Quote #56

He's able to create a universe where something surreal happens on [The Colbert Report] that seems ordinary, and all of a sudden the absurd appears not mundane but expected, organic... So he can have a conversation with Richard Holbrooke and Willie Nelson and it all makes perfect sense and yet it couldn't appear anywhere else without appearing burlesque. Somehow he has managed to create a fake world that has impacted and found standing in the real world.

More from Stephen Colbert

  1. Part of the joy of being in character is being able to get away with things others cannot. Though a lot of that is that [he] is so high on …
  2. The thing about Colbert is he's fucking brilliant... He was always the smartest guy in the room, and he was always smart enough not to let …
  3. He's like a living wall of encyclopedias that like to drink beer.
  4. It's one thing for an asshole to play an asshole. But [Stephen's] basic decency can't be hidden.
  5. His humor is an accumulation of the eccentricities, mannerisms and jokes of his ten older brothers and sisters, a medley that trickled down.
  6. My character is self-important, poorly informed, well-intentioned, but an idiot: So we said, 'Let's give him a promotion.'
  7. Earlier in the evening, Colbert had been beaten in the Outstanding Individual Performance category by Barry Manilow.
  8. Stewart: We are here to honor achievement in [reality television]...

All Stephen Colbert quotes