The blurred reality of Stephen Colbert’s world

updated 6:25 p.m. ET June 12, 2008

NEW YORK - The walls of “The Colbert Report” studio are plastered with letters and artwork of the show’s fearless leader submitted by loyal fans. In one painted portrait, Stephen Colbert, astride a horse, is substituted for George Washington.

Outside Colbert’s office sits a brand new GPS system, which he had pleaded for on the show just days earlier. A publicist shrugs, “Ask and you shall receive.”

Inside, Colbert’s desk is surrounded by leftover props and gifts from guests — a veritable record of the absurdity he’s created from this place Jon Stewart calls “bizarro world.”

This is where Colbert and his staff hatch plans for where they might next fling their bloviating, perpetually suit-clad creation. Like a malfunctioning heat-seeking missile, he might go anywhere.

Colbert may inject his character into politics and media, just as he might wind up in the Smithsonian or Canadian junior league hockey. He’s created a kind of satire in action, teetering between his self-made universe and an often equally absurd real world. It’s a constant balancing act that last year nearly had him on the road to the White House.

“The Report” recently aired its 400th episode. On June 16, he will stroll into the Waldorf-Astoria and accept the prestigious Peabody Award for his show. Colbert says he also expects to play the role of “kingmaker” in this year’s election. The race has already been swayed by “Saturday Night Live” (whose debate parody altered how the press covered Barack Obama), but the comedy of Colbert has a different effect.

Slideshow   Celebrity sightings George Clooney brings girlfriend and mom to film premiere, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz makes her Broadway debut in “Chicago” and more. more photos

In his hall of mirrors, reflections may be distorted, but never unflattering. A study has even shown that his self-declared “Colbert bump,” an upswing in popularity for a politician after appearing on the show, is largely factual.

The presidential candidates have already had to reconcile themselves to dealing with Colbert, and the presumptive nominees — Obama and John McCain — would be wise to play along.

That’s because Colbert doesn’t demand a particular agenda of anyone, only the tacit, wink-wink acknowledgment that most any agenda — and all the image-conscious apparatus behind it — is a bit absurd, don’t you think?

His particular talent is in blurring reality while at the same time illuminating it. In a world where kids on MySpace trumpet a cult of personality just as politicians do on the stump, his act has larger reverberations.

We all have a truthiness.

‘Truthiness’ started show off with bang
Hastily finishing a sandwich at his desk, Colbert is busy. Lining the wall to his right are index cards of segments that may or may not make the week’s shows.

“Mostly I know what I’m doing today and tomorrow and have an idea about the day after that,” he says. “And tomorrow might change and I’m not sure about tonight.”

On this day, Colbert has already conferred with his executive producer Alison Silverman and co-executive producer Rich Dahm and discussed the current news with head writer Tom Purcell. They’ll soon have what Colbert calls “a bake-off” to decide what makes the show.

“The Colbert Report” has been working this way, more or less, since it debuted on Oct. 17, 2005. The show began with what might still be its biggest success — the coining of the term “truthiness.” The term, which means a truth one feels in the gut rather than learns in books, was a home run in the first at bat that Colbert calls the “thesis statement” to everything that’s followed.

“The Report” was then seen (and largely still is) as a parody of Bill O’Reilly’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox. While that was indeed the inspiration — a satire of conservative political punditry — anyone who’s watched the show consistently knows that its tentacles of farce reach far beyond any simple spoof.

“People say, ‘Aren’t you going to be sad when Bush goes?”’ says Colbert. “No. The show is not about that. The show is not about O’Reilly. The show is not about the shout fest. The show is about what is behind those things, which is: What I say is reality. And that never ends. Every politician is going to want to enforce that, or every person in Hollywood — every person.”

MORE FROM MORE NEWS AND OTHER FEATURES

Lambert says he got carried away, but not sorry

Lambert says he got carried away, but not sorry Entertainers have long misbehaved on TV Longtime CBS News producer Birnbaum dies ‘Good Morning America’ pulls plug on Lambert Oprah to interview widow of Ted Kennedy Cruise, Palin among Winfrey’s highlights Timeline: Oprah ending show after 25 years ABC: 1,500 complaints over Lambert’s act Oprah decides to end show ‘after much prayer’ Final season of ‘Lost’ to begin Feb. 2   Add More news and other features headlines to your news reader: