When you go to school in New York City, your opportunities for fun and cultural exposure are endless. This week, I cashed in on one of the many and had the opportunity to see Seth Meyers speak at the New Yorker Festival.
Seth was interviewed by Ariel Levy, a staff writer for the New Yorker, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. The New Yorker Festival, in its 18th year, is a weekend of different talks with influencers of culture. Some of this year’s participants included Glenn Close, Hasan Minhaj, Ava Duvernay and Ryan Murpy. These talks take place throughout the city at cultural centers and theaters.
My love for Seth runs deep so, as soon as I saw that he would be speaking, I rallied one of my best friends to buy a ticket with me. We arrived early enough to sit front row in intimate setting. Levy gave a great interview. She focused on what brought him to comedy, his days at SNL and what he’s doing right now for Late Night. The two discussed his early days of SNL, finding his niche as a writer, and the Weekend Update host. They spent time talking about his now famous White House Correspondent’s Dinner monologue and his interactions with Donald Trump. Seth discussed his interview with Kellyanne Conway and giving the administration space to speak but also making them answer for their actions. He also spent time discussing the success of A Closer Look and Jokes Seth Can’t Tell. The night wrapped up with questions from the audience about career advice, the responsibility of comedy and an overall thankfulness for his work during this difficult administration.
Seth was great. Of course, he was funny but he was also one of the most engaging speakers I’ve had the pleasure to listen to. He spoke about the importance of letting your writers be comedians and giving them the space to write what they want even if it’s not all used. He acknowledged his limits of being a white, straight man and why it’s so important to him to have a team of diverse writers. He answered Ariel and the fan’s questions with serious thought and made sure to feed off the energy in the room.
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite late night hosts talk about what he does best.