The Colbert event on Saturday night was likely to be the high point of the Festival, and certainly nothing that happened in the NYC Cathedral contradicts that. It was pretty great. Colbert and Jon Stewart hold a special place in urbane consciousness right now, and I hope they are able to maintain that status in an Obama presidency (knock wood). Colbert’s chops as an entertainer and as a kind of public moral authority (albeit skewed) are tough to beat right now. The love flowing from the audience in that room was considerable.

Looking at my notes, there is hardly anything that isn’t covered in Rachel Sklar’s exemplary and exhaustive account at The Huffington Post so I’m going to link you to that! I concur on all particulars.

I have only one additional point to make about Colbert, and it’s a rather esoteric one. Seeing him in person drives home the extent to which Colbert is not only a product of the Chicago improvisational method but quite possibly its apotheosis as well. If you’ve spent any time at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and witnessed the improvisational concepts of “raising the stakes,” “finding the game of the scene,” and “promoting a yes-and ethic,” just about everything Colbert says—whether in character or out of it—will seem familiar and vital, in the very best sense.

I’m not an expert on improv, merely a consumer of it, but I venture that that’s part of the reason why he can conduct interviews so well in character, he’s just the best improviser out there, and he’s raised the stakes in the best possible way (by getting a TV show, interviewing important people, running for president etc.).

Somewhere Del Close is smiling.

Stephen Colbert, Ariel Levy

Stephen Colbert
(photo credit: Alex Oliveira/startraksphoto.com)