Stephen Talks to the Charleston Post & Courier about the Upcoming MUSC Benefit.

On Friday, the comedian, actor and Charlestonian Stephen Colbert will appear at the Gaillard Auditorium for a benefit to raise money for an endowed chair in his father’s name at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. James W. Colbert served as the university’s first vice president for academic affairs from 1969 until his death in a plane crash in 1974. The school, which also named its education center after Dr. Colbert, calls him a “transformative figure” that helped MUSC adopt the traditions of academic medicine. His son, host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” spoke with Post and Courier columnist Brian Hicks about the benefit, his recent participation in the Charleston Bermuda Race and, of course, South Carolina politics.

Q: What does it mean to you that MUSC is creating an endowed chair in your father’s name?

A: My father was an M.D. but he was also an academician and a researcher. He believed in research universities and teaching. This chair and anything we can do to raise money for it is a fitting memorial. It’s maybe the most satisfying use of what little fame I have.

Q: What is the format of this show? What can we expect?

A: Jon Alter, formerly of Newsweek and now on MSNBC, is going to interview me on stage and we’ll take questions from the audience. We’ve done this before and it’s a very fun night. I’m so happy to be helping them with this. I’d just encourage everyone to come.

NPR: Stephen Colbert: In Good ‘Company’ On Broadway

The audio for Stephen’s interview on “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” will be available at 5:00PM (ET).

Exclusive Web Audio: Stephen: “When I’m brushing my hair in the morning, which is quite an event”.

In the mean time here is a wonderful summary:

“I imagined myself living in New York in some sort of open large-but-sparse studio apartment with a lot of blond wood and a futon on the floor and a bubbling samovar or tea in the background and a big beard — living alone but with my beard — and doing theater,” he says. “That’s what I thought my life would be. It has not been — and I love what I do — but to be asked to do this and then to accept the challenge of it … I can la-di-da my way through things … but to sing Sondheim is a completely different beast.”

A Look Back: Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” 2005.09.02

From Bermda shorts to broken toilets. Let’s take a look back at Stephen telling David Letterman all about his doomed maiden voyage to Bermuda in 2005.

“Spirit of Juno” Arrives in Bermuda.

Back on Dry Land Stephen Colbert Talks to Bernews.

Bernews.com has posted two brief interviews with Stephen and a gallery full of wonderful eye candy:

“Spirit of Juno” Finishes Second in the Charleston to Bermuda Race.

Our intrepid sailer returned to dry land in the early hours of Saturday morning. Despite being a little bit frazzled from his adventure Stephen managed to stop for this brief interview with Shelly Warters from Ondeck Sailing … and no doubt to tease the fangirls with his scruffy beard!!

(Thanks to gentoo for the clip)

Colbert and “Spirit of Juno” Finish but Fall Short.

For Stephen Colbert and his crewmates on board the OnDeck Farr 65 The Spirit of Juno, the 2011 Charleston Bermuda Race came down to the wire. Colbert and company spent most of the last six days sailing neck and neck with their closet rival, the Shipman 63 Tucana. During the final 10 hours of action, the victory slipped from their grasp. It was a case of too little too late as the leader of Colbert Nation and his fellow crew couldn’t muster enough speed to catch Tucana.

Yesterday evening, Tucana crossed the finish line just east of St. Georges Channel on Bermuda at 7:46:12 p.m. EDT. At the time, Spirit of Juno was roughly 25 miles behind her, well within striking distance. With the respective handicap ratings factored in (Tucana rates -54 and Juno rates -33) the Shipman owes the Farr time, roughly 4.5 hours on this course, and that differential would determine the final standings. Unfortunately for Colbert and company, the winds moderated after sunset, and the Spirit of Juno wasn’t able to maintain sufficient speed to arrive at the line in time. She finished at approximately 4:00 a.m. EDT today.

The crew on board Spirit of Juno spent their initial hours on Bermuda in St. Georges Harbor, awaiting daylight. They then proceeded to motor to Hamilton Harbor and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club where, after clearing customs, Colbert was expected to talk with the media about his voyage.

Source: ChalresBermudaRace.com

Stephen Colbert Featured in Sailing World Magazine.

Stephen Colbert Challenges You to an Ocean Race.

Stephen Colbert’s first offshore racing experience, the 2005 Charleston to Bermuda Race, couldn’t have gone any worse. The 45-foot cat ketch on which he sailed finished dead last. In fact, it took his crew so long to reach Bermuda, they arrived two days after the awards ceremony. But as unequivocally bad as it was from a racing perspective, as an experience, it was equally as profound. In fact, the normally glib 46-year-old, who hosts the satirical news show “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, says he has trouble finding the words to accurately explain why he enjoyed the 777-mile race so much, and why, come May 21, he’ll do it again.

What’s your sailing background?

I grew up right on Charleston Harbor, right across from the Carolina YC. The regattas were right outside my window. I wasn’t allowed to go sailing because I don’t have an eardrum in one ear and I couldn’t get water in my ear. It just drove me crazy. My mom felt so badly for me, that when I was 20, my doctor said, it’s healed enough—the thing that was wrong was still wrong, but it was better—he said, “You can go out there now.” My mom said, “OK, I’ll get you sailing lessons.” I said, “I don’t really want to now.” Which, of course, really upset her, because to her I was still a little boy. But, I said, to hell with it. I’d moved on.

So I kind of just left it behind. I’d done a little sailing, I’d snuck behind her back, and capsized, and got in trouble. But I hadn’t really done that much sailing, but the little I’d done I had enjoyed.

Then [in 2005] when I was 41, a friend called up and said, “The C2B [Charleston to Bermuda] is this year. I know somebody who’s got a boat, and you know almost all the guys on it. Do you want one of the berths on the boat? I asked my wife, and she said, “Yes. Go.” She shocked me. That was my introduction to serious sailing. I just loved it.

This past summer when we were down in Charleston—I hadn’t decided to do the C2B this year, the Charleston to Bermuda that OnDeck is doing. One day I was looking out, it was a beautiful day; I was down there for a couple of weeks. I actually called up OnDeck, not knowing I was calling up OnDeck, because they took over the maritime center in Charleston, and rented a Beneteau to take it out. Then I found out they were running the race and that’s how the whole thing started with me back involved with them again.