SNL vet Seth Meyers leaves sold-out SU crowd in stitches

A sold-out Goldstein Auditorium welcomed Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers with uproarious applause on Wednesday night.

The laughs started immediately when he “mistakenly” greeted the crowd as Indiana University, Syracuse’s latest basketball rivalry in Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Meyers then gave shout-outs to each class, spending extra time with the juniors, calling them “the dicks of every college campus.” Although he successfully insulted a portion of the audience, he was off to a great start.

Photo: Eesha Patkar

Seth Meyers performs in the Goldstein Auditorium Wednesday night to a sold out crowd.

When University Union began planning “A Night of Comedy with Seth Meyers,” they based their decision off of the surveys sent out to students, according to Chloe Quakenbush, co-director of University Union Performing Arts.

“We feel that Seth was an excellent choice in providing students, faculty and staff with the entertainment they wanted to see,” Quakenbush said.

And they were proven right. The show sold out in just a matter of days, leaving students to scramble at the last minute to find tickets on Facebook or in contests held by University Union. Meyers was so popular among the students, that one female student yelled a marriage proposal from the crowd during the show. To her dismay, he hilariously declined, asking, “Has that worked for anyone?”

Meyers spent part of the night telling stories of his past, starting first with the two years after college he spent living in Amsterdam. Yes, he was there for the reason that one might expect. He said he knew it was time to leave when the marijuana turned him into two different people: Matthew McConaughey and Owen Wilson. He then proceeded to do spot-on impressions of both, "Am I right? Am I right?" he asked as McConaughey.

Meyers talked about how everyone, sometimes without realizing it, is hated when they return from living abroad, a phenomenon many students who have studied abroad have surely experienced. Meyers says that the travelers will take any chance to talk about their time overseas, annoying everyone around them: "It's so hard for me to drink American beer anymore … after living in Belgium," he quipped.

Of course, as the six-season anchor of SNL's “Weekend Update,” it wouldn’t be a Seth Meyers show without some political humor. He discussed the trouble in the European economy, placing a great deal of sympathy on Germany. Despite having the most stable economy in Europe, he pointed out, no one is willing to listen to them because of World War II.

He likened the country to “the kid who sh-t his pants at prom”—no matter how successful this fictional kid becomes, he will only be remembered for the unfortunate incident at prom, just as Germany will always be remembered for the Nazis.

This was television, radio and film and history sophomore Alexa Goldberg’s favorite bit of the night. “It was just the perfect metaphor,” Goldberg said.

Meyers then told of his experience at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which took place just before the death of Osama bin Laden. Meyers said he felt the monumental event stole his thunder: instead of talking about how amazing his comedy was at the dinner, the news outlets were discussing the death Monday morning. But, instead of staying upset, he has decided to embrace it. He now takes responsibility for killing the terrorist leader.

Meyers ended the night with some “Weekend Update” jokes that were too raunchy for the NBC censors to allow. These ranged from “an armless man in Germany arrested for stealing a television” to a Paris Hilton sex joke. His big finale included a theatrical wind-up, a lesbian joke and an enthusiastic standing ovation.

The SNL head writer was a huge hit with Syracuse, leaving some audience members in tears from his jokes.

University Union will announce the performer for Block Party this Sunday at 10 p.m. via Twitter.