Improv king Stephen Colbert commits to a bit, but Evil's Katja Herbers one-upped him by stabbing a guy

The Dutch actress told Late Show host and fellow practicer of the improvised comedy arts Stephen C0lbert how she actually stabbed one of her improv partners in what she claims was a completely accidental (if stitches-worthy) whoopsie. Luckily for Herbers, this happened in her native Holland, where, as the actress happily put it, “nobody sues anyone.” Unluckily for her scene partner, Dutch audiences are just as primed as American ones to view any onstage shenanigans as just part of the unscripted show, requiring Herbers to break character and tell the rapt crowd that, no, she did not know that that very sharp-looking sushi knife on the prop table was dangerously un-gimmicked. (If there isn’t an industry-standard improv safe word, there probably should be.)

Leaning into her stated evaluation of her native country-people as the sort of laid-back lot who’ll let a little bloodletting among coworkers slide, the stealthily acclaimed actress (with an impressive resumé on everything from The Americans to Westworld, Manhattan, and The Leftovers) noted that her victim only reminds her of the incident with a friendly, scar-showing wave every time they meet. As for Evil (not to suggest via segue that Katja Herbers is, in fact, evil for stabbing that guy), the actress urged the curious Colbert that a move from CBS to the Wild West that is streaming also frees performers up to let loose with some pent-up, network TV-prohibited profanity when the scene calls for it. Starring (alongside Luke Cage’s Mike Coulter and Colbert’s Daily Show buddy Aasif Mandvi) on Evil’s new home, Paramount Plus, Herbers assured Colbert that really letting fly with some judicious “fuck”s is good for one’s soul. Also, if they were smart, executives would set Paramount’s streaming service apart from the overcrowded field with the slogan, “Evil’s new home, Paramount Plus.”