don’t have
to go into the same level of details.
Every morning, we were writing
about court cases, legislation and
current events. One time I was asked
to co-write a script about a potential
violation of Federal Reserve proto-
col in the way bonds were traded in
Chicago. We turned the script in that
day… and it was never mentioned
again. Which is as it should be.
Also, on the old show, we used to
book a lot of authors and politicians
and intellects, and not as many TV
and movie stars; if Keanu Reeves was
coming into town to promote John
Wick 3, we didn’t have to book him.
Now we have a new talent depart-
ment, and a band, which is great.
THE SHOW STARTED AROUND THE
SAME TIME AS DONALD TRUMP’S
CANDIDACY. HOW HAS HIS ROLE ON
THE WORLD STAGE AFFECTED THE
SHOW, AND YOUR JOB?
In 2015, as we were prepping to
do the new show, we all gathered
in a conference room and watched
Trump come down the escalator. He
and Bernie [Sanders] both surprised
people with their large turnouts. We
did a live show on election night, and
we’d prepped for when Hillary was
announced the winner. We had a
big song and dance that was choreo-
graphed and everything. One review-
er said, “When you watch that show,
you get to watch Colbert’s heart get
broken on live television.” The next
day he had to give the staff a pep talk
so they could do their jobs.
What makes the job harder is this
administration’s penchant for break-
ing stories in the late afternoon,
when Stephen and the writers are
in the middle of the post-rehearsal
rewrite and have to add new material
essentially in real time. The classic
Friday afternoon news dump, when
administrations traditionally break
controversial stories as late as pos-
sible to get the least amount of cover-
age, now happens basically every day.
It is pretty draining. Anybody who
works in any medium that covers him
is feeling it.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL SHOWS
BEING PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE?
I would guess that we’ll do more
live shows as the election approaches.
In a way, they’re fun, though not
for the head writers, because they’re
assembling them in real time based
on the jokes we’re hurling at them as
we watch people on TV.
ANY JOKE-WRITING TIPS YOU CAN
GIVE TO ASPIRING COMICS?
I learned the importance of a
complete economy of words from
writing 20-second promos at MTV.
It’s been helpful when writing scripts
for Stephen that he’s reading off the
teleprompter, and trying to get to the
punchline.
WHEN DID YOU MOVE TO
MONTCLAIR?
My family has been here for 20
years, and my kids went through the
public school system. My wife and I
love the arts scene, and the fact that
the Clairidge Cinema is here. It’s a
lively town with a lot of media people
who live in it. Montclair has a film,
book and jazz festival. How many
towns can say that? ■
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