Pussy Riot Gives the Funniest, Best Colbert Report Interview Ever

The interview segments on The Colbert Report are usually little more than an excuse for host Stephen Colbert to show off his virtuoso in-character improvisational skills, while the guests play along with varying degrees of success.

On Tuesday night’s Report, however, Colbert met his quick-witted match in Pussy Riot, the punk band whose members were imprisoned, then released, for insulting Russian President Vladmir Putin. Their feat was all the more impressive for the fact that they conducted the interview through a translator, which at first seemed like it might become drag on the interview.

Instead, the responses from Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina were so sharp, funny, and at times poignant, that the presence of the translator only served to hang the viewer on every word. They talked about their imprisonment and release, took shots at Putin, daring him to put them back in jail, and provided alternately hilarious and sobering commentary on the state of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Sometimes, it seems, humor isn’t lost in translation, it is revealed.

Here’s the video of Colbert’s interview with Pussy Riot, in two parts, from Comedy Central:

Part Two:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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