FEATURE INTERVIEW - August, 2019
A Closer Look at Late Night with Seth Meyers
FastForward Interviews Seth Meyers
WRITERS/REPORTERS: Minna Hibbitts, Lilah Richman, Semira Robinson, Naomi Lenchner, Kylie Sebastian, Lyla Tipton, Zadie Winthrop, Sammie Dostart-Meers, Ashley Grady, Patrick Lenihan and Joshua Santos (FROM: Marin Academy, Tamalpais High, Menlo School, Redwood High, Sidwell Friends, San Domenico, IMG Academy, and Urban schools)
Way up inside 30 Rockefeller Center, smack in the middle of New York City’s legendary skyline, Seth Meyers and his writing staff brainstorm around a large wooden table. With only hours to prepare for tonight’s show, they toss around the latest excesses in the worlds of pop culture and politics, and the best ways to skewer the hot air out of each one. Through the hard work of writing, rewriting and more rewriting, the pitching and spitballing are molded into structured gags and observations until there’s a full lineup of segments and sketches calibrated to TV’s wee hours. That frantic storm of ideas, rewrites, and coffee runs has become a seamless tapestry of comedy gold.
Late Night with Seth Meyers, which follows The Tonight Show at 12:35 am, has already become a talk show institution in the few years it’s been on the air. Millions of Americans tune in nightly for the show’s witty commentary and spontaneous celebrity appearances, but watching the show at home doesn’t capture the energy of experiencing it live at 30 Rock. There’s an exhilarating rush of excitement when the first notes of the theme music kick in and the audience roars in anticipation of the show ahead. When Meyers takes the stage, the audience roars even louder.
It’s obvious that hard work makes Late Night with Seth Meyers happen, but what’s it like to work that hard for one of the country’s most beloved shows? We got to find out when we met the man himself. Meyers strolled in wearing dark jeans, white tennis shoes and a grey hoodie, greeting us with a giddy smile and a warm and simple “What’s up guys?” Put at ease by his warm welcome, we set out to find out what makes Seth Meyers so hilarious.
It was inevitable that our conversation would turn to current events. In the midst of our era’s turmoil and upheaval, Late Night has become a beacon of pointed, heartfelt social commentary illuminating the insanity of modern politics. The “A Closer Look” segment best illustrates what Meyers’ Late Night is all about. Whereas the show’s previous hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien, leaned toward more apolitical comedy, poking fun at the news without stepping on anyone’s toes, Meyers’ “A Closer Look” takes on the corruption and injustices committed by our government on a daily basis. The result is cathartic comedy that helps us feel a little bit better.
While comedy’s ability to lift the spirits is a cornerstone of Meyers’ political commentary, it evolved from a decidedly nonpolitical source: his father.
“My dad’s my biggest comedic inspiration,” he said. “He’s a very funny guy even though he’s a businessman. I noticed at a young age that he was very effective at getting people to listen to him—all because he so was funny.”
Comparing this comedian of a dad to his friends’ more boring, less amusing fathers, Meyers concluded that the old man’s comic ability was more than a talent—it was a superpower. And so it was that young Seth Meyers knew that, somehow, humor was going to be a central part of his life.
“Another inspiration was when I first went off to college, saw an improv troupe and thought, ‘That looks like something that I would like to do for the rest of my life.’”
Meyers’ father’s ability to diffuse situations and bring people together through comedy is the secret ingredient in “A Closer Look.” This zeitgeist-worthy segment has become the show’s centerpiece, greeted with as many cheers as Meyers’ top-of-the-show entrance. “People can watch the show, hear us talk about difficult things, and have it be more cathartic than the regular news…At the end of the day, we’re the last source you’ll hear talking about the news. Maybe we’ll make you laugh, and then you’ll be able to sleep a little easier.”
Comedy has the power to comfort people in difficult times, but it wasn’t the sort of comedy Meyers expected to do to the extent he does now. “Three years ago we had more time to sit back and say, You know what? I’d like to do a piece about this. And we’d say Great. Let’s circle back in a week…” The easygoing comedy that resulted from this approach was entertaining enough but became less and less relevant to our increasingly hectic social landscape. Of course there was also that major historical event that was Meyers’ point of no return. “There was this election in 2016,” he said coyly. “I’d been doing the show 18 months. When the election started, we all thought the resulting material was silly and fun and different. The only thing was, we thought it would all be over come election night. But we were wrong.”
Events were snowballing fast: Trump’s promise to build a wall on the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the U.S., the unprecedented chaos of the Republican debates, the rigging of the Democratic primary, the potential hacking of our election process—everything became sleazier and scarier by the day. “In covering this, we became a show that could react quickly to the news, and we realized that we liked being able to react quickly…As a result, we now spend day to day trying to find and talk about what is most important.” Motioning to a wall of TVs nearby, Meyers added, “Today, we don’t have to try as hard.”
Asked what he hopes to do with his newfound status as a political comedian, Meyers said “I want people to be more engaged. We all get one vote, and that’s pretty much the most important thing we have. And if all people chose to engage with that right, I would be happy.” When it comes to one particular issue, Meyers thinks taking action is crucial to our very survival. “One of the things I’m very passionate about, which, though we cover it, often gets lost in the churn of the daily news, is the environment and climate change. I think the long-term impact on all our futures is more climate change-related than anything else. I wish we had more time to talk about that.”
To grapple with these issues in a funny and meaningful way, you need a strong group of writers and creators at your back. “I think audiences these days more than ever have a good sense for authenticity. They want people who are not telling them what they think they want to hear; but they say, ‘I’m going to watch this person because I want to hear what they believe.’ And because there’s so much going on with all walks of life right now, I think it’s very hard to not have diversity in writing staff...It’s not random how we find them. Now more than ever, we look at people on social media.” If Meyers or one of his scouts sees a standup they like, they’ll go to their Twitter feed to evaluate their writing skills as well as their ability to respond quickly and comedically to current events. This combination of skills is highly valued in the world of late-night TV, and every now and then another hardworking comic gets a one-in-a-million offer to work for one of the genre’s most popular shows.
Meyers never forgets the good luck he’s enjoyed and is invested in opening doors to people who’d been shut out of the business. “When you’re lucky enough to be given a show like this, you have the chance to hire a really diverse writing staff. In maybe five or ten years they’ll also have shows, and I’ll feel so happy. Not only do we get value out of having them here, but hopefully we can be their sort of entry into the business.” Comedy, says Meyers, is a magic trick. Setting a premise, commenting on it, and then releasing tension to lift the spirits is a truly magical art, one the Late Night staff performs on a daily basis. And with comedy as its beacon, Late Night will, one hopes, keep entertaining millions, speak truth to power, and lift the burdens of a troubled time for years and years to come. And who knows? If you’ve got your own unique comedic voice and you’d like to share it with the world and make an impact, you just might become Seth Meyers’ next all-star writer.