Stephen Colbert interviewed Neil Gaiman today on The Colbert Report. It seemed that Colbert was having a hard time maintaining his narcissistic pundit persona, as the fanboy within was striving to break free.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5TGFOpJsf0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]
The real Stephen Colbert is known for his love of fantasy. And tonight, as he recited his lovingly-memorized Tom Bombadil verse, this wasn’t just written shtick. You can really hear the squeaky-voiced teen in him singing loud and proud.
Also, awesome of Neil to blurt the name of Colbert’s mock-“dark” children’s book, F*** It, We’re All Going to Die before Colbert could get a chance. (Although it seemed maybe the first mention had been edited out of the broadcast). This reminds me of a story about Mort Sahl being interviewed that we tell at work. Years ago, Mort told his interviewer to load up a lob of a question to which Mort could reply, “I guess you could say I’m an equal opportunity offender.” (Back then, “equal opportunity offender” was a new and hilarious enough phrase to qualify, to Mort, as a winning punchline.) However, the interviewer, either by mistake or to f*** with Mort, asked instead, “So Mort, would you describe yourself as ‘an equal opportunity offender?'” And Mort was left with nowhere to go.