"I would say laughter is the best medicine. But it’s more than that. It’s an entire regime of antibiotics and steroids. Laughter brings the swelling down on our national psyche, and then applies an antibiotic cream. . . . Obviously, it’s a challenge to make light of the darkness but, um, it’s better than crying about it."
—Stephen Colbert, interviewed in Entertainment Weekly
"Colbert . . . has reached a trippy level of meta-supra-self-referentiality that requires an advanced degree in philosophy? set theory? to understand fully."
—John McQuaid, Huffington Post
Greetings, Heroes!
Colbert University is an ongoing collaborative project: a viewer's companion for The Colbert Report. We explore aspects of the show's comedy and catalog its major recurring characters, terms, segments, and in-jokes.
And of course we celebrate the Report's star, Stephen Colbert—particularly in our archives, where you can see clips from his earlier work, read his speeches, and peruse interviews with him.
Together with our sister site NoFactZone.net, our mission is simple: to help you get the maximum enjoyment possible from The Colbert Report. To see all of our course offerings at a glance, check out our Campus Map.
Stephen and the Report pulled off the impossible--producing a week of shows in a war zone. Test your knowledge of June's Operation Iraqi Stephen and other events on the show with the July It-Getter's Quiz, written by Faculty Associate Vigwig!
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- Read some insights about friend of the show Neil deGrasse Tyson and why he thinks Stephen's his hardest interview in Behind the Scenes at The Colbert Report
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- Check out executive producer Allison Silverman's brief Q&A with Vanity Fair as well as her interview from NPR about The Report's trip to Iraq in Better Know a Report Staffer.
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Our courses are filled with links to illustrative clips from the Report as well as other interesting sources. We recommend beginning with our prerequisite course, The Dual Nature of Reality on The Colbert Report, which explores the difference between Stephen Colbert and "Stephen Colbert," the character on the Report. After that, if you're new to the show, you may enjoy:
You can also use our Search feature (at the top of this page) to find a specific term you’re curious about—for instance, Cheating Death, Tek Jansen, Sweetness, ThreatDown, or balls. If you can’t find what you want to know, feel free to call on us!
If you're a longtime it-getter, we invite you to:
- check out our many electives, which include Stephen Colbert and Catholicism and Audience Participation and the Colbert Nation
- investigate the Musky Treasures (Stephen's work outside The Daily Show and The Colbert Report) in our Video Archive
- learn more about the show's writers and get behind-the-scenes glimpses via the offerings at the Stephen & Melinda Gates Research Center
- and match wits with our Colbert Codex, a compendium of names, words, and phrases with special meanings on the Report
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If you're lucky enough to be going to a taping of the show, and want to ask Stephen an original question, stop in at the Audience-Questions Archive to find out what he's already been asked.
If you're super-lucky and are going to be a guest on the Report, check out our advice to guests, then take a peek Behind the Scenes at The Colbert Report.
When you're ready, take our final exam, then print your own Bachelor of Truthiness diploma!
Again, welcome to CU. Or, if you’re not Americans, WELCOME!
