Year of Gratitude - Day 133 - Stephen Colbert

Today is Stephen Colbert's birthday. My husband and I sat down to watch The Colbert Report when it first aired. I remember Colbert being a little shaky, nervous and awkward that first show. Once he became comfortable, he really turned that character into something spectacular. For nine years, he lived one of the funniest satirical bits I've ever known. Of course, Colbert isn't nearly as funny to those who he emulates. Truth is funny. And truth hurts, sometimes, too.

Here is today's excerpt from the Writer's Almanac (emphasis added on his quote):

Today is the birthday of satirist and TV host Stephen Colbert, born in Washington, D.C. (1964). The youngest of 11 kids, Colbert lost his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash when he, Colbert, was 10 years old. He retreated into books and, later, the theater. He wasn’t particularly political until he joined the cast of The Daily Show in 1997. Colbert hosted his own political satire show, The Colbert Report, for more than nine years. He played the part of a conservative pundit on the show, a persona he describes as a “well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot.” This past December, the final episode aired, and Colbert’s next job will be as host of The Late Show when David Letterman retires in September. As his character, Colbert said, “I cannot stand people who disagree with me on the issue of Roe v. Wade [...] which I believe is about the proper way to cross a lake.” As himself, in a commencement address to graduates of Knox College, he said: “Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it.”