So, the Colbert Report taping was fun.

We got there just after 5:30 p.m. and waited on a line. There were four people behind us from Chicago.

Shortly after 6:00, two people came through the line and handed out numbered passes. Not everyone on line got passes – there are only 109 seats. We were number 60 and 61.

At around 6:20, they sent us into the building. We emptied our pockets and passed through a metal detector. My bag was searched. Then we waited in an outer room for about 20 minutes. There was a small TV hanging from the ceiling – showing Comedy Central, of course.

At around 6:40, a woman quieted us down and gave us some ground rules – turn off our cell phones, laugh and clap loud, don’t yell out things like, “We love you Stephen!” Then they sent us into the studio, ten people at a time.

And we got to sit in the front row! We were on stage right, which is where Colbert’s main desk is. Pretty cool.

A comedian came in to warm up the audience. He entertained/taunted us for about 35 minutes – there seemed to be some delay in Stephen coming out, so he needed to keep pattering for a while. He had a balding shaved head and was kinda hot, and he kept lifting up his shirt for some reason. He also introduced the camera crew and stage manager to us.

Finally, at around 7:30, Stephen Colbert came out and we all cheered loudly. He took questions for about five minutes and then started the show.

There are several TV screens high up in the studio, so you can see all the on-screen graphics that you see when you watch the show. I kept switching my eyes back and forth between Colbert and one of the screens.

He messed up his pre-credits introduction, and we all laughed. He had to do the whole thing over. That was cute.

The Wørd tonight was “Aggravated Assault” – all about the Superbowl. I didn’t pay much attention.

His next segment was an installment of Better Know a District. It happened to be our very own Congressional district, the New York 8th. He did a taped interview with our Congressman, Jerrold Nadler. He sufficiently humiliated him.

The guest tonight was Christie Whitman, plugging her book, It’s My Party, Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America, about how the Republican Party is pushing out moderates like her. Colbert told a cringe-inducing joke about Rudy Giuliani and 9/11.

After the final “commerical break,” he did a few final lines. Except he screwed up a line again. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s Thursday, and my tongue’s already in the car going home.” (The show tapes Monday through Thursday.) So he had to do that over again, too. Then it was over, and we applaused for a long time, and then he bowed and we applauded again, and then he left. And then we left.

Fun, fun, fun.

Next we need to get tickets to The Daily Show…