Thursday, February 25, 2010

Stephen Colbert's Vancouverage of the Olympics

Stephen Colbert visits Sochi House in Vancouver - photo by Erin Hanson

Last Thursday afternoon I received a text from my sister Erin.

"Colbert is here! omg"

Hmmm. Well, I knew that already. People had been Tweeting like crazy about waking up early enough to see Colbert film on location for the past few days. I knew he was in Vancouver filming a few episodes for his show. I knew that he had a big stage set up out along False Creek by the Olympic pavilions, but the filming was early in the morning and I'd miss it because of work. I thought perhaps Erin only just found this out.

But when I inquired further, Erin clarified that no, she was literally standing right next to Colbert and his entourage in Russia's Sochi House. She was there touring around, and he just sort of arrived out of the blue. A bewildering experience, no doubt.

Colbert's take on anything is pretty hilarious as the best of times. For his unique perspective of the 2010 Olympics, you can now watch his "Vancouverage" online on the Comedy Network's website:

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-colbert-report/best-of/the-colbert-report-vancouverage-2010/

There are several episode's worth (all broken down into 4 part segments) and shows him touring a variety of the different Olympic venues and pavilions around town, interviewing athletes and visitors along the way. There's a good a sense of the crowds and the atmosphere in and around Vancouver (the cheering crowds outdoors are the same crowds cheering in the downtown streets every day and night). There's also a great interview with local politician, MP of Vancouver South, Ujjal Dosanjh.

You can read about Dosanjh's experience being interviewed by Colbert on his blog:

http://ujjaldosanjh.liberal.ca/en/news/n17580_blog-the-truthiness-about-colbert

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