Taping Date: August 1, 2016
Air Date: Same day as taping
Where to get tickets: colbert.1iota.com
In the summer of 2016, I took a friend for a weekend in NYC as she’d never been. We did all the normal tourist stuff as well as a couple Broadway shows as well. On August 1, we decided to try for standby tickets to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The standby list is now done as a lottery as opposed to first-come-first-serve. We gathered with everyone else on the standby list in front of the theatre waiting for names to be called. Fortunately we were actually the first ones called, despite being close to number 100. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is a very popular show, so we were lucky to get in.
Attending the Show
The process for entering the Ed Sullivan Theater is basically the same as it was for David Letterman. By the time they let the standby audience in, we didn’t have to wait in the lobby. The confirmed audience had already been seated so we went through security and right in to the theatre. We were directed to the balcony and sat at the far end of house right.
The show itself was fun, the guests were good too. The guests were Viola Davis and Simon Helberg. Before the musical guest, Declan McKenna, we needed to leave, as we were going to miss the start of our broadway show, Something Rotten. It crossed my mind that this singer might be the next Justin Bieber, and we will be those people who walked out before seeing him. However so far I haven’t heard about him again, so I suppose we made the right decision.
Unfortunately, one thing I need to note is that I found the staff and CBS Pages a lot less friendly. They were even borderline rude compared to when David Letterman had his show. I don’t know if the staffing is done by a different company, or if we just caught them on a bad day, but it put a damper on the show. Fortunately, Stephen Colbert himself is a great host and a lot of fun. A good host, although I’ll admit to still longing for the days of David Letterman.
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