Stephen Colbert Answers Revealing Questions (While Drinking Whiskey) | Vanity Fair

is this one of those myers-briggs things at the end of it i'm going to be like in injp or something like that is that what get what who gets this information is this does it come with a cheek scraping what happens next stephen you're about to take vanity fair's proofed questionnaire you'll be asked 35 questions in rapid succession the goal being to reveal your true nature you'll have five seconds to answer each question before we move on once we've completed all 35 questions you'll have a chance to reflect on and you can correct your answers sound good i'm nervous i don't want to be revealed i don't want my true nature revealed i'm a performer i work very hard to hide my true nature so people will like me go ahead all right question one what is your idea of perfect happiness ooh being confident of every decision what is your greatest fear um driving my boat into a wooden piling that for some reason i did not see as i was going down a creek at high speed what is the trait you most deplore in yourself uh there are times when i get angry and i no longer have control over the acceleration of the anger and i uh deplore myself after i lose control i remind you of five seconds for this question did you say five seconds before you did oh my god five seconds my greatest failing is not listening to instructions what is the trait you most deplore in others lying i guess i mean it comes in a lot of different forms but lying is the root of a lot of it which living person do you most admire maybe my father-in-law what is your greatest extravagance uh i buy liquor that i'm not sure is worth how much it costs what is your current state of mind uh fairly um breezy what do you consider the most overrated virtue chastity on what occasion do you lie when it would hurt your feelings to be truthful what do you most dislike about your appearance um i'm not thrilled about my um asymmetrical ears which living person do you most despise i tried i i don't know i don't despise i don't know i i try not to think that way i i mistrust a lot of people but i don't despise anybody what is the quality you most like in a man courage what is the quality you most like in a woman same courage same thing which words or phrases do you most overuse [Music] folks what or who is the greatest love of your life my wife when and where were you happiest um i was uh floating in a creek in without a boat just floating me physically floating in the creek which talent would you most like to have oh i'd love to be able to sing like sam cook if you could change one thing about yourself what would it be i'd like to be in better shape what do you consider your greatest achievement my kids and miami's obviously and my emmys too if you were to die and come back as a person or a thing what would it be a thing where would you most like to live south carolina what is your most treasured possession i i've got some really good first editions uh of books people that i've read i've actually read these first editions what do you regard as the lowest depth of misery um a sense of loss of control is usually the source of a lot of misery the fact that something's bad and you have no control over improving it what is your favorite occupation uh performing what is your most marked characteristic i probably make jokes about things that sometimes offend people what do you most value in your friends uh patience and forgiveness who is your hero of fiction who's my hero of fiction samwise gamgee is my hero of fiction who are your favorite writers um well i mean listen i really do love tolkien i have never unlike some people grown out of enjoying jd salinger a guy named robertson davies who's a canadian writer i really like george saunders i really like the science fiction writers larry niven henry kutner asimov obviously after you read him you feel smarter i'll stop there which historical figure do you most identify with i i don't identify with any historical figures who are your heroes in real life uh my mother and uh my wife what are your favorite names you know i really like the name matthew i really do i like the name matthew and i like the name caroline what is it that you most dislike i don't um like wearing a wool sweater without a shirt a very set very sensitive nipples is what i'm trying to say what is your greatest regret i'm gonna steal this one from george saunders my greatest regret is the times when i haven't been kind to people how would you like to die um [Music] i i quickly what is your motto uh wadare um quam essay to seem to be rather than b well this concludes the questionnaire is that part of it you do officially have to say that part is that did proust write that part remembrance of things passed is that proust is it the madelaine's like he's like he eats the madelaine's and the tea and he remembers his childhood is that what has that produced or is that proust what question do you think you have the most trouble answering oh a historical figure i i don't identify with any historical figures because i sort of said there's no real historical non-fictional historical figure that i relate to but then i went oh well does that mean there's a fictional one and there is and it's richard rich from a man for all seasons he is the young friend and sort of protege of thomas more the hero of the story who in order to further himself in his career perjures himself at trial and ends up condemning more because he lacks uh the courage to do the right thing i mostly associate with him tell me why samwise gamble is your hero of fiction he's um admirable without necessarily being clever his name literally means halfwit samwise and yet it's the he's the apotheosis of tolkien's idea that anyone even the smallest can change the world because he acts selflessly and in love and service to frodo it's his love of frodo that makes it possible it's not frodo's sense of mission or even the nobility of anyone else it's actually just sam loving frodo that makes it possible why was floating in a creek without a boat just floating me physically floating in the creek your greatest happiness it's an ongoing happiness i do it whenever i can my favorite thing is to go out with someone else or by myself way up a creek in coastal south carolina and you can get to places especially if the tide is right and the grass is high where you can't see anyone else on the planet you're absolutely alone you're as wild as the first man on the continent and you dive into the water and you can float along with the tide listen to the crackling of the shrimp on the bottom be completely pulled out of yourself and feel like you're one with the water and that elemental feeling divorces of your own ego and when you get back on the boat you're kind of open to what the rest of the day might bring because it wasn't your agenda but the tides agenda that moved you i like that sense of surrender but there's also a sense of security because you know in most of those creeks you could probably stand up if you needed to why do you admire your father-in-law he's thoughtful he's truthful he's kind and when i asked him for his daughter's hand in marriage he said to me yes because i think you strike me as a kind person and that's that's not why i like him but because he made that the top priority for someone who would marry one of his daughters is that i've seen a lot of husbands who aren't kind and i think it's an undervalued virtue in a relationship were there any questions that you answered and you were surprised by your answer i can't remember anything i said not really no nothing i was surprised that i had no i was surprised that i did not have answers for some of them like i was surprised that i didn't have a historical figure tell me why you say folks all the time like what's an occasion that you say folks almost every show i say the word folks it's kind of a holdover from the old show i would say nation or folks or something like that or it getters or something like that but the one thing i really like addressing the audience and ladies and gentlemen sounds too much like a ring master at a circus that i should be in a spotlight with a top hat and maybe a whip and so i like folks because it's very it's very simple tell me why your current state of mind is fairly breezy um i've got less on it these days you know with the changing of the tide in america right now i'm open to new possibilities i'm i'm in the tide being pulled along with everybody else and i'm really curious where it's going to take us and that makes me hopeful and happily expectant it's a breezy feeling would you like to give an example of a time you lied when it would hurt your feelings to be truthful no did you lie about any of your answers not to my knowledge and i am not willing to admit whether i am lying right now do you think these questions helped reveal your true nature i haven't the slightest idea i i really don't i'm not sure what reveals someone's true nature because i interview people for jobs and i also i interview people for a living in other words to hire them i interview them and i also interview them and i'm always wondering what is the thing i could ask you that would reveal you to me and i've never found it

Channel: Vanity Fair

Views: 717,518

Rating: 4.9499335 out of 5

Keywords: stephen colbert, proust questionnaire, stephen colbert vanity fair, stephen, colbert, colbert vanity fair, colbert proust, colbert interview, stephen colbert interview, vanity fair stephen colbert, proust questions, colbert proust questions, colbert questions, colbert answers, stephen colbert answers, vanity fair interview, proust interview, proust questionnaire vanity fair, stephen colbert proust, stephen colbert proust questionnaire, colbert drinking whiskey, vanity fair

Id: jXCS9sQNut0

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/slaraffenliv]

I loved this! Colbert keeps impressing me. He is such a kind soul. Also his description of floating in the creek is absolutely beautiful and I can so relate to that.

[u/LiztheBliz]

I always want to know more about him! Thanks for sharing!

[u/octropos]

Wow that was personal. I wonder if I can find more of these.

[u/hustonat]

I love his take on Sam - spot-on. This just confirms why I’m such a fan of Colbert.

[u/mediathink]

His comments around using "folks" interested me. It's a crutch that he recognizes, but not as such. He's a great broadcaster-legendary really. But clearly, no one tells him that saying "folks" breaks his bond with the viewer-especially when there is no live audience. It won't matter nearly as much when the audience returns, as it will be a natural deference to those in the theater, but it's kinda cringy for someone at his level who's playing only to crew now. This interview was remarkably brave. It illustrates why he's so worthy of his ratings.

[u/savoytruffle]

If he's meaning it humorously (I think so), "To seem to be rather than to be" is the inverse of the North Carolina state motto, which is also used since antiquity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esse_quam_videri

(ah, down the wikipedia page it indicates that was engraved on the hearth of the old Colbert Show)