# Seth Meyers
**Seth Meyers** (Seth Adam Meyers, born 1973) is an American comedian, writer, and television host, known for thirteen seasons as a writer and performer on *Saturday Night Live* and since 2014 as host of NBC's *Late Night with Seth Meyers*.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) • [2](https://www.eastharlemschool.org/uploaded/program-vertical.pdf) Born in [Evanston, Illinois](https://www.edgepedia.org/evanston-illinois), he grew up in Bedford, New Hampshire, the son of Hillary Meyers, a French teacher, and Lawrence Meyers, a finance executive.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973, Evanston, Illinois; grew up in Bedford, New Hampshire[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) |
| SNL tenure | Joined in 2001; cast member for 13 seasons; co-head writer with Tina Fey, then sole head writer[2](https://www.eastharlemschool.org/uploaded/program-vertical.pdf) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) |
| Weekend Update | Debuted at the desk on September 30, 2006, co-anchoring with Amy Poehler; solo anchor after Poehler left in 2008[3](https://latenighter.com/features/late-night-time-machine/seth-meyers-weekend-update-debut-2006/) • [1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) |
| Late Night | Host since February 2014, taking over the 12:35 a.m. slot from Jimmy Fallon[4](https://time.com/706/seth-meyers-does-it-late/) |
| Signature segments | "A Closer Look" and "Jokes Seth Can't Tell" with writers Amber Ruffin and Jenny Hagel[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late) |
| Other creations | Co-created Hulu's *The Awesomes* with Mike Shoemaker and IFC's *Documentary Now!* with Fred Armisen and Bill Hader[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/dna-late-night) |
| Digital reach | *Late Night* averaged 60 million views a month across YouTube, Facebook, and Hulu as of 2018[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late) |
## Early career and Boom Chicago
Meyers attended [Northwestern University](https://www.edgepedia.org/northwestern-university), where he joined the sketch groups Mee-Ow and Preponderate; he later said that being cast in the Mee-Ow Show in his senior year "changed the course of my life pursuit."[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) • [7](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/sites/default/files/institution_downloads/nu_magazine_spring_2018.pdf) After graduating he moved to Amsterdam, where he and his brother Josh performed with the improv theater Boom Chicago.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) He spent two years there and has called it a "really important time" in his comedic development, saying the Dutch audience forced him to find universal humor rather than rely on American references.[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-new-late-night-with-seth-meyers) • [5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late)
At Boom Chicago he developed a sketch called "Bar Pickup" with comedian Jill Benjamin, in which each performer collected answers from half the audience and worked them into a two-person scene. The pair expanded it into a show, *Pick-ups and Hiccups*, which they performed in Chicago, Edinburgh, London, and Singapore.[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/how-boom-chicago-launched-seth-meyers-to-saturday-night-live-60-minutes/) An SNL recruiter saw the show at the Chicago Improv Festival, and Meyers landed a job at *Saturday Night Live*, starting in 2001.[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/how-boom-chicago-launched-seth-meyers-to-saturday-night-live-60-minutes/)
## Saturday Night Live, 2001–2014
Meyers moved to New York on August 20, 2001, three weeks before the [September 11 attacks](https://www.edgepedia.org/september-11-attacks), and described his first years on the show as a struggle: an okay first year followed by what he calls a "sophomore-junior slump."[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late) His strength lay in writing rather than outrageous characters; he was promoted to full cast member in 2003, rose to writing supervisor, and in 2006 became co-head writer alongside [Tina Fey](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-fey) and Andrew Steele.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/)
His on-camera breakthrough came at the "Weekend Update" desk. He first auditioned to co-anchor with Fey in 2004 but lost out to [Amy Poehler](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-poehler); when Fey left the show, Meyers replaced her opposite Poehler, debuting on September 30, 2006, the Season 32 premiere.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) • [3](https://latenighter.com/features/late-night-time-machine/seth-meyers-weekend-update-debut-2006/) His low-key, cerebral delivery played against Poehler's manic intensity, and the pair established long-running bits such as "What?! with Seth and Amy."[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) When Poehler left in 2008, Meyers anchored the segment alone.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/)
As a writer he is credited with Tina Fey's Sarah Palin-skewering sketches of 2008, which he wrote much of, and with helping write the 2007 sketch in which a heavily pregnant Poehler rapped as Palin while Palin herself appeared on stage.[1](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/) • [4](https://time.com/706/seth-meyers-does-it-late/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/26/seth-meyers-i-couldnt-have-asked-for-a-better-target-than-trump) In 2011 he delivered the jokes at the [White House Correspondents' Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/white-house-correspondents-association) dinner, following President Barack Obama on the program, and opened with a line mocking Donald Trump's floated presidential run; Trump later said, "I didn't like his routine," though the comedian drew strong reviews.[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late)
## Late Night with Seth Meyers
When [Jimmy Fallon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-fallon) moved from *Late Night* to *The Tonight Show* in early 2014, Meyers took over the 12:35 a.m. program, with his first episode on February 24, 2014.[4](https://time.com/706/seth-meyers-does-it-late/) [Lorne Michaels](https://www.edgepedia.org/lorne-michaels), the show's executive producer, described Meyers's defining quality as "his intelligence and curiosity," and his producer Mike Shoemaker, a longtime SNL colleague, noted that "he can construct a joke in conversation."[4](https://time.com/706/seth-meyers-does-it-late/)
The show changed form over its first years. Meyers initially delivered a standing monologue in a suit on a darker set; he now delivers the monologue seated at his desk, wears a button-down or sweater, and the set is covered in blue. He has said the transition took about a year and a half, matching what Michaels had predicted.[11](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-10th-anniversary-interview/) • [5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late) In a departure from late-night convention, he books a third guest slot for people who would not appear on other talk shows, including political figures, athletes, comic creators, and authors.[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/dna-late-night)
**Political comedy** became the show's center of gravity. Segments like "A Closer Look," an extended comedic examination of the day's political news, and "Jokes Seth Can't Tell," in which writers [Amber Ruffin](https://www.edgepedia.org/amber-ruffin) and Jenny Hagel deliver punchlines to setups Meyers says would be difficult for him as a straight white man, defined his voice as what one profile called a liberal gadfly.[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late) • [12](https://www.salon.com/2023/10/09/late-night-talk-show-report-card/) Meyers has said of Trump, "I couldn't have asked for a better target," and his satire has drawn the president's repeated criticism; by 2026 he was joking at an NBC industry event, "Or as the FCC calls me: 'Next.'"[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/26/seth-meyers-i-couldnt-have-asked-for-a-better-target-than-trump) • [13](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2026/05/21/trump-keeps-targeting-late-night-tv-hosts-keep-pushing-back/)
Meyers talks frequently about his writing staff, and the roster has remained largely stable across the show's first decade; early hires included stand-up [Michelle Wolf](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-wolf) and sketch performer [Conner O'Malley](https://www.edgepedia.org/conner-omalley).[14](https://awardsradar.com/2021/06/21/seth-meyers/) • [15](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-interview-writers/) During the 2023 writers' strike he joined Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and [John Oliver](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-oliver) in the podcast "Strike Force Five," whose proceeds paid the benched shows' staffs.[12](https://www.salon.com/2023/10/09/late-night-talk-show-report-card/)
## Other work
Beyond *Late Night*, Meyers co-created *The Awesomes*, a Hulu animated comedy about second-string superheroes, with Mike Shoemaker, and *Documentary Now!*, an Emmy-nominated docu-parody series, with SNL alums [Fred Armisen](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-armisen) and [Bill Hader](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-hader).[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/dna-late-night) • [2](https://www.eastharlemschool.org/uploaded/program-vertical.pdf) He hosted the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2014 and, with his brother Josh, launched the podcast "Family Trips."[16](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-strike-force-five-interview/) His acting career in feature films was brief; he concluded after parts he wanted went to castmates such as Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, and [Andy Samberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-samberg), saying, "if I was directing this movie, I would cast them, too."[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late)
## References
1. [Seth Meyers – Host, Comedian, Writer, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/seth-meyers/)
2. [Seth Meyers, East Harlem School program](https://www.eastharlemschool.org/uploaded/program-vertical.pdf)
3. [Seth Meyers' First 'Weekend Update' Was 20 Years Ago Today, LateNighter](https://latenighter.com/features/late-night-time-machine/seth-meyers-weekend-update-debut-2006/)
4. [Seth Meyers Does It Late, Time](https://time.com/706/seth-meyers-does-it-late/)
5. [Better Late, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/features/better-late)
6. [The DNA of Late Night, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/dna-late-night)
7. [Late Night: Unconventional News Source, Northwestern magazine](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/sites/default/files/institution_downloads/nu_magazine_spring_2018.pdf)
8. [The New Late Night with Seth Meyers, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-new-late-night-with-seth-meyers)
9. [How Boom Chicago launched Seth Meyers to "Saturday Night Live," CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/how-boom-chicago-launched-seth-meyers-to-saturday-night-live-60-minutes/)
10. [Seth Meyers: 'I couldn't have asked for a better target than Trump,' The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/26/seth-meyers-i-couldnt-have-asked-for-a-better-target-than-trump)
11. ['Late Night' Turns 10: Seth Meyers Reveals How Trump's Election Changed the Show Forever, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-10th-anniversary-interview/)
12. [Let there be late night: A report card on the hosts' return episodes, Salon](https://www.salon.com/2023/10/09/late-night-talk-show-report-card/)
13. [Trump keeps targeting late-night TV. The hosts keep pushing back., The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2026/05/21/trump-keeps-targeting-late-night-tv-hosts-keep-pushing-back/)
14. [Interview: Seth Meyers Navigates and Entertains 'Late Night' Audiences Through It All, Awards Radar](https://awardsradar.com/2021/06/21/seth-meyers/)
15. [Seth Meyers on the Past, Present and Future of Late Night, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-interview-writers/)
16. [Seth Meyers on His Return to 'Late Night,' the Evolution of 'Strike Force Five,' TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/seth-meyers-late-night-strike-force-five-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › American stand-up comedians, contemporary › Stand-up comedians born 1970–1979*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license