God bless Rachel Sklar and her wonderful blogging skills. Rachel has done the best review out there yet of the New Yorker festival interview with Stephen Colbert that happened this past Saturday, October 4. I would highly recommend heading over to the Huffington Post and reading her article in its entirety. Here’s an excerpt from that wonderful write-up (links omitted):
Colbert — And His Wife — Rock The New Yorker Fest
Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | October 5, 2008 11:40 AM
…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Colbert is a mensch, through and through, and everything he said confirmed that he operates from a position of decency and inherent morality, even as he plays an obnoxious, self-aggrandizing blowhard who loves George Bush and reveres Bill O’Reilly. The difference is, the man himself doesn’t quite share those opinions — but he shared more than a few others last night, and it was awesome. The most faithful rendering possible follows — I live-Twittered it on my Blackberry (start at the bottom and read upwards), so it’s only as complete as my horribly-cramped fingers could allow — but it was worth it, to share the magic with you.
…
On Running for President:
- Why did he run for pres? He refers back to Bill O’Reilly and the egotism of his character: “I couldn’t have the presidential election not be about me.”
- He also modeled it on Fred Thompson – he watched the Thompson story build in the media after he’d done nothing other than float his name.
- It was actually Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter who suggested that he run in South Carolina as a favorite son. And then they did, and the media went nuts, and voila! “We cast the show into the puddle of reality, and reported on our own ripples.”
- Meanwhile, those ripples were actually having an effect – his poll numbers were…climbing. But when he started beating Dodd and Biden and Richardson, not so funny? “It was never not a joke.”
- “I was approached by the DNC in South Carolina – ‘what’s it gonna take for you to drop out?’” And he was negotiating for a speaking slot at the DNC or something when they realized they didn’t need him to agree, and voila! Off the ballot.
- And, he acknowledged — it hurt. Campaigning in SC, he understood how it felt to run, what you needed to do to constantly face crowds of people and implore them to believe in you. And he sort of believed his own hype. And so he felt bad when he got kicked off. For real!
- “They tell you when you’re a child that anyone can run for President. But apparently not you, Stephen Colbert.”
h/t to Jenny with a Y and Sadie07
I so enjoy reading about Stephen’s discussion of his run for President. I really like how he describes the clash of fantasy meeting the reality of actually being added to the SC ticket but in the end, not getting it, as “touching ‘it’ ” and how it “got on” him. I really couldn’t have thought of a better analogy for that time period. Sounds like it was a fascinating interview. Brava, Rachel!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
She uses the word “awesome” multiple times in her report, clearly she fell under the spell of Colbert’s invincible charm. Resistance is futile.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Rachel has been a Colbert fan for a long time. She’s cool like that. :)
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
“I did not intend for this character to take my name.”
haha, I did not know that! it is extremely difficult for me to imagine “Stephen Colbert” having any other name. to be honest I don’t think the show would have worked as well either…because it’s easy to wrap up your amusement with the character with your admiration for the man when they have the same name. plus, when real Stephen Colbert wins awards, it’s convenient how “Stephen” wins them too.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
that was spectacular. his wife is correct – Fonda took over the show. on a side note, Nate Silver (guest this week) is hott! i can’t wait for that zany interview.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I was pretty sure that after that interview that there would be problems at home. It’s great the way his wife reacted ;-)
“I don’t want them !”
I don’t think Fonda will be back.
I loved this New Yorker Fest. The heros out there who twitter these things rock! They bring these events to those who can’t be there.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Great job, Rachel! Thank you very much!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
He shouldn’t have gotten so into running for president. As much as I love the show, I thought that was a bad idea from the beginning. It obviously was just a publicity stunt and a joke and then it ended up hurting his feelings in the end. My question is what the hell would he have done if they let him run? Keep going around giving speeches? That would have gotten a little out of hand!!
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
That’s a great report; beautifully detailed. Thanks for sharing it.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0