Jamie Masada runs The Laugh Factory, a very good comedy club up in Hollywood. The one time I met him, I liked him a lot…but I don't like this article of his complaining about the fact that another white guy (i.e., Colbert) is getting Letterman's job. I think Colbert's the most qualified guy out there. (If I had to pick the next two, it would be Ellen DeGeneres and Chris Rock — neither of whom is a white guy…or, apparently, available.)
No, I'm sorry. You can't expect CBS to entrust their 11:30 show to someone who's never hosted a TV program of any significance before. That applies to most of the names Masada mentions as deserving of the shot. Those folks deserve a show somewhere…cable, streaming or at best, 12:35 on a network. You should have complained when Seth Meyers got his show because that's the slot for newcomers.
I also question this statement…
The most important thing for any host at late night is they be a stand-up comic, because stand-up comics really know what can get a laugh day in and day out. Johnny Carson was a stand-up who encouraged the form by booking numerous comics on his show — two of them became late show hosts. Stand-up comics are the "ground troops" of the art form. They have been in clubs or bars or halls, and they have hundreds of nights behind them performing for a live audience. They know the audience and they know what they like. They have also learned the fine art of answering hecklers or being fast on their feet.
Let's see: Conan O'Brien had never really done stand-up before he got his talk show. His show worked pretty well. Jimmy Kimmel didn't have hundreds of nights behind him performing stand-up for a live audience. I don't think Jimmy Fallon did, either. Steve Allen hadn't done stand-up, Jack Paar had done very little, Dick Cavett had done it for a year or two. And he wasn't "late night" in every market but Merv Griffin, who never did stand-up in his life, lasted an awfully long time in the talk show business.
If I had more time, I could list stand-ups who didn't click as talk show hosts. Just as there are great piccolo players who can't do anything well besides playing the piccolo, there are stand-up comedians who can't do anything but their acts.
I'll agree this far: Stand-up training does pay off when you open a talk show with a monologue. I find most of those done by hosts who've never done stand-up pretty anemic…though there are times when Letterman also seems like a guy who's never done it before. But the thing is, that's the first 5-10 minutes of the program and after that, stand-up experience doesn't have a lot of value. You have to talk to other people, not directly to the audience. You have to listen. You have know when to shut up and let another person on stage get a laugh. You have to ad-lib, rather than as many stand-ups do, recite prepared and well-tested material. It's a whole different mindset than you employ in stand-up.
What it does resemble a lot is improv comedy where Colbert has a lot of training and tons of experience. I applaud Masada's loyalty to the folks who work his club but I think he's wrong about this.