--- --- # Martin Short Roasted Stephen Colbert and It Was Glorious by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 12, 2018 3:23 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 12, 2018 3:23 PM UTC [Martin Short](http://time.com/3893966/watch-martin-short-hit-the-streets-with-billy-eichner/?iid=sr-link10) and Stephen [Colbert](http://time.com/5218593/samantha-bee-on-stephen-colbert/?iid=sr-link4) have only met a few times, but that didn’t stop Short from brutally roasting Colbert on his very own television show. Short stopped by _The Late Show_ on Wednesday night and while he was complimentary about the audience (“This is the most recent one I have seen!” he said) and the show itself (“If late shows were ranked as the [Trump](http://time.com/5237672/wendy-vitter-brown-v-board-segregation/?xid=homepage) children, this would be Ivanka”), he was far less kind to Colbert himself. “It’s like sitting across from Paul Ryan without the gym membership,” Short said about [Colbert](http://time.com/5220369/stephen-colbert-dana-carvey-roast-john-bolton/?iid=sr-link3), after calling him a cross between “Ken and Rachel Maddow.” He wasn’t done, either: “You look like the world’s hippest insurance adjuster. You really do,” he added. It wasn’t only the host who was subjected to Short’s barbs. He also turned his gimlet-eye on bandleader Jon Batiste, noting his predilection for sharply tailored suits. “If he ate a grape a button would pop off and blind an audience member,” Short teased. In short, Short was hilariously brutal and completely endearing. Watch below. Martin Short Roasted Stephen Colbert And It Was Glorious ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5237702/martin-short-on-stephen-colbert/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5237702/martin-short-on-stephen-colbert/"},"headline":"Martin Short Roasted Stephen Colbert and It Was Glorious","datePublished":"2018-04-12T15:23:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:04.628Z","description":"“It’s like sitting across from Paul Ryan without the gym membership,” Short said about Colbert","url":"https://time.com/5237702/martin-short-on-stephen-colbert/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5237702/martin-short-on-stephen-colbert/","name":"Martin Short Roasted Stephen Colbert and It Was Glorious"}}]}] ```