Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Steven Colbert On Bush And The American Press

Here's some great topical comedy for you, made all the more enticing and enjoyable by the fact that the people who're the target of the close-to-the-knuckle satire are sat but a few feet away. There's more on the story and background at BoingBoing and the full performance in video below.

I'm not for one second going to suggest Steven Colbert's routine would or could change anything, but it's a brave, very funny and expertly delivered. There's some wonderfully pained looking expressions in the audience. To be honest, I've never heard of Steven Colbert before, but he has some new found respect thanks to this performance. He manages to have some really sharp digs at everyone from Bush, to the press corp who he's addressing. It's an awesome display of irony and pointed satire.

Enjoy the show thanks to the advent of embeddable video. According to BoingBoing, the story's been largely ignored over that side of the pond. Such a shame. You'll need flash to watch these, click on the triangle in the middle and it will play for you.

*Edit* Removed from YouTube - but see it here.

Posted by Dio Bach at 08:50

4 Comments:

Elise Tomlinson said...: Do you get The Daily Show or Colbert Report where you live? Jon Steward and Stephen colbert are my heros!; 6:25 AM
Dio Bach said...: We have recently started getting the Daily Show, but I never watch it as Mrs Dio doesn't like it and I don't tend to be bothered enough to watch it. I only like the first 10 minutes when John Steward struts his stuff - I'm not a fan of talk shows.

Did you watch the performance? What did you think about it?; 11:05 PM
Greg said...: Hey these guys really use comedy for some awesome thought-provoking satire. Sometimes Stewarts Daily Show get an interesting guest on, esp a politcal figure, or book writer with a timely topic. Often they just get a silly guest, or do some silly stuff.

OTOH Colbert does his own show all the way thru by himself, and uses his character (as seen at the press conf.) and guest interview to always take a stab at many vital issues of culture and politics. It's grown on me to where I prefer his show. He's unpredicable whereas with Stewart, you pretty much know what yer gonna get, esp. with the interviews. Stewart rarely is disrespectful, while Colbert is always a smart ass.

After I saw his delivery I honestly feared for his life.; 11:09 PM
Dio Bach said...: Some of the looks on the audience's faces was telling. :); 10:21 AM