Colbert Report, November 19, 2009

Last week we were able to see a live taping of The Colbert Report. We arrived before 5:30, which we thought was on time, but people had started lining up at about 3pm. We were pretty much the end of the line. Three people in the standby line were also allowed in. I didn't know who the guest was until we were standing in line. It was my boyfriend, Elvis Costello. I can't think of anyone else I would have rather seen! Two great guys in the same room at the same time!

Because we were the last of the line we didn't get seats but instead stood the whole time. We had a good view of Stephen, but couldn't see his first guest because of the angle. There are TV screens everywhere and it was kind of interesting to see how so many people were watching them instead of the real Stephen right in front of them. They actually take breaks at the commercial breaks to tweak things. Stephen had to do a couple of retakes and one of the breaks was pretty long, so the taping lasted longer than it normally does.

Elvis Costello came out, and he had no voice so he played the guitar while Stephen sang. After that I think Stephen played the guitar and sang (Elvis tried to sing along). That part (and others that we saw) aren't in the actual episode. We both really enjoyed seeing the show live. It was interesting to also watch the final product. Everyone who works for the show was really great and looked like they were having a great time. Oh, and we got to see Stephen out of character. He held a brief Q&A session before the show began. It was a great experience.