How many Stephen Colberts are there?
There used to be just two Stephen Colberts, and they were hard enough to distinguish. The main difference was that one thought the other was an idiot. The idiot Colbert was the one who made a nice paycheck by appearing four times a week on ''The Colbert Report'' — pronounced in the French fashion, with both t's silent — the extremely popular fake news show on Comedy Central. The other Colbert, the non-idiot, was the 47-year-old South Carolinian, a practicing Catholic who lives with his wife and three children in suburban Montclair, New Jersey. One of the pleasures of attending a live taping of ''The Colbert Report'' is watching that Colbert transform himself into a Republican superhero.
Suburban Colbert comes out dressed in the other Colbert's guise — dark two-button suit, tasteful Brooks Brothersy tie — and answers questions from the audience for a few minutes. Then he steps onstage and turns himself into his alter ego. His body straightens, a self-satisfied smile creeps across his mouth and a fatuous gleam steals into his eyes.
Read the whole story here:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/stephen-colbert.html
