Stephen Colbert’s Ed Sullivan Theater clearance sale is showing no signs of slowing down.
Instead, he has enlisted John Oliver to ramp things up a notch.
The Late Show and Last Week Tonight hosts joined forces to stage another installment of the “Late Show Home Shopping,” unveiling a slew of more Late Show memorabilia now up for auction.
Perhaps most familiar to viewers is one of the show’s guest chairs, on which hundreds of interviewees have sat to take questions (and “Questionerts“) from Colbert. Colbert and Oliver threw in a signed $100 bill to sweeten the pot—but that clearly wasn’t necessary. The auction segment had barely finished airing on TV when the bidding surpassed the $14,000 mark. (In a bit of savvy salesmanship, the item’s eBay listing includes a photo of late night’s most valuable guest, Taylor Swift, sitting in said seat.)
A “big furry hat” Colbert wore in 31 episodes of The Late Show is also up for grabs, paired with a headshot of Oliver signed by actor Paul Giamatti.
Another lot pairs two historic scripts from Colbert’s career: the still-to-come final script from The Late Show‘s series finale, and one from the last-ever episode of The Colbert Report, signed by Colbert and musician Randy Newman. Thrown in for good measure: a poster for the fictional Late Show with John Oliver as seen during this latest shopping segment.
Another item that made its debut on Monday’s episode and went right to the auction block? The “ugly-a**” pair of blue Zenni Optical glasses donned by Oliver.
The most unique lot of all, however, is not an item but an experience. The Late Show will let one winning bidder raid the production’s prop closet at the Ed Sullivan Theater, allowing them to take home whatever they can grab in 60 seconds. As an added bonus, Colbert teased that the closet raid could be filmed to air on The Late Show.
Colbert began auctioning off Late Show props, set pieces, and wardrobe items in December—that time with the help of Paul Rudd—ahead of the show’s final episode on Thursday, May 21. All proceeds from the auction went to chef José Andrés’s charity World Central Kitchen.
At the time, the crown jewels of the auction lineup were Colbert’s COVID-era A Late Show desk and a pair of VIP tickets for the final taping. The desk reached a winning bid of $14,800, while the tickets sold for a wild $111,100. All told, the first round raised nearly $170,000 for World Central kitchen, prompting a second leg of the auction.
Just last week, Colbert used his visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers to drop two more items, including a rug he stole from Capitol Hill. But the liquidation sale isn’t over yet. Colbert reiterated in the latest segment that he’ll be auctioning off more memorabilia in the future.
“Because if I don’t sell it off for charity,” he quipped, “the network will sell off everything for pennies on the dollar and use the cash to buy Warner Bros.”
The Late Show’s latest auction items are up for bidding at this link.
I hate that this show has been cancelled. However, I do love that they’re selling off props to benefit such a worthy cause.