In Association with the New York Comedy Festival
The Truthiness Behind the Lines: An In-Depth Look Behind the Scenes with The Colbert Report Writers
Saturday, November 7, 2009
5:00 pm ET
New York
In Person
Barry Julien, Head Writer
Peter Grosz
Max Werner
Peter Gwinn
Glenn Eichler
Jay Katsir
Rob Dubbin
Michael Brumm
Frank Lesser
Opus Moreschi
Meredith Scardino
Eric Drysdale
Moderator: Moderator: Zachary Kanin, New Yorker cartoonist and author of The Short Book
The Colbert Report, a faux right-wing news satire spun off from the mighty Daily Show, has earned a large and dedicated audience, rapturous critical reception, Emmy and Peabody Awards, and the honor of introducing a new, useful word—truthiness—to the lexicon. The Colbert Report writers will discuss the process of turning terrifying news into hilarious comedy.
Here is a video of Comedy Central Insider interviewing The Colbert Report writers, right before our event started:
| Stephen Colbert - The Colbert Report Writers - Frost Nixon Part 2 | ||||
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Much as I love the show, and watch it every night, I think the content of the show is very much affected by there not being more female voices on the writers' staff. I worry that shows like yours are oblivious to that, because you're so accustomed to the (almost) all boy team as the "norm". Female friends and I have noticed that there are segments when the show just veers off into heavy sports or fantasy characters having laser fights, things that might reflect the fantasy life of a young pre-adolescent boy, by n one else. At those points my eyes just glaze over, and I switch to see who Charlie Rose is interviewing. How do you think not having more than one woman on the staff affects the show?
merle, November 07, 2009 at 12:49 pm
How did you end up writing for The Colbert Report?
ErinM, November 06, 2009 at 5:41 pm
The Colbert Report and The Daily Show tend to overlap coverage only on one story a night, if at all. How much communication is there between the two writer's rooms about what each is doing?
ErinM, November 06, 2009 at 5:39 pm
There are few women in this line of work - what widsom, words of encrouagement (or perhaps discouragement) can Meredith share with women who are trying to break into writing for shows?
Tashkoz, November 05, 2009 at 9:46 am
Congratulations to Barry Julien now listed as Head Writer. With this many people on a team for such a short show, it would be interesting to know how the writing contribution process works. Does everyone pitch in to everything on a daily basis or are there specialities in certain areas for each of you? Its hard to imagine every writer's material getting into every show. Friends and I have laughed about each of you getting paid by the words actually used on air.
unanimousvote, September 28, 2009 at 12:34 am