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Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Martin/1284477220 Mark Martin

    I don’t know Morrisey but he came off as totally humorless on Colbert.

    • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

      I don’t know him either, so I’m not sure if he’s joking or if he’s really that much of a jack ass.

      • Benjamin Palmer

        I got much the same feeling. I wondered during the interview if he was not fully aware of who & what Colbert and his Report are, or if he just didn’t care. Either way, it made for an entertaining interview!

      • wildemar

        Welcome to British Humour.

        • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

           so, 90% failed skits with a couple of really memorable ones.

          • Judas Peckerwood

            Which is still around 900% the success rate of SNL.

          • oasisob1

            Bazinga!

          • wysinwyg

             This comment is pretty funny but aren’t you playing down how much SNL actually sucks?

      • flickerKuu

        I don’t know Stevie-P Morrissey that well myself. But from what my brother told me about him I totally hated him until I watched this. Now I think he’s an all-right guy. No idea who this Smith guy is.

    • Ito Kagehisa

       Actually I was kind of tickled by the way his British reserve was cracking right there at the end; despite what appeared to be a serious effort to take Colbert at face value he eventually succumbed to the metajoke.

  • SumAnon

    I heart Colbert’s ability to snap out witty responses when guests are trying to be sharp or difficult.

  • franko

    he was more humorous and accommodating than i’ve ever seen him be. i thought it was a great interview. i TOTALLY fell for the johnny marr bit. talk about a catfight!

    • Phoenix Lomax

      “Accommodating” is exactly what I was thinking in light of his “de-meat the studio” requirement. /s

  • arsphenamine

    Far be it from me to suggest that Morrissey is a humorless self-indulgent narcissistic twit.

  • Philboyd Studge

    This was the second time this month BB has forced me to break out a Warlock Pinchers 12″. I’m going to need a new needle soon.

    • Navin_Johnson

       We are probably 2 of 3 people that will understand this without resorting to google.

      • Philboyd Studge

        Indeed. Now…Where The Hell Is Crispin Glover?

        • Navin_Johnson

           With Jesus, on the urinal cake.

          Ok, I’ll stop…

  • Robert Oliver

    If you follow Morrissey, then you got EXACTLY what you expected. Morrissey is awkward during most of his interviews. Moreover, you cannot blame Morrissey for being frustrated with the continuous questions about the Smiths.  Morrissey’s solo career has been four times as long as his short stint with The Smiths, but most people cannot recognize what he has accomplished on his own for the last couple decades.  I’m not, however, annoyed with Colbert with his interview. Colbert is going to play a caricature of a Republican ideologue in all of his interviews; this interview with Morrissey was no different.

    I also know that Stephen Colbert lets his guests know that he is “playing a character” before they are on the show. He doesn’t have people on his show to publicly humiliate them. Morrissey knew damn well what to expect from Colbert and he was a GREAT sport about it.  I actually found the entire interview to be excellent!!!

    • cj howeareya

      This is exactly right — he tells his guests “Remember — My character is an idiot who thinks he knows everything.” and asks his guests to play along with that.
      However, what he probably doesn’t prepare his guests for is that, as mentioned above, this idiot also has one of the sharpest improv minds alive and can literally destroy you from the idiot’s — and frequently the audiences’ — perspective.

      Loved this clip.  Morrissey was way more accommodating himself than I would ever have imagined, considering he’s such giant pill.  And color me shocked at how good his voice still sounded during his song.

      • Navin_Johnson

        Does he only do that now?  I thought there were at least a couple politicians in the past who famously thought it was a serious show.  Wasn’t John Edwards one of them?

        • Robert Oliver

           I think he’s always been “up-front” about his “schtick”…I do remember that Rahm Emmanuel ordered a moratorium  (to Democratic politicians) to stop talking with Colbert during his interview series where he attempted to interview EVERY member of Congress in the United States. 

          • wysinwyg

            Christ, what an asshole.  “Better Know a District” or whatever was some of the best TV I’ve ever seen.

    • kongjie

      Great sport indeed. Morrissey has never been known for suffering fools gladly and it was great of him to go along with Colbert’s shtick. If you want a good interview out of him, you need to go beyond the Smiths, vegetarianism, and the Queen.

      • Philboyd Studge

         Yeah, what’s the point of talking about some useless, old Queen?

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/OMHO6ER5QJE3SIZ35VAXIRCLYM Stephan

    When he called the Chinese a “sub-human species” I broke up with Morrissey.

    • Robert Oliver

      This has been discussed many times, but I think you’re taking that quote out of context. Morrissey was referring to the horror-shows that are taking place in the factory farms in China. He wasn’t dismissing the entire population of China, but I do have to agree that he was painting with quite a broad brush. 

  • giantasterisk

    A giant -1 for Morrissey for not cluing in on the joke. And that is from someone who absolutely loves his music. He really did make himself look like a sanctimonious ass.

    • daneyul

      Sheesh.  It amazes me how people can’t tell the difference between “cluing” in and playing along. How many on this thread, actually. 

      The WORST Colbert guests are the ones that make a constant point of  showing they are “clued” in to the schtick.  The best treat it as a real.

      Morrissey was great. One of the better Colbert interviews.

  • fergus1948

    Yep,
    The Smiths = One of THE greatest bands ever!
    Morrissey = Self-regarding, posturing douche.

  • JudeJackson

    I don’t have any special regard for Morrissey. Insisting the British monarchy is a dictatorship just seems childish and lacking any historical context, and his other conclusions seem to derive from a similar sense of axiomatic absolutism. I’ve also never been a fan of his music. But Colbert is pretty funny at least.

  • wysinwyg

    Morrissey seems like a pretentious twit but somehow I still think he’s a pretty cool dude.