Alum
Brian Stack
Writer on the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert"
Brian Stack, BA’86, writer on the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert"
“I grew up in the Chicago suburbs mostly. I came to IU in ’82 and graduated in ’86. When I first visited, I just got a great feeling about it. I ended up being a telecommunications major while working at WIUS, which I know is now WIUX. I did some cartooning for the IDS, but I hadn’t worked up the nerve to try performing yet. I never got in front of an audience till just after graduating. I’d always been a huge comedy fan growing up. It never occurred to me that I could do it myself until I tried improv.
In ’92, I got hired at Second City, an improv sketch theater in Chicago. It had always been a dream of mine to work there, and I worked there for about four years before I got hired at “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in ’97. I was supposed to be there for 13 weeks, and it ended up being 18 years, which is crazy. In 2015, I went to New York to work for the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” when he took over.
Late night TV with Conan and Colbert feels very much like an extension of my improv experience. The collaborative nature of sketch writing is my favorite. Even though I love standup, I could never imagine myself doing standup because I’ve never wanted to do anything just by myself.
"I got hired at “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in ’97. I was supposed to be there for 13 weeks, and it ended up being 18 years, which is crazy."
For anyone looking to work in the industry, I would try to find people that you love working with. If you’re having fun with the people you work with, that shows in your work, and people wanna be around that kind of energy. It’s a very contagious thing.”
Written By Erin Stafford
Photos By Jordan Venckus