The Zen and the Damaged

By Brad Herzog Source Meredith Scardino ’98 and Liz Levin ’98 make merry at ‘The Colbert Report,’ home to TV’s favorite ‘well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot’

By Catherine Ho Source At 30, attorney Matthew Sanderson has already racked up an impressive list of professional accolades: he’s been counsel in a presidential campaign and co-founded PlayoffPAC, which is challenging the way college football selects its champions. As part of the latter effort, he helped uncover allegedly lavish spending and inappropriate campaign contributions [...]

By Kathy Kiely Source Trevor Potter served for four years on the Federal Election Commission, including one as chairman, and as a lawyer for the presidential campaigns of George H.W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

By Marisa M. Kashino Source Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert has been busy forming a super PAC to poke fun at election regulations—or perhaps the lack of them. Here’s more on the man who’s helping him do it. In our July issue—on stands now—we told you about Washington lawyer Trevor Potter, who has been shepherding [...]

By SouthBendTribune Source How far can “writing funny” take you? In Tom Purcell’s case, New York, where he rubs elbows with one of television’s top comedians.

By Paul Brownfield Source At around 9:45 on the morning of the last show before Thanksgiving break, the writers of The Colbert Report gathered as usual in Barry Julien’s office.

By Mike Sacks Source In And Here’s the Kicker, Mike Sacks talked to some of the biggest names in comedy writing, including Dick Cavett, David Sedaris and Robert Smigel. Here is the complete and uncut version of his interview with former Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Daily Show and Colbert Report writer/producer Allison Silverman, [...]

Source Eric Drysdale wrote for The Daily Show for six years before helping to develop and then writing for The Colbert Report, where he currently works. You may recognize him as Colbert’s stage manager “Bobby,” although that character hasn’t been seen since April of 2008, when Colbert ate him. Naturally.

By Jessica Reynolds Source Thomas Purcell, executive producer of The Colbert Report and Loyola University Chicago graduate, returned to his alma mater Monday to speak to students.

By Irin Carmon Source “I think you’re great, and you write like a man.” It was the first audience “question” to a panel of women late-night comedy writers last night, an evening of similarly uncomfortable and (in this case, unintentionally) revealing moments.