Live from Bailey Hall, it’s Saturday Night!
The Cornell University Program Board is hosting a night of comedy starring Saturday Night Live comedians Colin Jost and Melissa Villaseñor for its first show of the semester.
Jost, best known for co-anchoring in “Weekend Update,” won a Peabody Award in 2009 and has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards for his work on SNL.
Villaseñor, who recently finished her freshman year at SNL, was the first Latina actress to be on the show. She also works with Broadway Video’s digital platform, “Más Mejor,” which produces comedic content mainly targeted at the Latino population.
CUPB chair Daniela Manzano ’19 anticipates a full house for Jost and Villaseñor, calling it “an awesome deal … to get two SNL comedians.”
With Jost’s experience with the “Weekend Update,” an SNL segment famous for its featured political satire, and the current political climate, Manzano expects the show to have timely, relevant and news-oriented content.
According to Manzano, “anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this event.”
“Any kind of Cornell student … will like this show,” Manzano said. “Even if they don’t watch SNL, even if they have no idea who Colin Jost or Melissa Villaseñor are, they’ll have a good time. Students will be really receptive to their humor.”
Jost, who succeeded Seth Meyers as co-anchor of “Weekend Update” in 2014, nine years after graduating from Harvard University, has also appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon as a stand-up comedian.
Villaseñor, an actress and impressionist who has been in the comedy world for a decade, previously did voice-over acting on Fox’s Family Guy, Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time and Comedy Central’s TripTank. Last year, she opened for Whitney Cummings, a comedian and actress, on her national tour and at the taping of her HBO special.
CUPB has previously invited a wide variety of speakers and performers to campus, including Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and talk show host Trevor Noah, who dissected U.S. race relations with his usual comedy in September.
Manzano called these shows “an essential part of the Cornell experience.”
“We talk to a bunch of agents and get word back from our general student body to find out who they want to see, who’s relevant, who’s up and coming,” Manzano told The Sun. “People are excited to see Colin and Melissa.”
The show will take place at Bailey Hall on Feb. 9. Tickets will go on sale for students on Wednesday, Jan. 31 and Thursday for general audiences on CUPB’s website.
“Some people are like, ‘I don’t really like comedians’ or, ‘I don’t really get it,’ but this isn’t any kind of niche humor,” Manzano said. “It’s just funny.”