Jordan Carlos on Being Steven Colbert’s Black Friend
Eat the Press spotted Jordan Carlos’ column “My Schtick? Being Black”, the most recent article in a series which “explores the lives of black men through their shared experiences and existence” in the Washington Post. In it, Carlos rails against SNL, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report for a lack of diversity–the latter, a show which has hired him on numerous occasions to play “Steven Colbert’s Black Friend Alan.” He writes:
How did I get to be Colbert’s on-air compadre of color? Simple. One day a friend of mine who happened to be a producer for the show called and asked me to come and have my picture taken with Colbert. He explained that it was for a segment they’d be airing that night in which I would play Colbert’s black friend. With zero prospects and a gnawing fear that they’d find a replacement, I streaked over to the studios on New York City’s West Side, where I was quickly introduced to the man himself, Stephen Colbert. We took the picture and my producer friend showed me out. The joke has since become a running gag. I had hoped to parlay it into a job; instead I got a lot of MySpace “friends.” These experiences didn’t leave me feeling good, but they did make me think more about being black.