Ray Romano | The Late Snow

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert
Episode: Ray Romano | The Late Snow
Date: February 24, 2026
Guest: Ray Romano

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Late Show Pod Show is marked by the convergence of a historic New York City blizzard ("Snowocane") and the arrival of beloved comedian and actor Ray Romano. The episode features Stephen Colbert’s signature whip-smart monologue, humorous takes on current events—including the record-setting snowstorm, the U.S. winning gold in men’s hockey, and a major Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s tariffs—and an engaging, revealing conversation with Romano. The discussion touches on Romano’s early career, the significance of the Ed Sullivan Theater, Broadway debut nerves, the value of saying “yes” to new opportunities, and treasured memories like a personal letter from Muhammad Ali.

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Monologue: "The Late Snow" & Current Events

Timestamps: 01:11 – 12:28

The Blizzard Hits NYC

• Colbert’s gratitude for the live audience braving a historic blizzard (01:11)
  • “I just gotta start tonight by thanking everyone here in the Ed Sullivan Theater for braving a blizzard to be our audience. Yes, give yourself a big hand. And if you lost your hands to frostbite, thump those stumps.” (Stephen Colbert, 01:14)
• Shares his snowy commute and jokes about the surreal, “Narnia” vibe of a snowed-in city.
• Recaps NYC snowfall statistics and riffs on 19th-century snow removal (“gangs of Irish street urchins with wooden spoons”).
• Jokes about “Snowocane” as both a meteorological term and mock-drug.

Olympics, Sports & Supreme Court Rulings

• U.S. Men’s hockey team wins gold (first since 1980); playful ribbing of Canada.
• “That’d be like you beating us at squandering our international goodwill. Nobody outdoes it.” (Stephen Colbert, 05:11)
• Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s unilateral tariffs.
  • “Justices, you’ve done something truly historic. You’ve made people go woo hoo about tariffs.” (Stephen Colbert, 06:31)
  • Colbert lampoons Trump’s angry reaction and “barely invited” Supreme Court Justices to the State of the Union.
    • “How do you barely invite someone? ... Please select chicken, fish, or go yourself.” (Stephen Colbert, 12:12)

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Prop Auction for World Central Kitchen

Timestamps: 13:39 – 18:47

• The Late Show is auctioning off memorable props and costumes to benefit World Central Kitchen.
• Standout item: a rug once seen in Arizona Senator Jeff Flake’s office, which fetched over $10,000 at auction (17:07).
• Comedic riff on “crime pays” when the stolen rug is auctioned for charity.
• The winner is revealed as former Senator Jeff Flake himself, returning the rug to its origin (17:33–18:47).
  • “That rug really tied the room together.” (Ray Romano, speaking as Jeff Flake, 17:51)
• Lighthearted back-and-forth about the joys of retirement and “spending less time thinking about Donald Trump.”

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The Ray Romano Interview

Timestamps: 19:27 – 29:20

Early Career & Ed Sullivan Theater Memories

• Romano reminisces about his life-changing first stand-up spot at the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1995.
  • “That spot right there changed my life. I did my first stand up here in 1995. ... After that one appearance, Letterman’s company signed me to a development deal.” (Ray Romano, 19:50–20:10)
• Reveals he was fired from Newsradio two days in, just months before his breakthrough (20:44).
• Describes the moment he got the call for a development deal (20:53), leading to Everybody Loves Raymond.

Legendary Late Night: Johnny Carson

• Colbert fangirls over Romano’s Tonight Show debut (22:00).
• Romano details the nerves and rituals around performing for Carson in 1991.
  • “I realized, this is the shower I’m taking to be on Johnny Carson...I can’t feel my arm.” (Ray Romano, 22:24)
  • “They say there’s nothing better to calm you down than panic.” (Stephen Colbert, 23:25)

Stand-Up Then & Now

• Romano on the difference between being an unknown and playing to a crowd that knows him:
  • “There is a satisfaction to winning over a room full of strangers, you know? Now when I go on, they’re kind of with me already.” (Ray Romano, 24:47)

30 Years of Everybody Loves Raymond

• Sharing a memorable on-set moment: a storyline about a Muhammad Ali letter—then surprisingly receiving a real one from Ali.
  • Reads Ali’s real letter for Colbert and the audience:
    • “Dear Ray, it was kind of you to include me as part of your storyline in episode 410...P.S. don’t put my letter in your junk drawer.” (Ray Romano, 26:46)

Broadway Debut: "All Out Comedy"

• Romano discusses his Broadway debut in All Out Comedy, a sketch-based show with rotating casts (27:16).
• Describes the show’s format as less intimidating: “We kind of act them out in our chairs ... don’t have to learn lines, there’s teleprompters.” (Ray Romano, 27:58–28:02)
• Shares his motivation to take the leap: reading Shonda Rhimes’ “Year of Yes.”
  • “I read it and I said, this is going to be my year of yes. ... Unfortunately then I read The Power of No. So I’m right back where I started.” (Ray Romano, 28:59)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On performing in the Ed Sullivan Theater:
  • “That spot right there changed my life.” (Ray Romano, 19:50)
• On nerves ahead of a Carson debut:
  • “I realized, this is the shower I’m taking to be on Johnny Carson… I can’t feel my arm.” (Ray Romano, 22:24–22:27)
• Letter from Muhammad Ali:
  • “P.S. don’t put my letter in your junk drawer.” (Ray Romano reading, 26:46)
• On accepting new opportunities:
  • "This is going to be my year of yes...Unfortunately then I read The Power of No. So I'm right back where I started." (Ray Romano, 28:57–29:02)

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Segment Timestamps (for Key Moments)

• Historic NYC blizzard monologue: 01:11–05:36
• Olympic hockey gold and Supreme Court on tariffs: 05:36–12:10
• Jeff Flake’s rug & charity auction: 13:39–18:47
• Ray Romano Interview – Early career and stand-up: 19:27–25:20
• Romano reads Muhammad Ali letter: 26:46–27:05
• Broadway talk and “Year of Yes”: 27:16–29:16

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Episode Takeaways

This episode is both a love letter to New York in winter and a celebration of comedic milestones, as Colbert’s monologue tempers the snowstorm’s inconvenience with surreal humor, while Ray Romano’s candid conversation offers listeners an inside look at the unpredictability and luck involved in a showbiz career. The pair’s rapport is warm and self-deprecating, emblematic of the show’s playful, heartfelt tone.

Ray’s Broadway debut in "All Out Comedy" emerges as a theme of embracing new challenges, and his memorabilia—a real letter from Muhammad Ali—stands as testament to the impact of genuine, unexpected recognition in an artist’s life.

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Recommended for anyone wanting fast-moving, sharply written late-night banter and fans of Ray Romano’s everyman wit.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, Sal. Hank.

[Ray Romano]

What's going on?

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Narrator/Promotional Voice]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome one and all to the Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you, I stand right here. I just gotta start tonight by thanking everyone here in the Ed Sullivan Theater for braving a blizzard to be our audience. Yes, Give yourself a big hand. And if you lost your hands to frostbite, thump those stumps. Of course, bravest of all might be me. Because this morning this is true. No vehicles were allowed on the streets. I walked to work. Here's footage of my commute. That's that moment I look angry. But that's when I saw that Duncan was closed. I actually did get my phone camera out on my way into the office. It was a lovely walk, as you can see. I took a shortcut through Narnia. Half man, half goat. Met me at a lamppost playing a panpipe. I think it was a panpipe. Could have been vaping. I don't know. I ate some Turkish delight. Anyway, experts say this is shaping up to be an historic blizzard. As of this afternoon, there were almost 20 inches of snow in Central park, making this a top 10 snowstorm for the city dating back to 1869. 1869. These people know. These people know. 1869 was a rough one for New York. Snow removal back then was just gangs of Irish street urchins with wooden spoons. The storm is so bad. The storm is so bad that Mayor Mamdani announced a snow day for students with no remote learning. Yeah, old school. That's old school. Though, to be fair, Zoom School also features no remote learning. Parents understand that one. It's not just here in New York. All over the Northeast, folks are dealing with windy, snowy conditions that meteorologists are calling a Snowocane. Of course, snow cane, also a popular drug that's half cocaine, half more cocaine. Last night.

[Ray Romano]

Last night.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's pretty. Last night we even got something called Thundersnow. Oh, I love. I love, I love Thundersnow. I saw them open for Whitesnake in 1986. They played their hit she was parenthesis sticky like a lollipop. They didn't last long as a ban because of all the snow cane. As of this morning, 613,000 customers without power across 12 states, according to Poweroutage US, which is a great website. You can always see if you've got power or not. As long as you've got power. Yesterday, the Olympics wrapped up in Milan, and it was a thrilling closing day for the United States because the US Men's hockey team beat Canada to win their first gold medal since 1980.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

Yeah.

[Ray Romano]

Boom.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. That's right. That's right. That is right. Several people in your polite face, Canada, we'd beat you at hockey. That's your whole thing. That'd be like you beating us at squandering our international goodwill. Nobody outdoes it. No one out pizzas the U.S. it was an exciting win for a young American team that wasn't supposed to be able to take on Canada, which ended with this beautiful goal in overtime. Rocket clause. It comes.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

Jack Hughes wins it.

[Stephen Colbert]

The golden goal for the United States. That is fantastic. That was so beautiful. But also, why has there always got to be sex with these hockey guys? They had to shoot him from up here. And get this, Jack Hughes, okay? The player who scored the winning goal is only 24. He's so young, he doesn't even have all his teeth yet. Good family joke. Quality family joke. Family monologue. Tonight, there were tons of other thrilling moments from our Olympians. The women's hockey team also crushed Canada in overtime.

[Commercial Announcer]

And.

[Stephen Colbert]

In figure skating, the most joyful person you've ever seen. Alyssa Liu rocketed to gold with a jaw dropping program. And when she finished, she had this to say. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. That's what we're all talking about. Come on. I am this close to dying stripes in my hair and getting whatever that gum piercing is. Unless it hurts, in which case, just the stripes. That wasn't the only victory for America on Friday. The supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's hair. Now that's what I'm talking about. Justices, you've done something truly historic. You've made people go woo hoo about tariffs. It was a 6:3. It was a 6:3 ruling, right? It was a 6:3 ruling along partisan, not partisan, really douchebag lines with the descent from Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh, or as they're known by their morning DJ names, Flagman, Mr. RV and the Boof Crew. The majority opinion was written by Chief justice and full grown adult of the corn, John Roberts. In it, Roberts smacked Trump down, writing, the President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration and scope. He must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it. You hear that? Do you hear that, Mr. President? Your tariffs are so illegal, the Supreme Court just ordered you to exercise. Kid Rock. Make some room in that sauna. That would be fun. Trump was not thrilled with the court's decision. Right afterwards, he dropped a post longer than the Unabomber's user agreement. In his screed, Trump won after the majority justices calling them fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and radical left Democrats who have been swayed by foreign interests. Yes, and Trump has been very clear he will not be swayed by foreign interests, only by foreign golden plane, foreign golden crown and foreign golden FIFA peace prize. Trump was so angry, he was so miffed, PO'd ruffled, he immediately imposed a blanket to 10% tariff on all foreign trading partners. Then, because he woke up feeling cranky on Saturday, he raised it to 15%. 15% on anything imported from another country. So get ready to look for great deals on American made products, like single origin coffee from Newark. I think those are coffee beans. Trump's feelings were so big hurt after the ruling, he had to call a press conference just to cry it out. And he decided to set the mood for reference. The press room usually looks like this, but Trump changed it to, Whoa, purple background and purple tie. Is this a press conference or a Prince album cover? Purple hand, purple hand. I only want some makeup for my purple hand. At the press conference, Trump assured us that everyone he meets loves tariffs. Especially. Especially guys who don't exist. Like this weird story.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

I made a speech at a factory. They make steel products. And I said, how are you? Nice to meet you. How's business? President, I'd love to kiss you. This is a very powerful man. I don't want to be kissed by that man, but a very powerful, strong man. He said, sir, I want to kiss you. He said, Sir, I want to kiss you so badly. And I said, no, thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

It seems Trump's whole strongman tears in his eyes stories have reached their fanfic phase. Very powerful guy. Very powerful guy. Brilliant scientist comes up to me and says, president, I'd love to kiss you. And I say, no, thank you. And he gets so angry, he turns green and says, hulk kiss. And all his clothes, all his clothes come off, but his pants stay on, but they become jean shorts and the waist adjusts in size. Don't think about it too much. Anyway, we ended up making out. Just a reminder, tomorrow is the State of the Union and the Late show will be live for that. That'll be our last live show. I got something. A little something. Join us, won't you? Thanks to this ruling, it's going to be a little awkward because traditionally the Supreme Court justices sit right there in the front row in what historians call the splash zone. And this is a situation Trump was asked about. Are they still invited to your State of the Union next week? And will you still speak with them?

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

They are invited. Barely.

[Ray Romano]

Barely

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

three are happily invited. No, no, they're barely. They're barely invited. Honestly, I couldn't care less if they come.

[Stephen Colbert]

How do you barely invite someone? Ted and Leanne Naughton barely request your presence at the wedding of their daughter. Honestly, they couldn't care less if you come. Please select chicken fish or go yourself. We got a great show for you tonight.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and germs, we have about three months left before the Late show has to leave the historic Ed Sul. I know, I feel just the same way. But I'll tell you folks, just like our beloved sponsor, Charmin, I intend to enjoy the go. And to get a little bit of a head start on cleaning out the theater here, we decided to sell some of our great Late show props and wardrobe and donate all those proceeds to Jose Andres World Central Kitchen, an organization that helps feed communities during times of crisis. It's an incredible group of people. Now, to do that, we've started a home shopping segment where I've auctioned off items with guests like Paul Rudd as well as his butt double, John Oliver, who agreed to come on the show dressed as a pimp from candy Land. And tonight we're adding more Late show memorabilia to our auction site at colbertlateshow.com eBay or go to that QR code right there. Great new items are out there, including multiple suits that I have worn on this show signed by me, as well as a beautiful blue jacket worn by Laura Benanti when she played Melania. Signed by Laura. And we also have this full size costume of a giant living pint of my Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor Americone Dream. And a supervillain costume that we had specially made for acclaimed actor Steve Buscemi. What's his superpower? Knowing that it's actually pronounced Buscemi. So check it out and bid for a good cause because so far we have raised. Joseph, please. $304,411.85, ladies and gentlemen. And tonight, and tonight, and tonight, my friends, you are my friends. Tonight I'm proud to announce that I, Stephen Colbert, will probably personally being making a donation to bring that total up to $304,412 all part making a part of my long running commitment to not make charities deal with nickels. Now, one of the items in our most recent auction was very special to me. It was a rug that I personally donated and a few weeks back I even brought it on the Seth Meyers Power Hour over on NBC to tell the story of how I got it. Now, I know my audience would never watch a show on another network. So I'll tell you again. I was on a trip to D.C. a few years back writing a segway around Capitol Hill and I got to speak with Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican who could not have been nicer to me and even made the mistake of letting me into his office, which is where I first laid eyes on the rug. Let's take a look. Why'd they give you such a small rug? There's not even. There's not even room for the unum. On the pluribus here.

[Ray Romano]

You know, that's what you get when you're a freshman. I guess.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you get to keep the rug?

[Ray Romano]

Afraid not.

[Stephen Colbert]

This has to stay behind you.

[Ray Romano]

This does.

[Stephen Colbert]

So if I took it with me today, that would be a problem?

[Ray Romano]

Big problem.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes, that's right. Yes, that was a federal crime. But to anyone who says crime doesn't pay, I'll have you know this rug right here brought in over $10,000 for World Central Kitchen.

[Ray Romano]

And

[Stephen Colbert]

I hold in my hand the winning bid. The winning bid came from someone named Jeff F. From Arizona. Congratulations, Jeff. Thanks, Stephen.

[Ray Romano]

What? Thanks.

[Stephen Colbert]

Former Senator Jeff Fl. Sandra, please have a seat. Oh, my goodness. This is. This is true. This is true. The winning bid from Jeff Flake. You won the charity auction for the rug.

[Ray Romano]

I did. I had no choice, Stephen. That rug really tied the room together.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're a good man. Thank you for your generous donation to World Central Kitchen. And, you know, while I got you here, you're a former senator. How's retirement?

[Ray Romano]

You're about to find out.

[Stephen Colbert]

Anything good you can say about it?

[Ray Romano]

Oh, yes, yes. I get to spend a lot less time thinking about or talking about Donald Trump.

[Stephen Colbert]

That sounds like paradise. Ladies and gentlemen, I encourage all of you former senators or not to head to colbertlateshow.com eBay or use this QR code right over here to bid on great items for a great cause. Sir, it is my honor to return your rug. Senator Jeff Blake and his stolen rug, everybody. Thank you, Senator.

[Ray Romano]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you go. We'll be right back with Ray Romano. Hey, welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. My first guest is an Emmy award winning comedian, you know as Ray from Everybody Loves Raymond. He's now making his Broadway debut in the new show All Out Comedy about ambition. Please welcome to the Late Show, Ray Romano.

[Ray Romano]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

So nice to have you on. We met before, but I've never had a chance to talk to you before.

[Ray Romano]

We met at the Kennedy center honors. Yeah, like 15. Who was that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Was that for Dave?

[Ray Romano]

That was for Letterman.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That was a special night.

[Ray Romano]

Yes. Yeah. That was great. Yeah. This is my first time. I'm glad I got.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, welcome back. Obviously you've been to the Ed Sullivan many times on with Letterman and it's A really special place, isn't it?

[Ray Romano]

I mean, this, this, that spot right there changed my life. I can say honestly, a lot of people don't know this, but I did my first stand up here in 1995. Yes, there you are. That's what I wore.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you are.

[Ray Romano]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Haven't changed at all.

[Ray Romano]

Yeah. If you can imagine, I got success out of wearing this outfit. But what people, a lot of people don't know is that after I did my stand up, Dave Letterman's company World White Pants signed me to a development deal. After that one appearance, yes, they called me, I went home. I had been doing stand up for 11 years. I had done all the shows and at that time they were. A lot of comics were getting show, you know, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Tim Allen. And I had done all the shows and I thought maybe I'll get some kind of offer. And I also was six months before that fired from news radio. I don't know if you remember the show. Oh, shit.

[Stephen Colbert]

It was fun.

[Ray Romano]

Shoot. Yeah. I got cast at Newsradio and on day two, they fired me. Yeah, I know that's not that funny, but okay. It turned out okay because a couple months later I did my first spot and I went home. I was living in Queens with my wife and three kids. And on that Saturday, Rob Burnett, you know, Rob Bennett, he called my house. My wife came out and said, rob Burnett's on the phone. And it was a Saturday. I had twin 2 year olds. I was in the back, you know, hosing them off the fence or whatever I was doing. And he said, we want to offer you a development deal to try to come up with a show. And that show became Everybody Loves Raymond.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Ray Romano]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's fantastic.

[Ray Romano]

Right there. Right over there.

[Stephen Colbert]

In 11 years.

[Ray Romano]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Pretty good.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Quoted Voice)]

Yeah.

[Ray Romano]

Yeah. So this theater, it's an emotional thing to be back in this theater. I haven't been back since Dave. Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Listen, I don't often get jealous of people who are my guests, but I'm jealous that you went on Carson. Cause that's truly like Olympia. What was that? What was that like?

[Ray Romano]

That was awesome. That was November 15, 1991. Of course, I'll never forget that date. And as a comic then, that's the pinnacle. Yeah. And it was. I actually, you know, I was living again, living in Queens. We came out to la.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you've only been doing it for

[Ray Romano]

about seven years now at that time. Yeah, yeah, about seven years.

[Stephen Colbert]

I could do math,

[Ray Romano]

which is relatively not a lot in stand up, you know, I Mean, it takes you a couple years just to get going. And I was in the hotel, and my manager said, go get ready. And I went to a hotel and I took a shower, and I realized, this is the shower I'm taking to be on Johnny Carson. And I felt numb. I felt. I go, I can't feel my arm, you know? And I thought, there's still two hours, three hours to go. How am I gonna do this? And I remember we got in the car and I was like. I told my manager, go, I'm bad, man. I'm bad. And we went a block away, and I realized I left my notes, my comedy notes in the hotel. I go, stop the car. And I ran full steam to get back to the hotel, got my notes, ran full steam back, and I don't know what that did, but it calmed me down and the feeling came back in my arm. Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

They say there's nothing better to calm you down than panic.

[Ray Romano]

Yes, yes. And I did my first spot, and it went fairly well.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more Ray Romano, everybody.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, everybody. No, no, you stay. Hey, everybody. We're back with Ray Romano. After all the years of now doing. Because you still do stand up, right?

[Ray Romano]

I do stand up whenever I come to New York, I always. I've been in LA for 25 years now, and I seldom go on there. But when I come here, I go to the Comedy Cellar as my kind of, my home.

[Stephen Colbert]

All these years in, and after all this success and all this fame, what is anything easier and is anything harder about going on stage now? Like when you walk on under those lights?

[Ray Romano]

Well, when I go on now, they know. Most of them know who I am, and they give you. You get a little more. You don't gotta prove yourself. This is actually what I miss about the old days, is going on and nobody knows who you are. And if it goes well, if you have a good set, you've won them over. You've won them, you know, now when I go on, they're kind of. They're kind of with me already, which I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. That's fine. But there is a satisfaction to winning over a room full of strangers, you know?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, you. You won over some people over the years on your old show. Here's the original cast right there. And this is 30 years.

[Ray Romano]

30 years? Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

This marks 30 years. And we have a couple of letters here that you were kind enough to bring in. These were letters associated with your show. Can you explain to them what we're about to show them? And I'd like you to read off the back of these.

[Ray Romano]

While in the last season we did an episode where m character, he's a sports writer and he does an article on Muhammad Ali and how much he's a hero of his. And my brother, he knows someone who knows Ali and he tells Ali about it. And Ali writes my character a letter thanking him.

[Stephen Colbert]

And this is what the letter says?

[Ray Romano]

Yeah, it says, dear Ray, your brother sent me your excellent article. I enjoyed it very much, even though nothing rhymed. Keep dancing, Muhammad Ali. And so in the episode he gives me, and I'm excited, but we're going golfing. So he goes, come on. So I go, this is the greatest thing in the world. I put it in the kitchen drawer. And of course my TV wife comes home and decides it's time to clean out the drawer and she throws away my Muhammad Ali letter. So that becomes the episode. Yes. And then a couple weeks later. Yeah, we got that letter. And then. Yeah. Should I read it?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Ray Romano]

Okay. Dear Ray, it was kind of you to include me as part of your storyline in episode 410 of Everybody Loves Raymond. It gave me a good laugh. I hope you enjoy the enclosure. Kind regards, Muhammad Ali. P.S. don't put my letter in your junk drawer.

[Stephen Colbert]

And he sent you both of them.

[Ray Romano]

And I sent me the real letter.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is not a prop. This is the excellent letter. I like this. I like the butterfly and the bee up.

[Ray Romano]

It's surreal. It's crazy.

[Stephen Colbert]

And now, now, Ray Romano.

[Ray Romano]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're on Broadway for the very first time in the new show all out comedy about ambition. You've called this the perfect little introduction to Broadway. Why so?

[Ray Romano]

Well, I've been offered a couple things over the course and it frightens me to do a play, a three hour play and do it for six months. And I've always. It just seems too much. And this came along, this is a bunch of sketches written by Simon Rich. Do you know Simon Rich from snl?

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't know him, but I know who he is.

[Ray Romano]

He's an SNL writer. Great writer. And it's a bunch of sketches and it's four comedic actors. We're sitting, we have the script, we kind of act them out in our chairs.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you don't have to learn lines.

[Ray Romano]

Don't have to learn lines. There's teleprompters. The audience doesn't know about it. Well, now they will, but. And every three weeks they rotate the cast out. So I'm doing a three week stint now with Nicholas Braun from succession, Jenny Slate, who's a wonderful actress, and Jake Shane. Jake Shane. Young tiktoker who's crazy popular and very funny. Yeah, yeah. And so far we've done one week and it's another thing, but what's Broadway

[Stephen Colbert]

feel like to you? You like it?

[Ray Romano]

Yeah, I like this. I like doing the thing that I'm doing. I don't know that I could do a whole play for three hours with an intermission.

[Stephen Colbert]

So why'd you do it?

[Ray Romano]

All right, don't get mad.

[Stephen Colbert]

A lot of people would like to

[Ray Romano]

say, you know what I've said no to. I decided. I read a book called the Year of Yes. The Year of Yes. Have you heard of this?

[Stephen Colbert]

I heard of this.

[Ray Romano]

Shonda Rhimes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Shonda Rhimes.

[Ray Romano]

And I read it and I said, this is going to be my year of yes. And so I'm starting, unfortunately. Then I read the Power of no. So I'm right. I'm right back where I started. Yes. Yeah, but no, I'm just saying yes. I'm saying yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ray, thanks so much for being here.

[Ray Romano]

Oh, thank you. Great to be here. Such a pleasure.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lovely to meet you.

[Ray Romano]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

All out is on Broadway now at the Nederlander Theatre. It's Ray Romano, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. Me and my brother, we grew up off the grid. A new Paramount plus original documentary explores

[Narrator/Promotional Voice]

the wild true story of two brothers. They were dumb.

[Stephen Colbert]

The Wild Boys. No driving, records, nothing tangible. What's their story? Who shook a small town after they emerged mysteriously from the Canadian wilderness?

[Commercial Announcer]

Are they criminals? Maybe they're in a cult.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who are these guys? Why are they here?

[Ray Romano]

It's not my job to tell you the truth.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wild Boys, Strangers in Town now streaming on Paramount. Paramount celebrates black voices with stories of excellence in dreaming. Whilst black and Watson mysteries are what we do of love in lawman Bass Reeves.

[Ray Romano]

My heart hurt when we apart and

[Stephen Colbert]

of community in the neighborhood and the shy. Well, if you need anything at all, I got you.

[Commercial Announcer]

We Family Explore series, movies and more

[Stephen Colbert]

in the Black Voices collection on Paramount plus Stream now.