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Colbert is out of the storage cupboard (Picture: Scott Kowalchyk\/CBS via Getty Images)In scenes that would bring a tear to anyone\u2019s eye, Stephen Colbert got emotional as he welcomed back a live audience for the first time in 15 months.
\nWe\u2019re starting to see the return of actual people to sets now, and the host of The Late Show had been filming his pandemic-era episodes from a storage room after the world was plunged into lockdown in March last year, but that seemed to make the return to his old set all the sweeter on Monday.
\nGreeting a screaming and cheering audience this week, Stephen was overcome with emotion as he embraced bandleader and musical director Jon Batiste and reacted to the raucous applause from those who\u2019d gathered to watch this taping.
\nThe audience was made up of vaccinated punters keen to herald the return to live crowds once more in the Ed Sullivan Theater which can seat over 400. Masks were optional as they were heard cheering \u2018Ste-phen! Ste-phen\u2019 while the host attempted to quiet them down for his cold open.
\nAs the host proceeded to start his programme, he adjusted his glasses and looked at the ground as he really took in the moment and regained his composure.
\nHe said: \u2018So how you been? It\u2019s great to be back. We never really left. But we certainly weren\u2019t here. This is a slightly different energy than the converted storage room eight floors above us, as lovely as that was.\u2019
\nJoking he\u2019d replaced the \u2018applause\u2019 signs for the audience with ones that read: \u2018Remember how to applaud,\u2019 he added: \u2018I don\u2019t know if I even remember how to pander to the most beautiful crowd in the world.\u2019
\nThose watching also couldn\u2019t help but notice how raw and powerful the intro was, with BBC\u2019s Scott Bryan sharing the clip on Twitter and adding: \u2018Stephen Colbert returned with a (vaccinated) audience for the first time in 15 months last night and it\u2019s really quite emotional.\u2019
\nAnother wrote: \u2018I just got stupid emotional seeing Stephen Colbert doing his first monologue to a fully vaccinated audience back in the Ed Sullivan theatre.\u2019
\nOh the emotions were high, dear friends.<\/p>\n
Did I almost tear up and applaud when @StephenAtHome walked out to a full crowd? No, of course not. Yes, yes I did.\u2014 Bob Lewis (@BobLewisAmerica) June 15, 2021<\/p>\n
Not me CRYING watching @StephenAtHome dance with a lady in his audience because he\u00e2\u0080\u0099s back in the theater. That\u00e2\u0080\u0099s my TV dad y\u00e2\u0080\u0099all\u2014 delilah (@firsttimerenter) June 15, 2021<\/p>\n
Just a guy crying that Stephen Colbert has a live audience in a theatre\u00e2\u0080\u00a6.\u2014 Geoff Wright (@GeoffLWright) June 15, 2021<\/p>\n
Stephen was joined comedian Dana Carvey who appeared as President Joe Biden, while former Daily Show host Jon Stewart dropped by and exclaimed: \u2018There\u2019s nothing I wanted to do more than breathe everyone\u2019s air.\u2019
\nHe also brought out his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert, who, amid the pandemic, was Stephen\u2019s only live audience member.
\nShe told the buzzing crowd: \u2018Audience, he\u2019s all yours now. And don\u2019t forget to laugh because he really needs it.\u2019
\nMore: US TV news<\/p>\n
The Late Show host had been keeping the cogs turning over the past year, sharing his responses to not only the pandemic but also Donald Trump\u2019s ousting, Derek Chauvin\u2019s guilty verdict as well as Piers Morgan\u2019s row with Meghan Markle.
\nAt one stage he even brought us his programme from a bubble bath as he insisted the show would go on albeit without his usual desk, band and audience. <\/p>\n
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