This is topic Steven Colbert -- Out of Character in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
I think this is the first time I've ever seen Colbert break character. It was... weird. Like it wasn't really him.

Link.
 

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Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
 
That was...freaky.
 

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Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
 
I never knew he was at Second City. No wonder he's so funny.

That's an interesting clip.
 

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Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
 
He's done a lot of out-of-character interviews in the past few weeks.
 

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Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Huh. That IS strange.
 

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Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
 
It's because he is actually considering running for president and wants people to get to know the real him!
 

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Posted by St. Yogi (Member # 5974) on :
 
"It's because he is actually considering running for president and wants people to get to know the real him!"

No.

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You guys should watch the actual interview. Comedy gold

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=IIs2z2JNvNE

Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8JbBFNCRp1A
 

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Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
 
He just published a book. Presumably it's easier for him to get interviews as his real persona.
 

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Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
I'll link it when I get home if no one wants to go look, but there's a really, really long interview with him on Charlie Rose where he is out of character and talks about a lot of stuff, and I think that took place over a year ago.

I think when he was first starting his show it was hard for him to be out of character because he had to establish the character first, but now that he's been on the air for two years, people get the difference now and he can be himself in public when they are actually interviewing him and not his character.

I believe he was hired onto the Daily Show in the late 90's after his work at Second City. In fact, I've heard that he changed the pronunciation of his name and worked hard at eliminating his southern accent before going to Chicago.
 

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Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
I like him as himself so much more than I like the Stephen Colbert character.

Lyrhawn, I would be interested in seeing that interview.
 

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Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
That should pop out the right interview. Just hit the play button on the tiny window. I'll look for it on YouTube as a backup.

The interview took place December of 2006, so about a year ago.

The only thing I didn't like was something he said and I've heard Stewart say it too: Something about how the comedy comes first and they don't really focus on the message. I don't believe that. And I think the interview with Russert proves that they DO have something they want to get it out and comedy is their medium. They care about what they are saying and what they are doing.

PS. If you want to see something from his Second City days, in other words, him being himself and still funny, look up the two episodes of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" that he was in. He thinks pretty damned fast on his feet.

PPS. Here's a Google Video link to the whole interview, but you have to fastfoward to the second half of the interview.

PPPS. Found some Whose Line links:

One
Two

There are more, that's just a sampling.

[ October 22, 2007, 08:54 PM: Message edited by: Lyrhawn ]
 

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Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
I'm getting this "Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player" message a lot lately on YouTube. I install it, and I keep getting the message. And I have Javascript enabled. Grr...
 

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Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
 
He's actually quite charming in person.
 

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Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
 
Colbert is awesome.
 

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Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
It's weird. I knew that his character on his show was not who he was in real life, and yet when he displayed his real personality (I think) in this clip it was the person I had believed was behind the character. I was very impressed with his reason for not letting his younger children see the show.
 

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Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 
Thanks Lyrhawn, I watched the Charlie Rose interview. I'm actually a much bigger fan now that I know the man behind the mask, as it were. Quite an interesting, clever, reasonable guy .
 

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Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by BlackBlade:
... I was very impressed with his reason for not letting his younger children see the show.

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