RECAP: 'The Colbert Report' in Philadelphia, 4/14

Finally the time has come for 'The Colbert Report' to report (hard “t”) from Philadelphia. And being that Comic Vs. Audience is a comedy blog for Philadelphia and The Colbert Report is a comedy TV show in Philadelphia this week, it makes sense to recap the show from the comfort of our own living room.

The set has always been important to 'The Colbert Report' and this live show was no different. There was a red, white and blue motif with a portrait of native son Bill Cosby and, to prove that he was in Pennsylvania, there was a map of the state behind Colbert.

The show opened with John Legend singing the national anthem with Colbert backing him up. We aren’t sure why you need the national anthem at a TV taping, but I guess if you can get John Legend, you do it.

For true Philadelphia flavor, Ben Franklin helmed the side map area spouting off silly proverbs such as “If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun.”

Why Philadelphia, Mr. Colbert? “Pennsylvania will have a decisive voice in whether it be for the first time a woman or an elitist secret Muslim.” After a quick wrap-up of the Democratic race so far, Colbert addressed the recent Obama controversy with the best line of the night: “You don’t cling to your gun because you are bitter. You shoot your gun because you are bitter. Then you cling to it because it’s so nice and warm.”

After this wrap-up, Colbert got local by addressing Philadelphia’s violence problem and the five gun laws that Mayor Nutter signed last week. When the crowd applauded at this point, Colbert said, “Do you hear them? Do you hear them cheering guns?”

Then out came Nutter, waving and bowing so much that it took him quite some time to make it over to the desk. He’s a savvy, congenial guy, but we imagine he doesn’t have too much experience on late-night comedy shows.

When Colbert asked Nutter why he signed the laws, he replied, “because we don’t like people getting shot in Philadelphia.” Zing! Nutter is endorsing Clinton and as he stated his case for her being the most qualified candidate there was a single audible chuckle from an audience member.

And then Nutter was off. With Hardball’s Chris Matthews as the main guest, they really had to cram him in there.

Matthews is a native of Philadelphia, which earned him some applause right off the bat. When Colbert asked him how the candidates can please Pennsylvania, Matthews replied that they should “tell them that they’re not bitter.” Colbert replied that he doesn’t think people of Pennsylvania are bitter “and I’ve licked a few”. Matthews continued by saying that he thought Clinton had eight points over Obama, but now it was probably around ten.

Next, Colbert brought up the rumor that Matthews may be running for Arlen Specter’s Congressional seat in 2010 and proceeded to try to prod him into making an announcement that night. “Did you ever want to be something your whole life?" Matthews said. "Some kids wanted to be a fireman; I want to be a Senator. But I have to deal with these things as they come.” Not exactly an announcement, oh well.

The crowd was amped throughout, which was no surprise considering how lucky they probably felt to get in and Colbert had them eating out of his hand. After a brief discussion on ward bosses (they failed to mention that Obama recently told local ward bosses he won't give them street money), Colbert remarked that he was the ward boss for America’s youth. “Let me ask you something. Would you vote the way I told you to?” Thundering applause. “Then why won’t the candidates coming here?”

And that was it. The guest for Tuesday’s show include The Roots and potential first lady Michelle Obama. And, Colbert also promised that he would learn how to pronounce “Schuylkill”. We don’t want to predict anything, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could see Obama and Clinton on by the end of the week. Matthews brought up Clinton coming on later in the week, but it’s hard to tell if Colbert was bluffing or covering up with his “we like to surprise people with our guests” reply. Either way, the show is suspiciously not announcing any guests for the Wednesday and Thursday shows.

UPDATE: Clinton confirmed as a guest for Thursday's show! Turns out Matthews did spill the beans yesterday. Still nothing from Obama though.

The Daily Pennsylvanian is all over the story with an article here and another on Nutter's appearance here

More here as it develops!