Archive for Books
About that Sherman Alexie interview …
Posted by: | CommentsAhh, Sherman Alexie, I had looked forward to your return to The Report, and you didn’t let me down (even though my expectations were sky-high after that first interview). I knew we’d be in for some passionate commentary when he and Stephen started talking about E-books. I was keeping my eye on a number of online discussions during the show, and I started seeing the responses almost immediately. On the one hand, we had the old school book lovers who were applauding Alexie’s commitment to paper. On the other hand, we had the technophiles whose characteristically colorful denunciations of Alexie called him a Luddite at best and went creatively downhill from there. I have a lot to say on this topic, so click past the jump if you’re interested.
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VIDEO: Stephen Colbert reading ‘The Story of Ferdinand’
Posted by: | CommentsWonderful! NJ.com has added video of Stephen’s reading.
Watch it below:
| Stephen Colbert reads to Children at Montclair Library |
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Stephen Colbert opens reading weekend for Montclair Public Library Foundation
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Yay — I was hoping we’d see a write-up of this back when I heard the rumor that Stephen was involved in the Montclair Public Library Foundation’s Little Read program. And the good folks at NJ.com did one better by adding photos, what fun!
From NJ.com:
Stephen Colbert helps Montclair kick off reading weekend
By Nic Corbett/For The Star-Ledger
October 02, 2009, 4:10PM
MONTCLAIR — A mild-mannered but playful Stephen Colbert clumsily climbed aboard the 7-foot-tall, Seussian armchair in the lobby of Montclair’s main public library.“Fantastic,” joked the political satirist. “I wish they had a bigger chair.”
. . .
A Montclair resident and father, Colbert read “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf to help kick off the Montclair Public Library Foundation’s weekend-long read-a-thon, The Little Read. Nearly 200 Montclair residents – parents, authors, local politicians, journalists and school officials — signed up to read aloud at one of 11 sites around the township, including a planetarium, an art museum and a fire station.
. . .
You can find out more about The Little Read here: www.littleread.org. I think that second picture of Stephen in the midst of his reading is also really cute.
And, of course, it’s a great thing for those lucky kids. I hope Little Read is a big success — a love of reading is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
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New book about Second City: The Second City Unscripted
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Hey Zoners! Yes, it’s me again. I’m enjoying a little “staycation” this week, which is giving me plenty of time to pester everyone catch the Colbert news as it lands in my inbox and get it up on the blog in pretty quick fashion.
Thanks to Jennie for bringing this one to my attention: a new book about the first fifty years of Second City, and the talented alumni who have had such an influence on the entertainment we see on the big and small screens today. The Second City Unscripted: Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater, written by Chicago Sun-Times journalist Mike Thomas, is the result of 170 interviews and provides an unvarnished look at Second City both onstage and behind the scenes. The Sun Times is featuring an article about the book with excerpts from some of the interviews, including Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris.
Stephen Colbert
I was very actorly, because I had gone to theater school. And I was very controlled. I was all about planning. And Paul [Dinello] was sort of a wild, chaotic, impulsive energy comedically. Much sillier, much stupider behavior. And I’m happy to say he won that battle. He said my tie was tied a little too tight, and he was absolutely right. And he opened me up to a little bit of a wilder side, and so did Amy [Sedaris]. And then the three of us became pretty inseparable, and I was very lucky and grateful to have those two people to love and be loved by, for the next few years, because it’s not easy to be a lady-in-waiting there at Second City, while you’re on the road all the time. You get to be on the road, which is great, but waiting for your work is an exhausting experience. Even waiting for a touring company. They keep you hungry.
(A keen observer of mortal foibles and life’s grotesqueries, Sedaris had a penchant for getting ugly. Playing it pretty, she decided early on, just wasn’t her thing.)
Amy Sedaris
I just don’t find it interesting. I think there are enough girls out there who can do that, and look the part. I just didn’t pay any attention to it. I don’t remember wearing makeup onstage. I could do the different characters and wouldn’t have to worry about that. I wanted a blank slate. You can just add one thing and you become that character, but if you’ve got cat-eye eyeliner on, then you’re going to look like Sophia Loren in every scene.
It looks like a fascinating book. We all know how much Second City meant (and still means) to Stephen, but there are so many other talented, funny, creative people who benefited from their time spent there and went on to successful careers in film and television. The number of Saturday Night Live cast members alone who started out there is almost mind-boggling. The article also includes a link to a photo gallery: Second City: Before they were stars. At the end of the gallery is a 1987 picture of Stephen looking very cute and ridiculously young (although the pic itself isn’t the best quality).
The book’s official publication date is tomorrow.
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“I’d say throw the book at that kid, but he would just read it”
Posted by: | CommentsHey, everyone! Hope you’re all finding ways to survive this break period; it’s been a bit of an adjustment for me, not seeing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert at eleven each night. One way I’ve been using my extra time is in diving into the weird and wonderful world of books — truth be told, I’ve been gorging on the mounds of novels and non-fiction books that I seem so compulsively moved to buy every time I’m anywhere near a bookstore.
Given that, when I heard that First Book was in the midst of its third annual “What Book Got You Hooked?” campaign, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-post info from that great charity. We’ve posted about them before (twice, actually), but it’s really a great organization, and I love the discussions that ensue when we start talking about books here. Here’s Stephen’s pick for “What Book Got You Hooked?”:
STEPHEN COLBERT
Host and Writer, The Colbert Report
Swiss Family Robinson
The first chapter book I remember reading by myself was Swiss Family Robinson. It had it all – a shipwreck, a tropical paradise, a treehouse, pirates, home made bombs, a tiger pit, and the enviable freedom of those three Robinson boys who were seemingly on permanent Summer vacation. Oh! Plus, later they find this girl who they don’t know is a girl because her grandfather has dressed her up as a boy so the pirates won’t know, and the boys treat her like another boy until they find out she’s a girl, and she’s really pretty, and the older brothers fight over her, and they have to hold her hand and stuff to help her over rivers, and that seemed cool to me.
Please do swing by the “What Book Got You Hooked?” page and check out the other celebrity entries. And don’t forget to vote on a state (maybe South Carolina, for Stephen?) to receive 50,000 books for children in need. Banned Books Week is coming up, too — just one more reason to champion reading.
And please chime in the comments to tell us if you’d like to recommend anything you’ve particularly enjoyed, either as a child or more recently. This bookworm is already looking forward to reading your suggestions.
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Six Degrees: Projects, gigs and appearances from ‘Daily Show’ and ‘Colbert Report’ alums
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Man, these bookmarks build up *fast* when I have a few busy days! Anyhow, here’s the next round of collected links and whatnot for the friends and colleagues of one Dr. Stephen T. Colbert:
Lewis Black (Contributor, The Daily Show)
- Lewis is in the midst of a publicity swing for his new book, Me of Little Faith, with a fairly complete listing of tour dates here (h/t Lisa).
It sounds like a ton of fun, and if you want a preview, have a listen to this interview he did with Leonard Lopate below:
- Lewis seems to be taking his lead from Stephen’s insane schedule lately; in addition to his Daily Show and Root of All Evil duties and his book tour, he’s also got a couple of stand up dates scheduled in Virginia. He’ll be in Richmond on July 31st and in Norfolk on August 2nd; you can get more information here.
Peter Grosz (Writer, The Colbert Report)
- Peter will be reteaming with Saturday Night Live’s John Lutz on Wednesdays this month at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater to perform “2 Square“, an adaptation of his long-running Chicago show “4 Square”. Drop in and check it out (thanks to DB and Jenny for the links)!
- In addition to his UCBT work, Peter is scheduled for a stop in the recurring “Tell Your Friends” show at the Lolita Bar on June 23rd. This show gets rave reviews, so do try to check it out, if you can.
John Oliver (Correspondent, The Daily Show)
- John Oliver has reteamed with the always hilarious Andy Zaltzman to record a new round of “Political Animal” shows for Britain’s Radio 4. Information on the broadcasts is here; having gone to the taping of the “American dimension” of this show, I feel very comfortable saying that this is something you’re going to want to hear.
- Speaking of John and Andy, it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned their brilliant weekly podcast for the UK’s TimesOnline, “The Bugle“. That doesn’t mean the podcast is any less funny, so make darned sure you’re checking it out regularly. [Editor's note: I tried to access this site just now and it seems to be down, but that is the correct link, so I urge you to try it again later.]
Zeitgeist-y Stephen Colbert stuff
- Stephen has lent his name (and expert opinion) to a couple of recent books. The first of these is for fan favorite Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), whose new book is called Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress. Stephen said this about Rep. Wexler’s book: “I enjoyed Congressman Wexler’s book even more than I enjoy cocaine and prostitutes.” There’s an article about the book here, or you can go here
to read the full Amazon description.
- Not content to merely write a blurb for the book jacket, Stephen penned the introduction to cartoonist Al Jaffee’s Tall Tales, an upcoming collection of Jaffee’s works. Stephen notes, “This collection proves that not only has Al Jaffee always been funny, he’s always been disturbed.” You can read more about Jaffee’s book here
from Amazon.com.
John Hodgman (Contributor, The Daily Show)
- If you’ve read this far, you deserve a cookie. Or at least a laugh. Happily for you, John Hodgman is good for a hearty one of those in this hilarious clip with Ricky Gervais (tip of the hat to Comedy Central Insider for this vid). Warning: Unless you frequently spend your work day contemplating having tiny penises for nipples or similar questions, this one is probably NSFW (but very, very funny!). Enjoy!
UPDATED TO ADD: No sooner do I get all that typed up than I realize that Eric Drysdale (Bobby!) has new gig info posted, and it’s anyone’s guess whether I’ll have another “Six Degrees” entry ready to go by then. So here’s your notice: Eric will be participating in next Monday’s “Wasp Cove” show at Comix (great venue), and interested people can get tickets here.
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Read ‘I Am America (And So Can You!)’, you pantywaists!
Posted by: | CommentsMore fun from the Guardian, which is doing an admirable job of introducing the joys of I Am America, The Colbert Report and Stephen Colbert to the British audience:
Facts are for pantywaists
Liberals beware! Stephen Colbert’s brand of comic neo-con nonsense is on the rise. In an exclusive extract from his book I Am America (And So Can You!) he outlines his guide to Hollywood. First, Ben Marshall introduces the self-titled ‘fool’…Saturday May 31, 2008
The GuardianWatching Stephen Colbert can, for the uninitiated, be an alarming experience. Stephen Colbert, the writer and comedian, plays the part of Stephen Colbert, the tub-thumping, bible-bashing liberal-baiting rightwing pundit with such wild-eyed conviction you often wonder where the former ends and latter begins. His show, The Colbert Report, is a furious gale force of noxious neo-con nonsense that is at once extremely funny and deeply worrying.
. . .
Colbert has described his character as a fool. He is in fact something far funnier and more dangerous. Like Bush he is a bright man who embraces ignorance, exuberantly making up for his paucity of knowledge with the stridency and absurdity of his opinions. Indeed Colbert would probably argue, as Hillary Clinton did recently (on the ludicrous idea of gas tax holidays), that being well informed about an issue only helps to cloud it. Just like Colbert, Clinton dismissed experts as elitists. Colbert actually refers to experts as “factonistas” and claims there are more nerve endings in the human gut than there are in the human brain. “I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument,” he boasts.
. . .
Now, he has a book. Colbert has always said that books and reading are for “pantywaists”. But this one’s different he tells us; this is a book you buy for the simple pleasure of owning some more pictures of Stephen Colbert…
Go here to read the full article, plus an excerpt from the I Am America chapter on Hollywood
I wonder whether there are differences between the U.K.’s version of I Am America and the one sold here. Food for thought …
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Andrei Cherny, on his ‘Colbert Report’ experience
Posted by: | CommentsI love it when guests to The Colbert Report blog about the backstage buildup and the interview experience! Recent guest and author of The Candy Bombers Andrei Cherny is the latest to share the delightful details. Since we’ve read about the gift bags and so forth before, I’m just going to paste a couple of passages that made me laugh, but do read the full post.
From the Huffington Post (internal links omitted):
Backstage at Colbert
Posted May 20, 2008 | 11:59 PM (EST)Let me say one thing at the outset: if they had been passing out D minuses on the report card at Pixieland Kindgarten, I would have received one in arts and crafts. Asking me to take a pair of scissors and cut a straight line across a piece of paper is like asking Jack Daniels himself to put one foot before another in a field sobriety test.
Knowing all this, I should have realized I did not have all my wits about me when I decided to undertake a relatively ambitious project just minutes before I went on the Colbert Report last Thursday to talk about my new book, The Candy Bombers.
. . .
I quickly got ready and went downstairs where the car was already waiting. I suddenly felt the jetlag kicking in asked the driver if he could wait a minute while I got some coffee from the Starbucks next door. He said it was no problem. I asked if he wanted something and he laughed and said he didn’t. When I got into the car, the driver, a Polish immigrant, said, “You know, I’m sure they will have coffee for you there.” Good point.
. . .
I produced my little candy parachute and asked everyone what they thought about my taking on the air. They overlooked its deficient construction and said it would work well. They took from me to show the director and others and came back saying everyone was in favor of using it. In fact, I was told, there had been some discussion about whether it should be dropped onto the table while we were talking. Luckily, Colbert himself had nixed the idea. I’m sure it would have hit me in the head in mid-sentence.
. . .
Nice interview, Mr. Cherny! By the way, I’m reading this book right now, and although I’m only about 100 pages into it, I’m really enjoying it and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for something to read (you know, if you ignored my other recommendations). And when you’re done re-watching the interview (below), go here for more info on The Candy Bombers.
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