0:01
Be careful around your eyes, Seth. Oh, right. Oh, yeah.
Search this video
0:04
I definitely got a little in my eye. Um I Oh my god.
0:17
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
0:17
From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
0:20
It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
0:23
And today, we're joined by Seth Meyers.
0:25
You know him as one of the longest-tenured cast members in Saturday Night Live history.
0:28
Of course, his show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, weeknights on NBC, is also the co-creator of IFC's Documentary Now, which is set to return for season 3 on February 20th.
0:35
Seth Meyers, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
0:40
So, I know that you've had the hot chicken at Bolton's in Nashville. yes. Thank you. up?
0:45
I held up pretty well, but that was probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been when I've enjoyed the meal.
0:51
So, I remember my wife and I were then driving and had to both sort of have our heads out the window like dogs.
0:57
That was my memory of that.
1:00
Well, you ready for round two? Yes. Let's do it. All right.
1:15
So, the first one's the classic and we'll start. here. Mhm. Okay, great. All right. Here we go. All right. Delicious. And manageable. Mhm. Totally.
1:35
So, you and I were actually born at the exact same hospital in Evanston, Illinois.
1:38
And I know that you moved away at a young age, but returned to go to college at Northwestern.
1:42
Mustard's Last Stand Hot Dogs, overrated or underrated?
1:47
Um properly rated, I think.
1:47
I think people who who say you have to go there are maybe overselling it, but I think it's a wonderful thing after a football game or before a football game.
1:55
it's a pretty good hot dog.
1:58
Did you ever go to Hackney's during your time at Evanston and get one of those fried onion bricks? I didn't. Big mistake.
2:04
It sounds wonderful, but I don't Yeah, my memory does not Yeah.
2:08
You were studying improv in Chicago at a time when people like Steve Carell and Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert were at the Second City theater.
2:14
So, I'm curious on your perspective as someone who went from the Improv Olympic in Wrigleyville to 30 Rock and then to late night, how do you quantify the Chicago comedy scene's impact and influence on the entertainment industry at large?
2:28
Well, I think the world's luckier now that there's improv communities in LA and New York and there's also because of how much easier it is to shoot things and put them online, there are a lot of different roads to success, but Chicago used to be sort of the main road
2:43
and I think some of the best people in the world would come there to get their start and when I went to my new student week, my parents brought me out and we went to Second City and I saw a show with Carell and Colbert and just realized how much I wanted to be doing what they were doing. I saw Tina Fey do
2:58
I saw Tina Fey do her first show at Second City just randomly on a night I was there.
3:02
I saw people like Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch and it was just I didn't realize until years later not that I was seeing the best people in Chicago, but they were also the best people in the world.
3:13
They just happened to be in Chicago.
3:14
So, it was really I felt incredibly lucky to be there then.
3:22
Unless there's a secret kick, I'm I'm well in on it. Enjoy it while you can.
3:26
So, as we touched on in your intro, one of the longest tenured Saturday Night Live cast members ever, the well of queries runs deep, so we'll hit you with some of our most pressing SNL questions on this wing. Go for it.
3:35
Lorne Michaels, the mythology around him is so vast.
3:37
Do you remember your first conversation with him? I do.
3:42
Um I was living in LA at the time. I auditioned.
3:46
Uh on my way off the stage, he stood up and and shook my head and said good job.
3:50
And uh years later I realized that was not uh common.
3:52
So but I didn't know at the time that was a big deal.
3:55
I flew back to LA a full week later they flew me back out to New York just to meet with Lauren. And I sat in his office.
4:04
I didn't realize at the time that meant that I had the job.
4:05
Lauren is very bad at giving specific messages like welcome to the show.
4:11
And one thing I remember him saying was we're going to see how you look in wigs.
4:16
We want to do a wig test before we hire you.
4:21
And then I worked there for 12 and a half years and I realized that's not a thing.
4:23
I don't know why he said it was a thing and I just went back to LA worried about how I was going to look in wigs and would I fail the wig test.
4:28
I don't know why he said it to this day.
4:30
He also said do you think you can live in New York?
4:35
Which I really I just thought to myself who blows it at this part of the interview?
4:39
Who who at SNL auditions says oh is it in New York?
4:43
Does it have to my parts have to be in New York too?
4:46
Um I was you know a full three or four years that he stopped being sort of this comedy icon and started being somebody I worked with.
4:54
And then you know the celebrity guest my guess is that most of them come in they're excited they're bright-eyed they're down for whatever.
4:59
But I know that there's a Kanye West moment every now and again.
5:02
When you think about the times that somebody came in and just messed up the vibe for everyone all week is there a story that stands out?
5:10
I mean messed up a vibe you know I'm I'm always loath to like call somebody up by name because I don't have to name names.
5:16
But I but yes people definitely screwed up the vibe.
5:20
I would say Kanye because I can say this as a huge fan of Kanye.
5:23
The way Kanye would screw up the vibe was he would he made and I think he changed the way musical performances happen at the show.
5:31
He made them bigger than they were.
5:33
He would bring in sets different lighting.
5:34
You know he'd bring in ballerinas like 50 ballerinas.
5:38
And he's a bit of a perfectionist.
5:40
So you know what was always slotted for two 2 rehearsal for music with Kanye would you know be 3 hours 4 hours 5 hours.
5:47
Now the downside is it pushed everybody else's day later.
5:51
The upside was there was never a time where he gave his music performance and and you didn't think that he'd made the most of it.
5:57
Do you have a live on air screw up or break that you're most embarrassed by?
6:01
Um in your first year they try really hard if there's a week where none of your sketches get picked they try to at least have you have one thing to do so that you can go through the process of getting hair and makeup on and getting into wardrobe at least once and not just sit in your room feeling bad for yourself.
6:15
And a lot of times that means you have one question as a reporter in a press conference and that's what I had and during the sketch I just remember in my head thinking I can't believe I'm on SNL and then I heard someone else say my line and I realized that I had just drifted off and completely missed my cue and when I went back and watched it it really just cuts to me like this.
6:34
It's exactly what your face would be if you were daydreaming about how cool your job was. Where's patio from? Denver Colorado.
6:43
Got some I feel like a storm's coming.
6:47
Like I'm you know I I my nose isn't running yet but I can feel it start to. Yeah.
6:51
Um and so uh you know I still have a a great deal of concern.
6:58
So now that you're a lifelong sports fan and I was amused to read that as a child you'd use your allowance money to subscribe to the Post-Gazette so that you could keep up with your beloved Steelers as you were growing up in New Hampshire.
7:10
Do you think that e-sports are a real sport? I do.
7:13
I will admit it took me I didn't uh immediately come to that conclusion but I think everything about it is I mean to play a sport that is about reaction time and I think strategy uh which a lot of sports are and then not risk physical injury uh seems like a pretty good deal.
7:32
Um but it seems like a short career. think so.
7:34
Younger kids have faster reaction times.
7:36
I think faster than any sport uh that thing goes.
7:40
I think in like at 22 you're like basically Brad Pitt.
7:44
Should they keep playing Sweet Caroline during the eighth inning of Red Sox games or stop playing Sweet Caroline during the eighth inning of Red Sox games?
7:50
It's a pretty decent tradition and a good sing-along.
7:52
I think the ultimate bigger problem the Red Sox uh and their fans are up against is how uh they've went from the most charming underdogs in the world to now, you know, basically the Yankees in different uniform.
8:06
And then, I know that you're partial to the athletes that have come on Saturday Night Live. Yeah.
8:11
So, what I want to do is just hit you with a few big names that were on the show when you were on it.
8:14
I just want to know what you remember about working with them, okay? Okay, gotcha. LeBron James.
8:19
LeBron James, it's still stunning to me that when LeBron James was on the show, I believe he was 22 years old and he was so intellectually mature, uh such a gentleman, uh really fun to hang out with and uh a delightful host. Uh Peyton Manning.
8:33
Peyton Manning, I remember we did that United Way sketch where he was mean to kids and I went over to him between takes and said, "Hey, can you Do you think you can hit that kid in the back of the head with a Nerf football?"
8:42
And I realized it was the most insulting thing to say to an NFL quarterback.
8:45
He just looked at me and said, "Yeah, I can hit the kid."
8:56
All right, it's getting hotter.
8:58
Is it really hard for you? You know what?
9:00
At this point, I feel like I'm so battle-tested, so battle-hardened that I know what to expect, you know?
9:05
Plus, I feel like as a host, don't you have to just put up a better front for your guests?
9:10
Like, I need to be confident and stoic cuz otherwise, you might panic. That's true.
9:15
I've I try very hard not to say during any interviews, "This isn't going well."
9:20
Just I know I know this is your first time on the show, but they usually go better.
9:25
So, sketch comedy is sort of a misunderstood discipline, I think, to a lot of people.
9:29
As someone who understands it at a technical level, do you think that there's a difference or a disconnect in what sketch writers think is funny and what audiences think is funny.
9:39
An Eminem verse, for example, might be so focused on the mechanics of rapping that to the average ear it doesn't even sound good. I see.
9:48
I don't know if we think about it in terms of mechanics.
9:50
I do think music is different than comedy.
9:52
This one's really hot and I'm worried.
9:53
Um I also I I should went out just Careful around your eyes, yeah.
10:00
Well, I didn't um I'm wearing my show makeup. Yeah.
10:03
And now I'm concerned that it's going to melt off.
10:07
So, this will just be an interesting science experiment, but but like I do want people to know like if my face starts melting I don't want them to panic.
10:14
Is there a sketch that you wrote Mhm.
10:17
that you think is funny, that you thought was funny, that you still think is funny, but that bombed on air?
10:23
I This is going to seem thematic.
10:23
This is the last sketch I wrote that in the end I think was accurately treated as bad by the audience.
10:30
So, I'm not standing up for it, but Melissa McCarthy hosted my last episode and she had ordered 200 chicken wings and she was pretending like there was a party, but it became very clear that she was had ordered them for herself.
10:43
And my last sketch played total silence and uh and Lorne looked at me and I remember him saying, "What am I going to do without you?"
10:58
Look at you splitting bones, cleaning wings out here.
11:02
Um this is a true story about me. I was just last night.
11:04
I'm going to tell you a true story. Okay. Mhm.
11:09
I used to work at an improv theater in Amsterdam and we had uh the chicken wings were something you could order and uh one night we were standing by uh the pinball machine playing pinball and my brother saw me.
11:21
My brother also worked theater uh basically sucking uh the chicken wing and he was said um are those yours? And I said, "No."
11:29
Uh and he said, "You're just sucking someone else's chicken wings?" And I said, "I am."
11:33
And then someone else said, "I also think they're from yesterday." All right, Seth.
11:39
Well, we have a recurring segment on our show called Explain That Gram, where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context. Okay, great.
11:47
So, bust out the laptop, I'll show you the picture, and you tell me the bigger story. Does that sound good? That sounds great.
11:51
All right, laptop, please. Thank you, sir. You're welcome.
11:59
All right, first things first.
11:59
How in the world did you end up at Yeezy Season 2 with Anna Wintour and Kim?
12:07
I was told that I was personally invited by Kanye.
12:11
So, that's the only reason I went. Wow.
12:13
Um, and then I saw him afterwards, and it wasn't uh, not that I expected it, but it wasn't as though he didn't say, "Thanks for coming.
12:20
I'm glad you got my invite."
12:21
But, it was I knew I was going to sit next to Anna Wintour, so I that's the only time I think I've worn sunglasses inside.
12:26
I didn't see a lot of stuff that I thought would look natural on me.
12:32
I didn't see I wasn't like, "Oh, that's an ensemble that I could pull off."
12:36
Well, I think you should at least try some on.
12:37
Yeah, I could try some on. All right.
12:40
Have you picked up any cooking tips from your segments with Action Bronson?
12:42
He's a friend of the program.
12:45
Action Bronson is the most cursing we've ever had.
12:50
I think if you based on the beeps, you might not at the end of it hear enough words to know how to prepare an octopus.
12:56
I don't you know, I got to be honest, I think most of our late night cooking segments, people aren't writing down how to prepare the food, and they certainly weren't for Action.
13:02
But, he's a lot of fun to be around. Adobo loco. Lo hey, kid. Hawaii.
13:13
Loco, a very a very frightening word when you're eating.
13:16
You don't want to see loco on a menu, usually.
13:22
So, like you, I grew up watching Letterman, and that era of late night wasn't as politically driven as it seems like this new era is.
13:28
You know, shows like yours, Colbert, political commentary is right at the core of the show.
13:33
And I'm curious, to what extent do you think that shift is driven by political satire becoming more popular genre, and to what extent is it driven by audiences just being more interested, being more political?
13:45
Well, I think a couple things.
13:45
I I do think uh Jon Stewart sort of flipped the game with The Daily Show, and I think showed everybody there was a different way of doing things.
13:54
And then, you know, I do think that if Dave still had a show, I bet it would be more political if it was on right now than it was uh when he started, just based on where we are.
14:06
Um but also, I you know, there is a uh certainly an appetite from the audience.
14:11
I was surprised when we first started the show in 2014, the conventional wisdom was, "Oh, uh the shorter you can make bits, the better the better chance they are to go viral."
14:21
And uh it turns out like people actually have patience for uh things.
14:23
Sort of one of our signature bits is called the Closer Look.
14:27
It's sometimes 12 to 14 minutes, and it's still the part of the show that people watch the most online.
14:33
Do you think that it's possible for political humor to be nonpartisan? Uh no.
14:39
I think it's I think it would be I think it point of view is really important.
14:43
And I think that's what people are drawn to in all kinds of comedy, whether it's articles or whether it's interviews.
14:47
Like we try to bring the receipts when we're doing that, so that people know, "Okay, this person uh obviously have a different political view than this person, but at least they're not um just coming up with things out of out of thin air."
15:01
And this is where it just the labels get cuz now this is our first uh crazy are funny that way, you know. Yeah.
15:07
It was so in the beginning it was just a happy turtle.
15:11
Some gold here, that's all good. Roosters. Oh, here it comes. comes. Yeah. It's very hot. Mhm.
15:33
I feel it all over the tongue.
15:37
So I understand that you're a sandwich obsessive.
15:38
So much so in fact that even if you're eating things that aren't a sandwich, like a baked potato and a steak, you'll actually make it Yeah. into a sandwich form.
15:45
Did you learn anything about the dark arts of sandwich making as a delivery driver for D'Angelo or is that just a rumor?
15:53
to tip my tip my cap to your research department.
15:56
That's some real deep cut [ __ ] right there.
15:59
Be careful around your eyes, Seth. Oh, right. Oh, yeah.
16:02
I definitely got a little in my eye. Um I Oh my god.
16:12
Um I was more of a D'Angelo a delivery driver.
16:15
I didn't um learn much about sandwiches.
16:19
Um I don't have any What do I say There's three to go. Jesus. Mhm.
16:26
Milk, you drink milk now, right?
16:27
use your high school car that had the vanity plates LaSeth for that delivery job or did they give you a car? It was a rental car.
16:35
The vanity plate was LaSeth. You know it. We can move on.
16:41
Do you have a go-to like that was an unfair jump from six to seven.
16:45
What do you think's a better sandwich city, Chicago or New York? Um I don't know. It's a good question.
16:47
I would say they both have really good sandwiches.
16:51
I'm not going to pretend This is me as an actor.
16:53
I'm not going to pretend I'm not in pain. All right.
16:56
Well, let's see how that goes.
16:57
This next one is the bomb. Beyond insanity.
17:01
Should we go right to another one while I'm pretending I'm not Okay. The bomb. Oh.
17:22
They do not the antidote. Okay.
17:28
I'm going to be cool now. Impressive.
17:37
So, I feel like now is as good a time as any to get extremely meta about this celebrity interview.
17:41
You talk to celebrities every night on a big network talk show.
17:45
Of course, I have this circus act here on YouTube. Yeah.
17:50
Do you ever think about Do you ever think about the absurdity of it all?
17:53
We're a conduit to a total stranger's story, you know?
17:55
And you have to build rapport with somebody that you're meeting for the very first time.
18:01
Well, nine dudes in a room and a million more watching at home just look at us.
18:06
Yeah, um I'm Well, the thing is what's interesting and the difference between um this and my show is not that genuine things don't happen on my show, but it's obviously a performance of a conversation of some kind, even though like no, I'm not performing right now is what I'm trying to get at. That was the Woo!
18:29
And there's a lot more plates spinning because it's like this simulated conversation in exactly 6 and 1/2 minutes and then this break and then this thing.
18:37
Do you have to change the way that you talk to people? Mhm.
18:42
Yeah, like there's no other conversation in my life where someone behind me is holding up numbers for how much time until the next commercial break. I'd like that.
18:51
You know, sometimes you're at dinner parties and nothing would make me happier than being able to go Well, we got to go to commercial.
18:58
And then, you know, that's such a day in and day out grind doing a nightly talk show. Yeah.
19:02
And then, you'd stack on top of it doing this other show, Documentary Now.
19:06
Is that in some ways like building a ship in a bottle for you?
19:09
Is it a hobby doing something like that?
19:12
Yeah, it's like making something beautiful that you have the time to make.
19:16
Like also like when you do a late night talk show, you're very aware that like their value like decreases by half every day.
19:20
Like yesterday's show is already worthless because the news has changed.
19:25
Whereas Documentary Now, I'm hopeful that it'll be as good in 10 years. Okay. Oh my god. Bring it up. Yeah. Okay.
19:47
I'm just genuinely not happy. I'll go. Go ahead.
20:01
So now that your love of comics runs deep, in addition to creating your series The Awesomes on Hulu, I know that you made a special issue Spider-Man along with Bill Hader. I did, yeah.
20:10
If your collection caught on fire and you could only save one comic, which one would you save?
20:14
My first I have Grant Morrison is one of my favorite writers signed.
20:16
He was on the show and he signed my first issue of Animal Man, which was a really important comic for me.
20:22
I'm sure if I had to save one, I would save that one.
20:25
What do you think is the funniest comic book of all time?
20:28
The funniest comic book of all time.
20:28
I remember when I was young, there was a comic called Ambush Bug and I thought that was really funny.
20:34
And then the Justice League International had was both a a good superhero book that was also funny.
20:42
Which superhero do you think would make the best late night guest?
20:45
What superhero do I think would make um What superhero make the I mean I guess Bruce Banner.
20:53
You try to obviously have Bruce Banner on and have him Hulk out.
20:58
And then you know, comics are so mainstream now.
21:01
They're the biggest movies every year and then even more niche comics like Preacher. Yeah.
21:04
in its fourth season on a TV show.
21:07
Which comic has fallen through the cracks?
21:09
Like what would you like to see a Hollywood adaptation of in 2019?
21:13
Um I'm really excited uh New Gods is going to be uh I mean I can't believe like so that they've been so successful that something like Mr.
21:19
Miracle might be in a movie.
21:20
Like that's really cool for me.
21:21
Uh Blue Beetle, I was I'm a big Blue Beetle fan.
21:23
I would like to see that find its way to the silver screen.
21:27
Which uh comic book character do you think would do best against the Wings of Death? Uh Firestorm.
21:33
Uh he's already his hair he's already has like a a flame and uh his uh nuclear uh bomb logo already looks like one of these [ __ ] bottles.
21:45
Why you just get on with it?
21:45
I feel like the shaking's making it worse. So this is the last dab.
21:54
We call it the last dab because it's tradition around here to put a little extra on the last wing. Yeah, I've seen it.
22:00
You don't have to if you don't want to, Seth.
22:03
Well, what is the sauce on the last wing? It's already there.
22:06
So I don't have really so Great.
22:10
So this this is just for show.
22:10
This is just for me to It's ritualistic. Yeah. Okay. There you go.
22:18
All right, what a run it's been. Has it been a good run? It's been very fun.
22:22
How have I held up as like a middle of the road?
22:24
You know, I I here's what I think, Seth.
22:26
You're obviously in pain. Yeah.
22:28
You're suffering a little bit. Yeah.
22:29
It's the most painful meal of my life.
22:31
But you have gone forward Yeah. hard. Yeah.
22:35
You've been cleaning wings.
22:35
You know, sometimes people when they're struggling they'll start to nibble a little bit or maybe they'll tap out entirely. But not you, Seth.
22:42
And you've worked a full day.
22:44
You work right across the street. Cheers to you. Cheers. Mhm. Good bite.
23:06
Okay, Seth Meyers, here we are at the end of the line and just one more ball to balance on your nose before we get you out of here.
23:11
One of our favorite Seth Meyers bits is a is a trailer that you made for Boston Accent. Yeah.
23:19
Where you played a laundry list of characters all with Boston accents.
23:20
So, if you'll humor me, what would the mayor of Boston say about Hippie Dippie Green?
23:28
Uh Hippie Dippie Green, this is a good hot sauce. Not too rough on you. You got to enjoy it.
23:35
You know, put a little bit on your crab.
23:37
You know, you want to put a little kick on your lobster roll, I I would say Hippie Dippie.
23:42
How would the townie who says bro in every sentence review the wings that were served today?
23:48
Bro, I got no problem with the wings.
23:48
I got a problem, I feel like these people that are making these hot sauces are out to get you.
23:55
I feel like it's a show for them to watch you melt down on the YouTube.
24:01
And then, what would the British actor who's trying but doesn't quite have it say about the bomb? The bomb is too hot. It's wickedly hot.
24:15
Well, you heard it here first and look at you, Seth Meyers, 10 chicken wings up. You know what? 10 chicken wings up.
24:20
Now you And finishing it off to the bone.
24:28
Hot Ones legend, and I salute you.
24:31
This camera, this camera, or this camera.
24:32
Let the people know what you have going on in your life. I really enjoyed this.
24:35
What I have going on in my life?
24:39
I'm um I'm worried that if I kiss my children, they're going to burst into flames. Watch documentary now.
24:49
That's on February 20th on IFC. It's really good.
24:52
And then, Late Night is on every night.
24:54
Or at least that's the plan. See how I HOLD UP. GOOD JOB, SETH. GOOD JOB. ALL RIGHT. When does this stop? How long? Uh oh. No, no.
25:14
He He's like, "When does this stop?"
25:18
You answer that question.
25:20
It's It's It's only going to get better from here.
25:24
This is the worst you're going to feel is the worst you're going to feel. Woo! Hi, everybody. Camera guy Bill here.
25:36
Just wanted to thank you for our 5 million subscribers on YouTube.
25:37
Because of you, I still have a job and my mom is super proud of me.
25:44
Uh it's pretty good being Bill these days and that's thanks to you, spice lords. Keep on subscribing.