Pussy Riot members land some Putin digs on ‘Colbert’

The language barrier can sometimes be a stumbling block when it comes to humor, especially with the ironic jujitsu Stephen Colbert performs in his interviews nightly on “The Colbert Report.” But Tuesday, he had two guests up to the challenge: Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina of the Russian punk band, Pussy Riot.

Despite serving time in Russian prisons for defying Vladimir Putin’s government, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina showed up on Colbert’s show with their humor still intact, even when filtered through a translator.

After telling Colbert about their song, “Putin Piss Off,” Colbert cautioned the musicians, “Vladimir is a friend. So I’m going to edit out anything bad you say about him.”

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“It’s OK. We’re making our own taping now,” one of the band members said.

Colbert responded, “You will be searched before you leave the building.”

Without missing a beat, Tolokonnikova replied, “We’ve had two years of practice hiding things from searches.”

As for Putin, Tolokonnikova told Colbert, “We have different ideas about a bright future [for Russia] and we don’t want a shirtless man on a horse leading us.”

Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were two of the five members of the band who staged a performance in a Moscow cathedral. They were released late last year in what they say was a public-relations stunt before the 2014 Winter Olympics, which are being held in Russia.

“We don’t think it was successful,” Tolokonnikova said. “We don’t think it improved the image of Russia, so maybe Putin made a mistake and should just throw us back in jail.”

Here’s hoping Putin doesn’t get Comedy Central.

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