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Read our new cover story "The Subversive Joy of Stephen Colbert" in the new issue, and check out bonus Colbert Q&A. |
Before Stephen Colbert was a beloved political satirist and Peabody-winning grizzly bear detractor, he was an actor and comedian shuffling his way through various sketch shows and under-the-radar cameos. His stoic deadpan and occasional bouts of bluster were already present in the roles he would take on before The Colbert Report premiered in 2005, revealing an actor with Hartman-esque range aching for a breakout role. Rolling Stone takes a look back at the pre-fame Colbert with some classic clips waiting to be dredged up for his next Green Screen Challenge.
EXIT
57
After years studying and performing at Chicago's famed comedy
launchpad Second City, Colbert made the journey to New York to
develop Exit 57, a sketch show featuring fellow Chi-Town
improv alums Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. Dry and absurd like an
American Kids in the Hall and full of skits that often
ended with a screeching halt, the underappreciated show lasted just
12 episodes, airing on Comedy Central from 1995 to 1996.
THE DANA CARVEY
SHOW
Fresh off one the most iconic Saturday Night Live runs in
history, Dana Carvey brought his manic impressions to primetime
with a 1996 sketch show. Cancelled after seven episodes, Carvey's
profile never recovered. But during its brief run, the show cobbled
together a writing staff that would change the next decade of
comedy: Robert Smigel of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog fame,
Chris Rock Show writer Louis C.K., future 40-Year-Old
Virgin star Steve Carrell and post-modern Being John
Malkovich screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. And of course there
was Stephen Colbert, who appeared in the types of sketches that
made their advertisers nervous, most notably "Skinheads From Maine"
and providing the voice of Ace for future SNL staple "The
Ambiguously Gay Duo."
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THE DAILY
SHOW
After Colbert did two humorous new segments for Good Morning
America — with only one making it to air — he
captured the attention of The Daily Show's producers.
Colbert came on in 1997 as a correspondent serving under original
host, snarkmaster Craig Kilborn, and helped make the show into the
cornerstone of American political satire by the time he started his
own show in 2005. He told MediaBistro.com, "I never expected to
stay here because I did sketch comedy and I wrote, and I really
didn't think that this show was going to go anyplace."
STRANGERS WITH
CANDY
While serving his first few years at The Daily Show,
Colbert also co-developed Strangers With Candy, the
delightfully demented mutation of after-school specials that
launched the career of its star, Amy Sedaris. Colbert lasted three
brilliant seasons from 1999 to 2000 (and spawned one
not-so-brilliant 2006 movie) as history teacher Chuck Noblet, whose
dead-eyed approach to fudging facts and frequent outbursts subtly
set the stage for the evolving Colbert character on the Daily
Show.
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HARVEY BIRDMAN,
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Colbert's matter-of-fact tone made him the perfect candidate for
voice-over work, and he was recruited in 2000 to be the voice of
eye-patched, double-entendre-spouting lawyer Phil Ken Sebben on
Cartoon Network's ultra-wacky Harvey Birdman, Attorney At
Law. The gig served him well, as he's also provided voices on
The Venture Brothers and Nickelodeon's
Chalkzone.
LAW AND
ORDER
Colbert took a dramatic turn in an episode of Law And Order:
Criminal Intent where he got to show off his famous wrist...
as an expert forger and a murderer!
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MR.
GOODWRENCH
In 2004, GM decided to relaunch their long-dormant Mr. Goodwrench
campaign with Colbert as a globetrotting bumbler in a safari vest
searching for the real Mr. Goodwrench. His efforts didn't keep GM
from filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few years later, but laid off
employees can at least eBay the promotional Colbert bobbleheads
they made for the campaign.
CURB YOUR
ENTHUSIASM
In a 2004 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Colbert played
a crabby tourist quickly driven to his wits end by Larry David.
Colbert goes from jolly to rubber-faced incredulity within seconds
flat — a two-minute appearance that deftly shows the
hyperkinetic possibilities lurking under the usually staid
host.
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THE GREAT NEW
WONDERFUL
Colbert's detached school teacher persona got dark makeover in this
New York-centric Maggie Gyllenhaal indie flick where Colbert plays
a frustrated principal dealing with the parents of troubled child.
It's classic Colbert how unfazed he can appear when calling a 10
year old a "selfish incorrigible monster with a heart made out of
shit and splinters."
OUTLAW
TENNIS
Released just before the first Report hit the air in 2005,
Colbert could be found as an announcer on the Xbox/PS2 game
Outlaw Tennis, a regrettable title that works on the
premise that video game tennis is more exciting when it's appealing
to douchebags.
More Fall TV in Rolling Stone:
-
Stephen Colbert on Deconstructing the News, Religion and the
Colbert Nation
-
Video: The Cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at
Comic-Con
-
Video: The Kids of Glee on Their Favorite Performances
From the Upcoming Season
- TV on the Cover of Rolling Stone