How Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Kept Its Studio Audience Entertained as Biden’s Speech and a Lengthy DNC Night Delayed Airtime

CHICAGO — Things were pretty quiet around the Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago on Tuesday morning — probably no surprise, given how late things went the night before. “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” kicked off a four-night run of live shows from the venue — part of the Roosevelt University campus — with an episode that didn’t get off the air until a little after 1 a.m. Central Time.

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That’s perhaps why the Auditorium still seemed a bit dead around lunchtime — save one lone man sitting outside the theater and carrying two big backpacks. Either he was ready to wait for days until he could snag a ticket to the show, or he was a Roosevelt student who had picked that specific spot to sit and scroll his phone for hours.

Beyond that, pedestrians and Roosevelt students strolled past the Auditorium without giving much thought to the major late night talk show being planned behind its doors. Other than a few live trucks out back and a big poster touting “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in Chicago (complete with Colbert holding a Chicago hot dog), there were few signs that CBS’ late night talk franchise was about to mount Night 2 of its residency there later that evening. Audience members were asked not to line up until 6 p.m., although on Monday, fans were already forming a queue as early as 4:45 p.m.

Of course, that means those audience members wound up spending eight hours at the Auditorium, when all was said and done. (Hopefully they ate beforehand.) “The Late Show” normally airs in the Central Time Zone at 10:35 p.m. (11:35 p.m. ET), but the lengthy first night of the Democratic National Convention changed all that.

President Joe Biden didn’t start his speech until around 10:30 p.m. And by the time he was done nearly an hour later, CBS still had a half hour of local news to go. That’s why “The Late Show” on Monday didn’t start until around 12 a.m. CT — 1 a.m. ET.

“It was an extraordinary night and extraordinarily long,” Colbert said in his monologue. “Technically, and correct me if I’m wrong, we’ve just rolled over into the first night of the 2028 campaign.”

That didn’t stop the patient crowd from perking up and cheering when the show finally went live. “It was really raucous, enthusiastic crowd despite the fact that we didn’t get on the air until just before 1 a.m. ET,” one production insider said.

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The historic Auditorium Theatre, which first opened in 1889, holds nearly 4,000 seats. Audience members are due in their seats by around 8 p.m. — and at that point, the show pipes in the convention for people to watch as they wait. (The “Late Show” team is going live in order to react in real time to the evening’s events, so it also helps if the audience knows what Colbert is referencing in his monologue). When the DNC ends and CBS goes to local news, that’s when “The Late Show’s” warm-up comedian comes out and gets the crowd pumped for the show.

“The Auditorium is beautiful and historic and cavernous,” Colbert said in his opening, before directing a camera to the upper balcony section. He then had a cameraperson ready to give the bird’s eye view of how he could barely be seen from up there. “This is the first theater I’ve ever performed in where the last row of seats come with supplemental oxygen.”

On Monday, guests who stayed up late to join Colbert included former Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and “Veep” star Julia Louis Dreyfus. The show opened with a pre-taped piece featuring Colbert, Jennifer Hudson, Nick Offerman, Sean Hayes, Jason Sudeikis, Robert Smigel and George Wendt giving their take on Chicago via a tongue-in-cheek “Chicago National Anthem.”

Live episodes continue on Tuesday with guests including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and a special appearance by Laura Benanti, who frequently plays Melania Trump on the show. Wednesday will include Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and a performance by Chicago’s Chance the Rapper. And then on Thursday, after Kamala Harris gives her speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, “The Late Show” will go live with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and a performance by Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy.

And with reports that speakers have been asked to curtail their remarks during Tuesday’s DNC, perhaps “The Late Show” will start on time — or at least before midnight.

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