How Stephen Colbert Plans to Host the 'Late Show'
The comedian describes his approach to hosting CBS's late-night show.
— -- Stephen Colbert is offering up a glimpse of how he'll approach hosting the "Late Show," and it's not what you'd expect.
The comedian compares his style to a Food Network show.
"Late-night shows are 'Chopped,'" he told the September issue of GQ, in a candid new interview. "Who are your guests tonight? Your guests tonight are veal tongue, coffee grounds, and gummy bears. There, make a show."
"Make an appetizer that appeals to millions of people," he added. "That’s what I like. How could you possibly do it? Oh, you bring in your own flavors. Your own house band is another flavor. You have your own flavor. The audience itself is a base dish, like a rice pilaf or something. And then together it’s 'Oh s***, that’s an actual meal.' And that’s what every day is like at one of these shows. Something is one thing in the morning, and then by the end of the day it’s a totally different thing. It’s all process."
Don't expect the Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" to show up on CBS late night, however. Not only has he retired that character, but he stopped doing the show, he said, because he no longer felt it "served to address the national mood."
"We’re in a different place now," he said. "We can stop freaking out that the guy’s middle name is Hussein. What else? Our response to the horror in South Carolina is to take the flag down. That is something I didn’t think was ever going to happen."
Instead, his approach to his new late show will be all his own.
"I just want to do things that scratch an itch for me. That itch is often something that feels wrong," Colbert explained. "It’s wrong because it breaks convention or is unexpected or at times uncomfortable. I like that feeling."
He's also not afraid to fail, having dealt with the loss of his father and two brothers in a plane crash when he was 10.
"You gotta learn to love the bomb," he told GQ. "Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it."
"You gotta learn to love when you're failing," he added. "The embracing of that, the discomfort of failing in front of an audience, leads you to penetrate through the fear that blinds you. Fear is the mind killer."