Stephen Colbert Praises His Hometown, Slams San Francisco

Comedian Stephen Colbert presented an award to his hometown at the annual Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards Monday night, riffing on Southern stereotypes while talking up the pleasantness of Charleston, which welcomed more than 4 million tourists last year and was named the favorite US city of the magazine's readers.

In thanking Traveler for the award, Colbert reminded the crowd that his hometown "does have a history of lashing out violently when Yankees make decisions they don't like."

The comedian also claimed that while growing up in Charleston he and his childhood friends would direct visitors to the mansion of John C. Calhoun — as well as to the home of Rhett Butler and the coop where Foghorn Leghorn was hatched.

But it was frequent award winner San Francisco that drew the best barb of the night: "Suck it you Rice-A-Roni eating bastards."

Comments

[UnRed]

07:00 PM on 11/30/2011

"Slams" San Francisco?? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, perhaps, but the Rice-a-Roni comment hardly seems like a slam to me. Add to that Mr. Colbert's noted shtick and such are hardly fightin' words, at all.

More to the point, if this Conde Nast slight keeps the riff-raff down -- and, to be sure anyone who would be satisfied with Charlston over The City surely must qualify -- we can (and should) only say "thanks, Mr. Nast".

[nitwitsRus]

01:01 PM on 10/18/2011

nope never woulda figured on my OWN it could be the headlight switch

[wiseman103199]

05:04 PM on 10/18/2011

LOL.

[nitwitsRus]

06:40 PM on 10/18/2011

guess what?
it WEREN'T!

[nitwitsRus]

06:42 PM on 10/18/2011

apparently EACH headlight has it's OWN 10 Amp fuse!

[wiseman103199]

06:45 PM on 10/18/2011

Exactly!! lol

[wiseman103199]

06:50 PM on 10/18/2011

Blown a few fuses myself.

[loretoguy]

12:22 PM on 10/14/2011

COLBERT ... YOU GO FOR "FUNNY" ....... BUT SOMETIMES YOU ARE THE "IDIOT" ......

[Wheelo]

06:09 PM on 10/13/2011

Maybe so maybe so...

But SF beats Charleston in food and nightlife

http://www.travelandleisure.com/americas-favorite-cities/2010/city/compare/san-francisco/vs/charleston

Suck THAT you She-Crab Soup eating *&@$!#@

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

12:49 AM on 10/14/2011

ha !

[vetxcl]

04:08 PM on 10/13/2011

Too much info: One of my favorite places to spend time, while I was stationed in Beaufort was Charleston. So beautiful. If not acclimatized to hot and humid climes, I recommnend spending more than a week. If you've got bucks, Hilton Head isn't too far either. If "Gone With the Wind," wasn't filmed here, it should've been. Very beautiful area.

[vetxcl]

04:00 PM on 10/13/2011

So wouldn't you have to put hot dogs in it to make it a real SF treat? Just sayin'.

[EatMeSF]

04:06 PM on 10/13/2011

Wish I got that joke,

[ABunker]

02:12 PM on 10/13/2011

Don't get me started on Charleston Chews. Give 'em a whack, a tasty snack!

[vetxcl]

04:09 PM on 10/13/2011

That and a Co-Cola and you've got it made in the shade.

[nitwitsRus]

02:06 PM on 10/13/2011

ok THEN!
Hay Stephe!
that ringer box musta come B4 1937

[YouDontWantMeHere]

02:10 PM on 10/13/2011

ya knows youse gotta but a transformer ta make it a door bell don't ya?

[nitwitsRus]

02:10 PM on 10/13/2011

yep

[MadMoll]

01:46 PM on 10/13/2011

Oh, Stevie, there's a reason why it's the "San Francisco Treat", and much like Scots, who were given the bagpipes by the Irish, you haven't gotten the joke. ;P

[TruEngineHearing]

01:22 PM on 10/13/2011

It musta been old farts day in the writer's lounge, 'cause if the audience isn't wearing depends, 'Rice-A-Roni' jokes go nowhere. But Colbert is from a former gulag, so the need to find something worse than South Carolina is fairly desperate - and almost impossible.

[Dashlar]

08:38 PM on 10/13/2011

I'll bet he was joking.

[TruEngineHearing]

10:06 PM on 10/13/2011

yeah, me too - his whole persona is a wonderful performance piece... nobody does it better.

[Southern Yankee]

12:55 PM on 10/13/2011

I've lived in SF for years and yes it is beautiful. Every where you look, you see a postcard photo, BUT, Charleston is certainly more user friendly. Less expensive, walkable, safe and friendly.

[GeneParmesanPI]

04:56 AM on 10/14/2011

and its not lousy with hippies

[fredpa]

12:51 PM on 10/13/2011

I lived out in the Bay area for a time, and I never heard anyone talk about eating rice-a-roni. He got the rest of it right, though.

[EatMeSF]

04:08 PM on 10/13/2011

I live in San Francisco and I still have many very poor friends that live on it when it's on sale 10 for $10.00 at Safeway...

[dannoinpa]

01:14 AM on 10/13/2011

Charleston is a city?

[Syllogizer]

10:23 PM on 10/12/2011

Maybe Colbert knows good ol' fashioned Carolina rice is better than Rice A Roni!

After all, I am not sure my fellow Left Coasters know it, but while the Left Coast eats rice mainly because of the influence of oriental food, Carolinans have been eating rice since colonial days. Naturally, they prefer their own varieties to 'Calrose';)

[J242]

11:25 PM on 10/12/2011

"Oriental" food? Wow, what are you 70? lol

[Margaret Cadogan]

03:00 AM on 10/13/2011

70 year olds don't know the difference between oriental and Asian?
Ageism is ugly too.

[EatMeSF]

04:09 PM on 10/13/2011

wow... did you really say that?

[KaAp]

07:34 PM on 10/12/2011

I love Colbert.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

12:50 AM on 10/14/2011

He loves you