
“And then I'm weak. As much as I want to make the audience laugh, I really want to make Jon laugh.”
Entertainment Weekly interview http://www.jerriblank.com/colbert_ew.html, August 13, 2004, on his character break during the infamous Prince Charles sketch on The Daily Show.
Context: Such a proud moment of professionalism. You work for years crafting cogent satirical essays and the thing that everybody remembers is me making love to a Chiquita and bursting into laughter. What you can't see off camera is Jon started laughing first. And then I'm weak. As much as I want to make the audience laugh, I really want to make Jon laugh.