Cultural Attractions Committee welcomes SNL comedian
Live from Knoxville, Tenn., it’s Colin Jost!
The Cultural Attractions Committee (CAC) welcomed Jost, co-head writer and cast member of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC)’s popular sketch show “Saturday Night Live” (SNL).
Jost put on a show discussing his family, upbringing, social issues and rejected sketch pitches, on Tuesday in the Cox Auditorium of the Alumni Memorial Building (AMB).
Jost was hired as a writer for the series in 2005 at age 22, just after graduating from Harvard University, and made his on-screen debut in March 2014, taking over for former cast member Seth Meyer’s position on the show’s weekly segment, “Weekend Update.”
The popular sketch parody of a live news report began in 1975 with comedian Chevy Chase, and has been passed on to other famous comedians including Norm MacDonald, who Jost has expressed was extremely influential in his career, and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as “co-anchors.”
Freshman Emilie Morath and sophomore Kyra Jones’s favorite parts were Jost revealing his rejected sketch ideas, and Jost reading some “Fun Facts” about UT from his phone sent in by audience members.
“Fun fact #1: UT Dining just implemented a plan where all students have to have a meal plan, even if you don’t live on campus. This adds more money to our tuition that a lot of people won’t even use at our dining areas,” he said.
Madeline Lewis waited in line for over 20 minutes after the show to take a picture with Jost during his “meet and greet” session.
“It was interesting to see how he is compared to a scripted SNL series as opposed to his stand-up bits,” said Lewis, a freshman at UT.
Jost also had the audience participate in a “shout out” to two of his SNL colleagues and UT alumni, James Anderson and Paula Pell, by filming a short video of everyone shouting, “We love you, James and Paula!”
Nashville native Chris Killian was Jost’s opening act, and he got the audience laughing almost immediately by incorporating country music into his routine.
Jost posted on Twitter and Instagram later saying, “Had such an awesome show at UT in Knoxville tonight! Thank you guys for coming out! #peytonmanning”
Edited by Hannah Hunnicutt
