All of Stephen Colbert’s dreams came true as Pope Francis welcomed him — along with 106 other comedians and comic artists from around the world — to the Vatican for an audience on June 14. While the official list announcing the invitees included Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jim Gaffigan, Whoopi Goldberg, Tig Notaro, Chris Rock, and Conan O’ Brien, also in attendance to represent American comedy at the event were Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mike Birbiglia, and Ramy Youssef. The pope addressed the gathered comedians and their guests for about ten minutes, saying they possess a “precious gift” and went on to add that “humor does not offend, humiliate, or put people down according to their flaws.
While communication today often generates conflict, you know how to bring together diverse and sometimes contrary realities.” He then issued the directive that the comedians must “help us, with a smile, to see reality with its contradictions, and to dream of a better world.” Once he’d delivered this speech in Italian, the gathered entertainers lined up to shake his hand , giving us a brief glimpse at how each celebrity deals with meeting a pope who may only sort of know who they are, if at all.
Louis-Dreyfus seemed extremely excited to meet the pope . She recorded his entrance from the front row on her phone as she waved gleefully to him like he’d just nailed a tap routine at a “Little Miss” pageant. After the event, she described the pope as “a wonderful man” with a �.
