I've been to many shows in the city whether it be broadway shows or tapings of late night shows. I've been to "Late Night with Seth Meyers" three times and I went to "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" twice. However, this spring break I decided to change things up a bit and go to "The Late Show" which Stephen Colbert hosts. I didn't really know what to expect going into the show since I never watched the show nor did I watch any of Colbert when he had his own show on Comedy Central or when he was on "The Daily Show", but once I got there I had without a doubt the best late night taping I've ever been to.
What could have made this taping so much better than Jimmy Fallon or Seth Meyers who I both watch on a regular basis? Well for one thing, the guests! I didn't know who the guests were going into the show because they weren't listed due to the show not airing the same day that it was being taped, it was a complete mystery. When Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool himself, shows up on stage out of nowhere to call out Colbert about lying to the audience when he said that it was a Tuesday when the show was in fact taping on a Thursday, you know it is going to be a great show. After the monologue and the Ryan Reynolds bit we thought that we be the end of Reynolds, but then he comes back on stage a little later to do another totally unexpected sketch. Both sketches were great, but could the show get any better?
It did! After our excitement of unexpectedly seeing Ryan Reynolds fades, Bryan Cranston shows up out of nowhere to do a sketch with puppies. Who doesn't love puppies? Afterwards, we were treated to an interview with Audra McDonald and Bryan Cranston unexpectedly comes back again for an interview with a "Power Rangers" suit on to promote the new movie. Finally, our show ended with an awesome comedian's performance.
The other great part of this blind show was that it was the longest taping I ever went to. With two Ryan Reynolds bits, a monologue, two Bryan Cranston bits, Audra McDonald, the comic, shooting promos, listening to the show's band, and seeing the warm up comic this show was better than I could have hoped for. In the past, guests on other tapings were weak and on Jimmy Fallon's show the tapings were shorter because sometimes people weren't always available, but this Colbert show was the place to be!
I suppose the thing I took away the most was that you should try different things because you'll never know how awesome those things can be until you try them. Oh, and not knowing who the A-list guests are can be way more exciting than walking into a show knowing exactly who is going to show up! And finally, watch Colbert he is hilarious!
