he auction's start, bidding quickly rose to over US$71,000. However, many bids were canceled because bidders failed to get pre-approved by the seller (which was required in the auction). It was sold for US$17,200.[58] While Colbert's wrist was in the cast, the character began taking (and subsequently became addicted to) painkillers to deal with his injury, frequently taking absurd doses and displaying exaggerated withdrawal symptoms of irritability and hal

d those wearing the bracelets to give them to anyone they meet who is more famous than themselves. Colbert has subsequently attempted to pass on bracelets to well-known media figures including Katie Couric (Stephen gave a Wriststrong bracelet to Couric and she said that she would wear it on air, but didn't), Brian Williams and Matt Lauer. All proceeds raised by the sales of the wrist bands are given to the Yellow Ribbon Fund.[54] On January 23, 2008, Colbert interviewed the Yellow Ribbon Fund's director of communications, Marie Wood, and presented her a check for the money raised by WristStrong bracelet sales to date, totaling US$171,525, the profits of over 30,000 bracelet sales.[55]
Colbert had a number of well-known figures autograph his cast, including Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City; CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric; Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox's The O'Reilly Factor; Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet The Press; Tony Snow, former White House Press Secretary; and NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. On August 23 the cast was removed on air,[56] and it was announced that Colbert would auction off his cast for the Yellow Ribbon Fund on eBay. The auction began after that evening's show.[57] Within minutes of the auction's start, bidding quickly rose to over US$71,000. However, many bids were canceled because bidders failed to get pre-approved by the seller (which was required in the auction). It was sold for US$17,200.[58]
While Colbert's wrist was in the cast, the character began taking (and subsequently became addicted to) painkillers to deal with his injury, frequently taking absurd doses and displaying exaggerated withdrawal symptoms of irritability and hallucinations when they were denied. The cast was removed on television, after which The Report went on a brief hiatus, and following its return on September 10, Colbert claimed that, with help from a court order and rehab over the break, he had kicked his addiction.[59]
Colbert Bump[edit]
The boost in popularity many of Colbert's guests receive after appearing on the show has been nicknamed the "Colbert Bump". The first major instance of the "Bump" was after Colbert's 2007 interview with Congressman Ron Paul, who climbed two percentage points in Republican Party Primary polls after his appearance on the show.[60] The show's audience hits a highly valuable demographic both for politicians and advertisers, and Colbert has been able to get the "Colbert Nation" behind many different intitiatives, including the charity effort at donorschoose.org.[61] According to the American Political Science Association, contributions to Democratic politicians rose 40% for 30 days after an appearance on the show.[62]
Recurring characters[edit]
Main article: List of The Colbert Report characters
While the show is largely dominated by Colbert, there are a number of recurring characters who appear periodically. Colbert will frequently address the show's director, Jimmy—a reference to real-life Colbert Report director Jim Hoskinson—and will sometimes converse with him. On the rare occasions Jimmy has appeared on screen, he has been portrayed by staff writer Peter Gwinn. Building manager Tad, portrayed by Paul Dinello, has appeared on the show multiple times to host special segments. Other recurring members of Colbert's fictional staff have included Meg the intern (played by Meg DeFrancesco), Jay the intern (played by staff writer Jay Katsir), Bobby the stage manager (played by Eric Drysdale) and Killer (uncredited). Colbert himself has portrayed his character's Cuban al