Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – December 3, 2009
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Greetings, gang! I was thinking, as I was getting the material for this post ready, that it feels like I haven’t done a zeitgeist post in ages. And then I realized… I haven’t done a zeitgeist post in ages. Last week was pretty quiet once the dust settled from Stephen’s trip to Lake Placid. This week has been a little slow, too, but it sure is good to have the joy machine back, isn’t it? Break weeks are good for getting caught up on other things, but I do miss that brilliant smile on my TV screen every night. Here’s the news, such as it is, that’s been piling up for the past week and a half, your zeitgeist for December 3rd.
Giving thanks
- Thanks a Lot: Pop Culture’s Finest Moments of 2009 – Wired’s “Underwire” blog: In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S., Scott Thill takes the opportunity to express his thanks for the past year’s best moments in pop culture. First on his list? Stephen Colbert. (Click on the link to the article for some bonus eye candy.)
“Stephen Colbert’s hyper-real genius – Is there a braver comedian, or journalist, on television? Stephen Colbert’s nightly merge of news, hilarity, social commentary, wit and shameless plugs for everything from his painting in the Smithsonian to his marketable man-seed have fully turned the pop-culture’s self-obsessed mirror upon itself. In 2009, he successfully invaded Iraq, the International Space Station, the iPhone, and much more… Colbert is Earth’s most relevant living cultural critic, and deserves his own network.”
Name dropping from a comedy legend
- A.V. Club interviews Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner: This is just a quick mention, but given the source I couldn’t help but think “how cool!” In this great interview, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner discuss the origin of their classic 2000-Year-Old Man routine and the dynamic of their comedy partnership. It’s an excellent example of the straight-guy/funny-guy dynamic, where the straight guy does all the set-ups and the funny guy gets all the laughs and often all of the credit. Mel Brooks cites Stephen as an example of someone who handles the set-up role very well: “Right from the beginning, I wanted the laughs. I wasn’t going to waste a minute setting things up. But Carl loved that job. I think today, Stephen Colbert does that beautifully. He plays that kind of naïve far-right Republican, and he plays it so earnestly and so naïvely, just the way Carl would play it with me and the 2,000-Year-Old Man.” The difference with Stephen, of course, is that he does his own set-up, then gets to deliver the punch line as well.
Evelyn McGee-Colbert
- I previously mentioned this in a zeitgeist post back in August: one of the producers of the comedy Circumcise Me, currently playing off-Broadway at the Bleecker Street Theatre, is the lovely Evelyn McGee-Colbert. The play is written and performed by Yisrael Campbell, a former Catholic who mines some comedy gold out of his spiritual journey to Orthodox Judaism. The posters for the show include this quote from Stephen: “Yisrael Campbell is the funniest Roman Catholic Orthodox Jewish comedian in the world. Hurry and see him before he turns Buddhist.” If you’re in New York and interested in seeing the show, tickets are available through January 17th; click the link to the play for more info.
I Am America (And So Can You!)
- Want an autographed copy of IAAASCY? The ArtPride New Jersey Foundation is having an online auction to raise money for the arts in NJ. The autographed book is one of the items up for grabs, and the bidding so far is quite reasonable. The estimated value of the item? “Priceless.” (Heh.) The auction is open now and ends on December 11. You can view the relevant information and place a bid on the book here.
Better Know a Lobby
- Hah! Monday’s “Better Know a Lobby” guest, Joseph Cirincione, posted this admission on Twitter the day after his appearance: “Stephen Colbert does the best imitation of a nuclear explosion I have ever seen.”
(h/t Ms I)
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3 Comments
December 4th, 2009 at 9:34 am
That write-up in Wired is really great. Hmmm…his own network…I like the sound of that. :)
If only I lived in New York…I would so be buying a ticket to that show! And that tweet from Joseph Cirincione is just fantastic. :P
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December 4th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
*I knew the guy from the BKAL would admit eventually. I mean, come on, the reenactment was a work of art.
*I really liked the bit from ‘Wired’, although I’m curious where that shot is from. I’ve never seen it before.
*If I had money to bid on things, a autographed copy would be at the top of my list.
*I want to see that play, it seems hilarious. As is Stephen’s quote.
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December 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I love hearing *ahem* older, well maybe I should say, seasoned comedians mentioning Stephen. The Smothers Brothers mentioned him on Craig Ferguson and now Mel Brooks? Mel Brooks is a legend. The fact that he mentions Stephen is massive. Of course, we know Steve Martin is an it-getter. The fact that he let Stephen berate him like that, doing that Christian Bale rant was great.
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