UNC’s resident comic/future Jimmy Fallon is at it again with the upcoming second episode of his hit student-produced show. A senior Media Studies and Production major from Charlotte, NC, Jay Putnam stars in the aptly named Good Night with Jay Putnam which airs on YouTube as a part of UNC’s Student Television series. Her Campus sat down with the inevitable network-TV comedy star to get a glimpse at what goes into producing the show, how it got started and what to expect from next week’s new episode.
Her Campus: How did Good Night With Jay Putnam come together?
Jay Putnam: Good Night came together at the end of my sophomore year. Kevin (Spellman), our executive producer, and Miles (Bonsignor) our director and head writer came to me after we did a show with CHiPs (UNC’s resident improv comedy group). They said, ‘We really want to make a late night show, and we want you to be the host.’ I was like, ‘Ah yeah that would be awesome/super fun, let’s do it!’ It’s always been kind of a dream to do something like that, but we really didn’t have the means to do it. Then this summer, Miles and I lived together, and Kevin was in New York as well, and the three of us would talk and think about ideas, and we learned a lot from our internships. We brought what we learned back with us. Miles worked with Student Television and was able to get us a budget to produce the show. So we pulled a bunch of people together who we thought would be really great. It ended up being a ton of really awesome people in a room together.
HC: You interned at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last summer in New York. Can you tell us more about that experience?
JP: It was a really creative environment, which is so exciting because it feels like there’s always something happening. My job changed on a daily basis, and I would do a lot of different stuff, basic intern things. Also, we would sometimes help out with rehearsals, or we would distribute scripts and help organize things for meetings. My goal was to lend a hand anywhere I could. I did a lot of cool stuff. Just being there and finding out about the different positions was such an incredible experience.
HC: Did that internship experience give you an idea of what you want to do?
JP: Yeah! I love television. I love the fast pace of TV. It’s so exciting. It’s always moving, you never really have a chance to have a break or totally chill. You’re always moving, moving, moving, and always have to be on the top of your game. It’s so exciting and such a challenge, it makes it so cool.
HC: So do you see yourself doing that, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Fallon and being onstage, or do you see yourself working in the behind the scenes?
JP: I’d love to pursue onstage, I think. I love doing improv here (Jay is a member of UNC’s comedy troupe, CHiPs). I really, really love it. I love doing Good Night. I like acting as well, I really enjoy that, too. It’s all really exciting, and it’s exciting to be creative in that way. Performing is really great. I found out this summer, I really also love production. What segment producers do and what any producers do is they think of these ideas and work them out and make them happen. It’s a really cool job.
HC: You’re taping the second episode of Good Night at Dance Marathon. How did that come about?
JP: So, people from Dance Marathon asked us if we would like to do some stuff during the marathon, and we were like, yeah that would be awesome, we would love to do that! When we came into the meeting, we were thinking maybe we wouldn’t do a full show, maybe just a truncated/shorter one. But when we showed up they were like “Yeah, so we blocked you off a whole hour”, which is exactly what we need for a full show, so we decided to go for it! They’re awesome and so excited about it, which makes us really excited about it. It’s become this really cool partnership, and it’s so exciting.
HC: So, it’s going to be filmed in front of a pretty big audience, then?
JP: Yeah, there’s going to be 1,000 people there we think. It’s gonna be nuts. We are using seven cameras for this one. Last time we used three. This one’s so much bigger, so we had to use seven of them. It’s really exciting.
HC: You have a pretty big team around you, what goes into producing an episode?
JP: Last I heard we have 34 people that work on the show. There’s me, Miles and Kevin, who are the top three guys. I’m a host, producer and writer. Miles is head writer, producer and a director, and Kevin is the executive producer. and his job is nuts, he oversees everything. Next we have segment producers. They get the guests and the musical acts. The marketing team is in charge of the social media stuff. Including myself and Miles, we have eight writers. We also have an audience services manager who makes sure ticketing is right. We have a video director, and his ops who operate all the cameras. And then Avery Sullivan who is our DJ, gosh I love that guy, he is so funny! We have a bit with him for the next episode. And then we have a bunch of production assistants, a prop manager, video engineer, sound engineer stage manager and a set designer. It’s a massive crew of people. It’s awesome. I like everybody, they’re all so cool.
HC: What can Good Night fans expect in episode two?
JP: I think it’s going to be really fun. It’s definitely a bigger production. It’s all new sketches. The mayor (Mark Kleinschmidt) is our guest, he’s great, so awesome. We met with him on Monday. We have an awesome band, The NightShift, I heard them once before and they blew my mind. So we are really excited for them to play. I think it’s gonna be fast paced, a lot of fun.
HC: Do you plan on getting the marathoners involved? You had some pretty sweet dance moves in the first episode.
JP: I’m definitely going to dance some. Oh yeah. There’s definitely going to be some dancing. I’m going to be in the crowd a few times, that’s for sure. I think it’s going to be a packed house. I mean a lot of people (the dancers) have to be there. They’ll all be really pumped about it, and we’re really pumped. It’s going to be a super-energized, 1:30am segment. I cannot wait for it.
HC: What have you learned from this experience? What’s your big takeaway?
JP: There’s a lot. I mean I’ve learned a ton from this. The fact that we could do it, you know. For a college show, we did something cool, something good. We were really proud of that, and I think that gave us a lot of confidence. It’s definitely taught me personally ways to perform in front of crowd. Usually, like with CHiPs, you’re up there with a bunch of people. And with this, it’s just me. It’s teaching me how to be personable, to take something like a conversation, and make it something that translates to other people.
HC: So being in CHiPs definitely helped you prepare?
JP: That definitely taught me in improv, how to listen and be quick on your feet. Having those skills was incredible, especially with interviewing. It’s teaching me how to be personable, to take something like a conversation, and make it something that translates to other people.
HC: You’ve got 10,000 views! What were you expecting?
JP: I know, that’s nuts! When we started working on the show in November, I remember a couple weeks in thinking about how many views I want, and to me, getting 300 views would be nuts. Now we’ve got 10,000. Honestly, the first episode, because of the success of that, it’s making us excited to take a lot of risks. Going into it, we were working really hard to make it as good as we can, and thankfully, that paid off. We took a big risk doing it. Coming off of the first episode, we wanted to keep taking risks and keep challenging ourselves. Giving stuff to the audience that they’ll really dig, but aren’t expecting.
HC: I can’t even imagine how much fun you’re having!
JP: I’m having the best time! Doing the bits, and especially the interviews. When people laugh, it feels really good. It’s working, we’re doing okay!
Get ready to laugh your PJ’s off when episode two of Good Night with Jay Putnam premieres Monday, March 23 at 10pm on YouTube.
In the meantime, you can catch up on the first episode here.
All photos courtesy of Good Night with Jay Putnam.