With 10 years as a cast member of Saturday Night Live under his belt — five seasons as the show’s head writer and “Weekend Update” host — Seth Meyers will bring his comedic talent to Athens on Friday.
Meyers will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium as part of the Ohio University Performing Arts Series.
Meyers will perform standup for the Ohio University crowd, which is a departure from his SNL performances.
“I think the difference, sort of, between what I do on the show and what I do onstage is there’s a little bit more room to talk about myself and some of my own experiences,” Meyers said. “Whereas with ‘Weekend Update,’ you’re very specifically talking about the news of the week.”
Meyers came to SNL as an actor before making the leap to head writer and host of the long-standing “Weekend Update.” Before embarking on his career with SNL, Meyers performed standup in Chicago and Amsterdam.
His interest in comedy started much earlier in his life, though.
“I had parents who loved comedy, and at a young age, we were introduced to things that I don’t think a lot of kids our age knew, like Monty Python or Saturday Night Live and old Richard Pryor and Steve Martin albums,” Meyers said.
“I think both my brother and I who went into it kind of learned that, if you’re funny, people pay more attention to you and you can get away with more. And the other thing is my mother is a beautiful woman and my dad is really funny, so I think we learned at a really early age that we can do really well with ladies if Dad can pull this off.”
Meyers started his professional career in comedy as an improviser after becoming an improv comedian during his years at Northwestern University. He still enjoys getting back to his improv roots by occasionally performing at the Upright Citizen Brigade Theater in New York with SNL alumna Amy Poehler.
“With Poehler, it’s always me being like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m leaving my apartment on a Sunday to go do two shows. I’m so tired,’ ” Meyers said. “But it’s so fun, and you’re with such high-quality improvisers when you’re there, and so it’s just a blast. You never regret going.”
Performing for a college crowd is a great way to garner long-term fans, Meyers said, and the enthusiasm of younger crowds makes performing exciting.
“I love it. Mostly you think college students are always an enthusiastic audience. They’re excited, I think, to see people they know from other places, like TV,” he said. “And if you get college fans, they live longer than older fans. I don’t know what the life expectancy is of the Ohio University students, but I’m hoping they’re really healthy.”
The contract fee for the performance was $27,500, and ticket sales have already covered the cost of the show, said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of programming for the Performing Arts and Concert Series. Tickets are still available for the show.
bm257008@ohiou.edu
If You Go:
What: An Evening with Seth Meyers
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium
Admission: $35 first 10 rows, $25 rest
