During his signature “A Closer Look” segment, Seth Meyers offers viewers politically-focused sketches. His boyish charm and comedic genius shine in his monologues and sketches in political and celebrity news of the day.
Leading up to November 8, 2022, midterm elections, America remained highly polarized. The campaign ads, designed to elicit voters’ greatest fears, relentlessly pounded the airwaves and internet. Nonetheless, these persistent politicians offered late-night talk show hosts like Meyers lots of material for monologues and sketches. Moreover, they used the material to discuss midterm concerns and frustrations with their guests.
Meyers told Vanity Fair that he finds it helpful to write jokes about “merely bad to actively scary news topics.” He hopes it helps the listeners too:
Hopefully, in the writing about it, we provide ourselves an emotional release that is also felt by people who watch what we’ve written. I think there are days where it just feels like there’s nothing prescriptive to say about how terrible the day’s news was. I think gun violence is one of those problems where, when we sit down and talk about how to address shootings, this thing we find ourselves desperately trying to avoid is just being nihilistic about it, or pessimistic about it. We feel like the role we want to serve is just trying to hold on with everything we have to the idea that it might get better.
In the video below, Jeff Wright played each character in a painfully accurate “Late Night with Seth Meyers” segment. As a result, this clever parody displays Wright’s comedic ingenuity. Wright portrays the Voter Support Group counselor and voters: young, old, Democrat, Republican, and a January 6th insurrectionist.
During Meyer’s introduction of “Jeff Wright Holds a Support Group to Help Out Voters,” he explained that citizens are scared and need emotional support, especially after the 2020 election chaos and attempted coup.
Comedic Genius of Seth Meyers
The former “Saturday Night Live” writer and cast member’s late-night program is home to thought-provoking humor, topical jokes, and guests. As a result, “Late Night with Seth Meyers” has earned seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
During his 13 years as a head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor for “SNL,” he earned one Emmy Award.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
NBC: ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ November 1, 2022
IMDb: Seth Meyers
Variety Fair: Seth Meyers Finally Got the Top Late-Night Emmy Nomination—Only After Breaking All the Rules of the Format; by Tara Ariano
Featured and Top Image by Lloyd Bishop Courtesy of NBCUniversal – Used With Permission
