Canton Officials Want Comedian To Visit Town

Stephen Colbert has an open invitation to experience Canton, Texas, and First Monday Trade Days for himself.

Since the Comedy Central show host’s on-air insult of the town last week, city officials have said they would welcome an opportunity to show Colbert how wrong he was in making his slur.

Canton City Manager Andy McCuistion said mayor Rusty Wilson has sent Colbert a response that included an invitation to visit the town.

Wilson could not be reached for comment.

On his Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report" last Tuesday, Colbert made a comment referring to Canton as an "incorporated outhouse."

The insult is part of a running joke in which Colbert insults, and then subsequently apologizes to, United States cities named Canton. So far, Cantons in Georgia, Kansas and South Dakota have been part of the joke alongside the Canton most known for First Monday Trade Days.

McCuistion said he was not familiar with Colbert or his show until reports of the insult made the rounds last Wednesday.

"I really didn’t know who this guy was, and the first time I was told what he said about Canton, I wanted to respond to this guy.

"I had a knee-jerk reaction to defend our city, but really Canton doesn’t need to be defended. It’s a wonderful town and he would see that if he accepts an invitation to visit," McCuistion said.

He added he is hopeful Colbert will be able to visit the town during a First Monday Trade Days weekend, when visitors, shoppers and vendors in the tens of thousands come to Canton.

McCuistion said the November sale weekend is the biggest of the year, usually drawing more than 400,000 people in all.

Canton businessman and one-time mayor Henry Lewis agreed that "I think we ought to invite him down to First Monday and show him what a great town we’ve got," Lewis said. "I’m sure the mayor would welcome him, give him a key to the city and show him around."

He added, "If he (Colbert) came down here and looked things over, his opinion would change."

Lewis said it would be an opportunity for the city to turn its moment as the target of a joke into something positive.

"I like positive publicity, but I’ll take negative publicity if we can turn it to our advantage and turn that into a positive…If someone wants to get negative about Canton, I feel it just gives the city an opportunity to turn that adversity to its advantage," Lewis said.