Monday, January 2, 2012

Seth Meyers Is Probably The Nicest Guy In The World

You can tell a lot about someone based on how they interact with their fans in person.

Online, it’s easy to fake sincerity. And if we’re being honest, you never really know who you’re talking to when it comes to the celebrities. Even when an account on Twitter is verified and you think it’s your favorite celebrity, the odds are pretty good it’s their assistant or someone else you’re talking to.

That’s not true in all cases, but it’s true for more than you’d think (and more than some celebrities would like you to know.)

I’ve mentioned on here before that two of my brothers are mentally retarded. So if you were in need of a reminder … there you go.

The reason I mention it here is because back when I was a student at SUNY Potsdam, I went over to see a comedy show at the neighboring Clarkson University, bringing one of my brothers with me.

The show featured Pablo Francisco and Seth Meyers. Meyers came out first, and while I wouldn’t say he killed, it was a solid set, with the audience particularly loving the bits and pieces that Meyers read off index cards that he said he could never use on Saturday Night Live.

Pablo came out next, and it was pretty clear from the start that he was tanked. He had an hour to fill, but after the first fifteen minutes you could tell he was out of material and was just trying to kill time in-between some great bits at the start and his closer, little tortilla boy.

I was disappointed with Pablo’s performance. While I didn’t know what to expect from Meyers (I had never seen him perform live and had no idea that he did so), I had been hyping Pablo for weeks to anyone who would listen, including a few friends that came along to the show with my brother and I.

After Pablo’s set, we got in line to get an autograph. I was a little nervous about what Keith, my brother, would do when he got to the front. He has a pretty nasty habit of saying racist and otherwise insensitive things, and not in a funny way.

(My wife is Christian and he knows I layoff the Jesus jokes when she’s around, so the first thing he does when she visits is try out his own Jesus material with the results you’d expect.)

Plus, you can tell fairly quickly that something’s off with Keith, and people can get weird about that. I treat him and Brad like I do anyone else, which means giving them a tremendous amount of shit, but I’ve never really thought of them as being different. Unfortunately, other people do.

After about an hour’s wait, we were next in line at the table. Pablo was on total autopilot. He wasn’t looking up at anyone and he reeked of booze. I don’t really care that the guy drinks, but to be tanked before a set, phone it in, and then do the bare minimum when your fans come out to meet you always struck me as shitty.

I have no idea if this was a one night occurrence though or a regular thing. So don’t go around saying I’m starting shit with Pablo. He could be a really great guy and I think he’s funny. Plus, if you’ve ever been to Potsdam, New York, no one would fault you for being wasted before the Sun goes down. Especially in March when it’s still as cold as the surface temperature of Mars. (Lewis Black once said about Potsdam that if he lived up there, he would cut himself, just so he can see some color.)

Unlike Pablo, Seth was on his end of the table smiling, making eye contact with everyone, and talked with each person that approached him.

We were the last in line. Keith approached the table with his poster and Pablo did his thing, not looking up but signing it. Seth looked at Keith and started talking to him about the show. Probably longer than he did for most of the people who came before us. I don’t remember everything that was said, but they talked long enough for me and my (future) wife to stand awkwardly in front of Pablo. Long enough for him to look up and hiccup at us. I told him I enjoyed the show. I didn’t know what else to say other than, “Jim Beam, huh?”

After Seth signed our posters he thanked us for coming and waved goodbye to Keith.

That’s always been a nice memory for the both of us. Keith isn’t going to get to meet or interact with a lot of celebrities in his life, but he got to meet Seth Meyers, and it was a wonderful thing.

When it comes to celebrities, or the rest of the people we may follow online, it’s easy to form impressions of them without actually interacting with them. For years I had a perception of Jeff Jarvis in my head that just didn’t match reality, and it wasn’t until I interviewed him for “Social Media Is Bullshit” that I realized how wrong I was.

So whenever I hear people talk about Seth, I always think about that and feel the need to tell them what a great guy I think he is.

Posted by B.J. Mendelson at 2:45 PM