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Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, currently serving as head writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) and anchoring its weekly news sketch Weekend Update.
Meyers was born and raised in Bedford, New Hampshire and attended Manchester High School West in Manchester, New Hampshire. He went on to graduate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he was a member of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta. Meyers is the older brother of Josh Meyers who was a cast member of MADtv and That '70s Show.
Before SNL, Meyers got his improv comedy start as a member of the Northwestern University improv sketch group Mee-Ow, created by Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar. He continued his career at ImprovOlympic with the group Preponderate as well as overseas as a cast member of Boom Chicago, an English language improv troupe based in Amsterdam,[1] where his brother was also a cast member.[2]
Meyers appeared with Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem in the 2008 3D film Journey to the Center of the Earth. He also makes a cameo in the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as a drunk man who mistakes the main character's Yugo for a taxi. Meyers is currently writing and will star in a movie called Key Party. He also starred in the 2004 comedy See This Movie with John Cho.[3][4] In July 2008, Meyers directed the web series The Line on Crackle.[5] Meyers has hosted the Webby Awards twice, in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Meyers hosted the Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA[6].
Meyers joined the SNL cast in 2001.[2] In 2005, he was promoted to writing supervisor,[citation needed] and in January 2006 he became co-head writer, sharing the role with Tina Fey and Andrew Steele. [7] In 2004, he auditioned to co-anchor "Weekend Update" with Fey, but lost out to Amy Poehler.[8] With Fey's departure, Meyers became head writer for the 2006-2007 season and also took on the role of Weekend Update co-anchor with Amy Poehler.[9][10] When Poehler left the show during the 2008-2009 season, Meyers anchored solo. In fall 2009, Seth co-anchored two episodes of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday with Poehler. [11]
During the 2008 United States presidential election,[12] while appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, former SNL cast member Tina Fey credited Meyers with writing the sketches involving Fey's impression of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
On SNL, Meyers has impersonated such figures as John Kerry,[2]Michael Caine, Anderson Cooper, Carrot Top, Prince Charles, Ryan Seacrest, Sean Penn,[2]Stone Phillips,[2]Tobey Maguire, Peyton Manning, Ben Curtis (also known as the Dell Dude), Ty Pennington, Bill Cowher, Brian Williams, Nicollette Sheridan, Wade Robson, Donald Trump, Jr., Tom Cruise, and Kevin Federline. His recurring characters include Zach Ricky, host of the kids' hidden camera show "Pranksters"; Nerod, the receptionist in the recurring sketch "Appalachian Emergency Room"; David Zinger, a scientist who often insults his fellow workers; DJ Johnathan Feinstein, the DJ on the webcam show "Jarett's Room"; Dan Needler, half of a married couple "that should be divorced," opposite Amy Poehler); and William Fitzpatrick, from the Irish talk show "Top o' the Morning."
Meyers supported and picketed during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When interviewed he said, "We all know how lucky we are to have the jobs we have. We're not asking for much. You have to change the rules because people are watching TV in a different way."[13] Even so, he mentioned in interviews that he regretted missing much of the presidential election primary season.[14][15]
Meyers won the third season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and donated the $100,000 prize to the Boston-based Jimmy Fund.[16][17] In 2008, Meyers donated over $4000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. [18] Meyers and SNL castmate Bill Hader penned a Spider-Man one-shot entitled "The Short Halloween". It was illustrated by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009 to positive reviews. Meyers, along with Mike Shoemaker of SNL, created an animated half-hour series "The Awesomes" that was picked up by MTV and will be produced by Lorne Michaels's production company, Broadway Video. [19]
Meyers is an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.[20]
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