Watch Stephen Colbert's competitors and late-night peers offer their not-quite-best advice

(Image credit: Vanity Fair/YouTube)

Tuesday was Stephen Colbert's first turn as host of CBS's Late Show, the newest (and oldest) face in an increasingly crowded late-night television landscape. Before the show aired, Vanity Fair spoke with most of Colbert's direct competitors — Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, Larry Wilmore, and future rival Trevor Noah — as well as John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Bill Maher, and James Corden, to see if they had any advice for the newbie.

They did, and since they're comedians, it's mostly funny. Since they're competitors, some of it is self-serving. Colbert is apparently watching the advice on an iPad, and his answers tie the whole short video together. There's one glaring absence — Jimmy Fallon, Colbert's most direct rival — but Fallon appeared on Colbert's Late Show debut, so things appear to be friendly between them. You can watch the advice-giving below, but be warned: Wilmore drops an F-bomb, and Conan seems really intent on selling you waterfront property. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.