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“I mean, I’m an American… I’m not going to be free of it. I’m still going to care.”
“Power for the sake of power, as opposed to power for the sake of service.”
A video worth watching, in full.
Watching this video is a half hour well spent.
So eloquent, so learned, so deeply thoughtful, so measured and mature and funny and caring. Talking about the travesty of Trump clothed in the dignity of the office. That art requires discipline and discipline requires sacrifice (and giving attribution). This man is a comedian. A father, a husband. A citizen. But he’s also a teacher.
I love that he says that doing the show, making the show, is the way to heal from the awful things going on. That’s catharsis, that’s genuine art, that’s helpful, that’s what I’ve taught about writing in Elephant Academy for many years.
I will desperately miss his goodness and wit on display just about every night, all year. We need his new home not to be a standup special here and there on a streaming platform. We need him to find a new place to be #1 just about every night. We need this.
He says, “I’m a comedian, I’m not a warrior.” But yes, you ARE a warrior, sir. Your comedy is your sword. ~ a comment
so much beauty and heart in his thoughts, the one that broke me “America is irreplaceable but not invincible.” Godspeed to you Stephen. ~ a comment
“In other words, why should shows like mine continue to exist? Or like Kimmel or Jimmy or whatever? Well, we are like your friend who at the end of the day paid attention to what happened today more than you did. And then we curate that back to you at the end of the day. But it’s really more about how we feel about—or I, as the person who is the vehicle for that—how we felt about today. All those things that might’ve made you confused, angry, or anxious or happy or surprised or something like that. I share those feelings with the audience and they laugh or they don’t laugh. And there’s a sense of community there. And there are fewer and fewer of what, I don’t know who coined this term, but there are fewer and fewer of what you would call third spaces in our life. Not your home, not your work, but some other place we get together. And these late-night shows are for millions of Americans a third space to come together and think about the day.”
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