Stephen Colbert Interviews Allison Silverman About "Stephen Colbert"

Elle scores a "get" in their latest issue as Stephen Colbert teases out a warm one-on-one with The Colbert Report's Executive Producer Allison Silverman. The article unearths some of Silverman's nerd credentials and her favorite bits while writing for The Daily Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien; pretty much a confirmation that she's as crushworthy as Stephen.

If you have aspirations of writing or producing comedy, there are also plenty of quips to take heart:

SC: You have an incredibly fast-paced job now. What’s the hardest part of your day?

AS: The morning, when I need to have opinions and answers across the board very quickly. It’s a constant fight between ease and inspiration, what will make our lives easier versus what will make us excited because we were ambitious.

SC: You may throw three hours at an idea and then realize the other one was better. At a daily show you don’t necessarily have the luxury of being wrong. If you are, the last three hours of your day will feel like the last hours you’ll ever do the job. But, if you’re right, you’ll feel like you could do it for 10 years. What would you miss the most if you didn’t do this anymore?

AS: The surprises that come with comedy. You hear something you never heard or see something that doesn’t seem to make sense but somehow does.

SC: So what did writing for this character [Stephen Colbert] turn out to be?

AS: A long role-playing game. It’s like improv.

So now you know the secret to having a dream job. For the rest of Stephen and Allison's exchange, the full article is well worth printing from here.