I don’t have to sell this very hard, do I? Stephen Colbert, formerly the hilarious host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report, and soon to be the hilarious host of CBS’ Late Show as David Letterman’s replacement, is one of our foremost comedic geniuses. Aside from his excellent satire of a conservative commentator on Colbert, his outside appearances are the stuff of legend—particularly his turn at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ dinner, and his destruction of Bill O’Reilly.
So when you hear Colbert has ventured outside the studio, it’s not something you want to miss. And this time, he actually has a lot in common with the college grads, since he’s also moving on to a new phase in life. The funny stuff is on the money as usual, but I actually enjoyed the philosophical sections just as much. My favorite:
“Over the years, I have given my work a lot of thought. I have my own standard for success now,” he said. “I have a pretty good idea of what jokes will get laughs and a pretty good idea of what jokes may be iffy, but I’m going to say them anyway because I kind of like how iffy they are. Those who’ve watched my show over the years know I have made that decision many times. But having my own standards is why I could keep going at times when no one laughed or when I thought the person I was interviewing might throw a punch at me. It’s probably why the epitaph on my tombstone will probably read, ‘Well, I thought it was funny.’”
Read the full text here.