Stephen Colbert, as an awkward teenager.
The idea came up during a “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” interview segment with actor and comedian Nick Kroll, Sept. 27: An unusual campaign to raise money for Puerto Rico hurricane relief. Celebrities would tweet out photos of themselves as awkward teenagers, with the hashtag #PuberMe, and for each person deemed a a real celebrity by Colbert, his AmeriCone Dream Fund would donate $1,000 to the cause.
The campaign ended Oct. 5, with a total of $1 million raised. CBS television and Kroll’s Netflix show “Big Mouth” kicked in a few hundred thousand dollars apiece to bring the total to $999,000, and Lin-Manuel Miranda showed up with a home video of himself as a teenager for the final $1,000.
Colbert, who lives in Montclair, also has compiled a wonderful video of the photos — including ones of President Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Martin, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Bell, Samantha Bee, Colbert himself and many others. The video ends with an appeal to donate more money for Puerto Rico hurricane relief, through oneamericaappeal.org.
Here is the video, but be warned: It’s not very satisfying to watch it straight through. You have to pause it every second or so in order to see every photo, and fully digest the marvelous awkwardness that is pictured.
