Stephen Colbert appeared on The Late Show last night as he gears up to replace David Letterman as host next year.
Colbert will host the show as himself, not as the faux-right-wing pundit he plays on The Colbert Report. He appeared as himself last night, undoubtedly to help fans adjust to his real personality, which, until now, he has rarely revealed on TV. He also sported some new glasses to differentiate the real Colbert from his Comedy Central persona.
Here are five funny things we learned about the real Stephen Colbert during his Late Night appearance:
1. He once turned down an internship at The Late Show
In 1986, Colbert accompanied his girlfriend as she interviewed for an internship at The Late Show. Someone noticed him waiting in the hall and invited him inside for an impromptu interview. He went along with it, and ended up snagging the internship instead of his girlfriend (“The relationship did not last,” he said). Letterman asked why Colbert turned down the internship in the end. “Because you did not pay people,” Colbert shot back, adding, “This next job I’m taking here…that pays, right?”
2. His kids have one reservation about his new job
Colbert said that while his family is exciting about his new hosting gig, his kids are worried about the potential gap between the end of the Colbert Report and the beginning of his Late Show hosting duties.
“I think they like me, but they get nervous when I’m around too much,” he joked. He said he had floated the idea of leaving the Colbert Report in the past so that he could spend more time at home, and their answer was, “Dad, we’re really busy…we’re not going to bake bread with you.”
3. He’s a selfie expert
Colbert snapped a smiling selfie with Letterman. “Is this still what people do?” Letterman asked.
#boobs pic.twitter.com/bPKXOII4Vc
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) April 23, 2014
4. He went on vacation with a broken wrist
Colbert told Letterman a story about how he once broke his wrist the day before he was set to go on a two-week vacation. He didn’t want to change his holiday plans, so he went without getting the wrist set in a cast—which he joked only made him a better entertainer.
“I built a boat with a busted wrist,” he said. “Because that’s what I bring to comedy. I bring grit.”
5. He was just as funny in 1997
In his second encounter with The Late Show, a then “gainfully unemployed” Colbert and his writing partner submitted a Top 10 list to Letterman in 1997. The theme of the list was “Top 10 Cocktails for Santa,” and 17 years later, the jokes still hold up. Some of the drinks he suggested were the ‘Vodka Gimlet’ (one part vodka, any party turkey organ) and the ‘Scrooge Driver’ (made from grain alcohol and regret).
Watch Colbert’s Late Show interview: