Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times / MCT

A number of his writers go way back with Colbert, from his Second City and Strangers With Candy days to the Daily Show era. But when he's considering new hires, he doesn't look at the gender or race of the person who submitted the joke packet.

"I don't know what race the person is when I'm reading the jokes. I'm just trying to see whether it makes me laugh," he said. "I don't know if there are a lot of African-Americans or Hispanic people applying for a job for my show or other shows, and maybe my tastes don't match up or they didn't have a funny packet, or maybe they're not applying. I don't get stats on that. The agencies send us people, or we ask around for people. It would be wonderful to have a diverse writing staff; I'm very lucky to have this staff. They were all so deserving."

Colbert also joked that, while it seems that just about everyone on the staff is white, "Some of us are Jewish, and those people have had no cakewalk."