WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're taking 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:05.440 a long, critical look at someone you probably 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.320 know best from behind the Weekend Update desk 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.400 at Saturday Night Live. Right. But there's way 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.800 more to him than just that. We're diving deep 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.780 into Colin Kelly. Just American comedian, yes, 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:20.260 but also a really accomplished writer, actor, 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:25.179 screenwriter. Born June 29th, 1982. Yeah. And 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:27.300 here's the thing. If you just see him as, you 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.199 know, the straight man next to Michael Che, you're 00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:33.320 missing the the whole engine behind it, the intellectual 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.780 side that's driven one of the, frankly, most 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:37.840 durable careers in satire today. Absolutely. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:40.119 That's exactly right. I mean, focusing just on 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:42.460 those few minutes swapping jokes each week, you 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:45.159 completely miss the well. The academic power, 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.259 the administrative skill that really built his 00:00:47.259 --> 00:00:49.659 whole career path. Okay. Our sources today, they 00:00:49.659 --> 00:00:52.320 give a really full picture. And honestly, kind 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:53.920 of a surprising one. We're going to track him 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.960 from a pretty serious academic start. Not where 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:58.119 you usually expect comedy writers to come from. 00:00:58.259 --> 00:01:00.799 No, not at all. Right. Through getting hired 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.560 as a staff writer back in 2005, his times as 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:06.780 head writer multiple times, actually. And then 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:09.319 finally, him becoming the longest serving weekend 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:13.140 update anchor ever. He broke the record. So our 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.829 mission here. in this deep dive is really to 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:19.269 map out that foundation. How does a guy who studied, 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:21.609 you know, dense Russian literature at Harvard 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:24.670 end up being this sort of dominant dry voice 00:01:24.670 --> 00:01:27.909 in late night political humor? We'll look at 00:01:27.909 --> 00:01:29.870 how we use that sharp writing skill to get into 00:01:29.870 --> 00:01:32.890 movies, write a... bestselling memoir, land these 00:01:32.890 --> 00:01:35.129 big hosting gigs. Including that new pop culture 00:01:35.129 --> 00:01:37.469 Jeopardy thing. Exactly. That was just announced. 00:01:37.689 --> 00:01:40.129 Hosting for Amazon Prime Video. So yeah, we're 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:42.150 looking past the punchlines, really trying to 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:44.920 dissect how we built this success. Okay, so let's 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:46.519 unpack that. Starting right at the beginning 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:49.079 with those foundations, his roots, his academic 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.159 background. He was born in New York City, June 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:54.840 29, 1982, raised Catholic, grew up in Grimes 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:57.700 Hill, Staten Island. Staten Island. That geography 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:00.180 feels important, doesn't it? Yeah. It kind of 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:02.540 explains that grounded, maybe slightly outsider 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:04.180 view you get from a lot of Staten Island comics. 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:06.760 It really does. And the family background is 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:08.719 pretty telling, too. Right. It points to this 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:12.060 environment of like high pressure public service 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:15.280 kind of jobs. Right. His mother, Carrie J. Kelly. 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:17.599 She was the chief medical officer for the New 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.180 York City Fire Department. Wow. Yeah. I mean, 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:22.000 think about that role. The composure needed, 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:25.919 the huge decisions, especially after 9 -11. Intense. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.400 And his dad, Daniel A. Chost, taught at Staten 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.699 Island Technical High School. So you see this 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:34.240 mix, his mom's precision, his dad's focus on 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.300 communication. It almost feels like it feeds 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:40.560 into his, you know. meticulous comedy style later 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.319 on. It really does build this kind of stable 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:45.460 professional structure, doesn't it? And that 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:47.319 professional bent, it seems like it runs in the 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:50.219 family. His younger brother, Casey Jost, he's 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.419 deep in the comedy world too. Writer and producer 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:54.960 for Impractical Jokers. Okay. And there's a cool 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.120 overlap. Casey was also in that movie Staten 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:59.479 Island Summer, the one Colin wrote back in 2015. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.740 Huh. So the creative thing is definitely a family 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:05.379 affair. And you see that discipline right away 00:03:05.379 --> 00:03:08.710 in his education. It's seriously elite. He went 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:11.069 to Regis High School in Manhattan, known for 00:03:11.069 --> 00:03:13.349 being tough, academically graduated in 2000. 00:03:13.990 --> 00:03:16.469 And get this, he was already editing the school 00:03:16.469 --> 00:03:19.289 paper there at the Owl. So even then, he's practicing 00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:22.009 editorial judgment, leading a team. But here's 00:03:22.009 --> 00:03:23.710 where it gets really differentiating, the Harvard 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:25.750 path. That's what sets him apart. He studies 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:28.050 history and literature there, graduates 2004, 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:30.719 cum laude. Right. And he wasn't just dabbling. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:33.379 He specialized in Russian lit and British lit. 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:36.039 And the really crucial part, his senior thesis 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.219 was on Vladimir Nabokov. OK, that Nabokov detail, 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:41.539 that feels like the key to this whole thing, 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.780 doesn't it? Nabokov, you know, Lolita, famous 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.319 for incredibly complex language, structural tricks, 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.139 unreliable narrators, just layers of wordplay. 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:53.879 Exactly. Dazzling stuff. So if you spend years 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.939 dissecting that level of precision, that structural 00:03:56.939 --> 00:03:59.949 irony. You're basically training yourself to 00:03:59.949 --> 00:04:01.710 be the ultimate comedy writer. It's intellectual 00:04:01.710 --> 00:04:04.409 boot camp for satire. You absolutely nailed it. 00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:07.750 Nabokov demands that kind of analytical shirkness. 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.879 And while he's doing that, he's also the president 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:13.259 of the Harvard Lampoon. The legendary Lampoon. 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:16.160 Right. Think about that combo. High level literary 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.439 deconstruction here and over here, churning out 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.240 topical, often silly humor for the Lampoon. It's 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.439 the perfect storm of highbrow theory and immediate 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:30.100 practical comedy training. Which makes the next 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:32.740 bit, the scramble phase after college, almost 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:34.680 more relatable. You come out of Harvard, the 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:38.470 Bokoff thesis, Lampoon presidency. Right. And 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:41.230 then reality hits. Right. He worked for a bit 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:43.209 as a reporter and copy editor for the Staten 00:04:43.209 --> 00:04:46.550 Island Advance. Back home? Yeah, talk about humbling. 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:49.209 From analyzing complex Russian novels to writing 00:04:49.209 --> 00:04:51.509 for a Nickelodeon cartoon, he worked on a short 00:04:51.509 --> 00:04:53.790 -lived show called Kappa Mikey. Ah, Kappa Mikey. 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:55.649 The show is, you know, you take the writing gigs 00:04:55.649 --> 00:04:57.290 you can get to pay the bills, build up those 00:04:57.290 --> 00:04:59.230 credits. But that groundwork, that training, 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:01.350 it must have paid off fast. Uh -huh. Because 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:03.750 the big pivot was sending a writing packet to 00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:06.779 SNL. That rigor, that precision, it must have 00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:09.480 jumped off the page. He got hired as a staff 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:13.160 writer in 2005. That's incredibly quick. Graduates 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.639 College 04, writing for SNL by 05. It really 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.540 is. And we can't skip that very human pre -fame 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:22.779 moment. Remember, he was on Weakest Link, the 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:25.220 college edition back in 2002. Oh, we forgot about 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:29.040 that. Yeah. He won like $5 ,250, decent for a 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.139 college kid. But he said later he didn't really 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:33.620 feel like he deserved the win. What does that 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:36.170 say? Maybe something about his own internal gauge 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:38.930 for achievement, like real accomplishment versus 00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:41.350 just luck. Could be. It sort of fits with that 00:05:41.350 --> 00:05:44.009 controlled, measured persona we see later. Yeah, 00:05:44.050 --> 00:05:47.709 maybe. OK, let's shift gears then into the SNL 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:50.589 world. That's where he really becomes a defining 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:53.449 figure in modern late night. Starts as a staff 00:05:53.449 --> 00:05:56.029 writer, 2005. And you got to remember, SNL is 00:05:56.029 --> 00:05:58.310 just this relentless machine. 90 minutes live 00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:00.990 every single week. Totally relentless. And watching 00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:02.769 his climb through the writing ranks there, it 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:05.290 really speaks volumes about his work ethic, his 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:07.529 output, and honestly, his administrative skills. 00:06:07.910 --> 00:06:10.420 The titles tell the story, right? Exactly. Staff 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:13.459 writer, you submit jokes, sketches, then writing 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:16.740 supervisor, which he was from 2009 to 2012. That's 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:19.120 more like an editor, a gatekeeper. You're shaping 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.300 sketches, managing younger writers. That takes 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:23.120 more than just being funny. You need structure, 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:26.180 tiny skills. He probably sharpened studying literature. 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:29.319 No doubt. Then he gets bumped up to co -head 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:32.920 writer, 2012 to 2015. Now, for anyone listening 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:35.259 who doesn't know the SNL hierarchy, head writer, 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:37.220 co -head writer, that's like being the show's 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:41.199 general manager, it's a political compass almost. 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:43.620 Right. Setting the tone, overseeing everything, 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:46.589 managing the whole writer's room. Plus. Dealing 00:06:46.589 --> 00:06:48.610 with pressure from the network, from Lorne Michaels. 00:06:48.930 --> 00:06:51.009 Huge administrative weight. He actually stepped 00:06:51.009 --> 00:06:53.110 back from it for a bit, but they clearly relied 00:06:53.110 --> 00:06:54.930 on him. He came back as co -head writer, this 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:57.189 time with Michael Che, his eventual update partner. 00:06:57.329 --> 00:07:00.069 OK. And that was from 2017 right up until 2022. 00:07:00.449 --> 00:07:02.930 Just think about that period. He was steering 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:05.269 the ship, comedically speaking, for the most 00:07:05.269 --> 00:07:08.149 relevant hour of political comedy on TV. Right 00:07:08.149 --> 00:07:11.430 through the Trump years. Exactly. The super volatile 00:07:11.430 --> 00:07:14.290 Trump presidency, the start of the Biden years. 00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:17.560 That takes. incredible political awareness and, 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:19.980 frankly, a knack for neutrality. And you mentioned 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:21.860 his collaboration with Rob Klein, another writer. 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:24.899 They work together a lot. When you see that kind 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:27.620 of long -term partnership in a place like SNL, 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:31.040 it's just real trust. Finding someone who gets 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.439 your wavelength in that pressure cooker. That's 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.300 gold. Absolutely priceless. But the big shift, 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:38.720 the one the audience really saw, was the move 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.680 to weekend update. Summer break after the 2012 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.139 -13 season, Lorne Michaels taps him, asks him 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:47.360 to take over the desk, replacing Seth Meyers, 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:50.000 who was leaving for his own show. Wow. That's 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.579 the moment he goes from the back room to center 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:53.600 stage. Totally. It was a huge show of faith. 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:57.600 And he took it, debuted March 1st, 2014, initially 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.980 with Cecily Strong, but then pretty quickly settled 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:01.839 into that long -running partnership with Michael 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.259 J. And that chi partnership became so iconic, 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.420 didn't it? Because of that sharp contrast, that 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:08.480 intellectual back and forth between them. It 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.500 really did. And that contrast, that chemistry, 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:12.740 it led straight to the record books. October 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:15.560 23, 2021, that's when Just officially broke Seth 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.060 Meyers' record. Longest serving anchor in update 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:20.660 history. Think about anchoring that desk through 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:24.000 eight years. Latter Obama years, all of Trump. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.959 Yeah. Start of Biden. That's just monumental 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.720 endurance, comedically and politically. For sure. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.740 And he managed that longevity, I think, by keeping 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:36.299 that delivery really dry, objective, almost like 00:08:36.299 --> 00:08:38.460 a journalist sometimes. It provided the stable 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:42.179 anchor point against Chess, you know, more pointed, 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:44.379 challenging style. It makes you wonder about 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:46.460 his influences. He's mentioned Norm MacDonald 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.879 as a big one for his update work. Said Norm's 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:51.720 tone was the one he grew up with. Also mentioned 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.899 Tina Fey. Is it weird that he cites Norm MacDonald? 00:08:55.389 --> 00:08:58.629 Because Norm was much darker, riskier, kind of 00:08:58.629 --> 00:09:00.990 surreal sometimes. Just seems so much more controlled. 00:09:01.490 --> 00:09:03.009 That's a really good question. I don't think 00:09:03.009 --> 00:09:04.870 it's contradictory, actually. I think it's maybe 00:09:04.870 --> 00:09:07.190 a blend. Tina Fey brings the super sharp political 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:09.610 writing, the joke efficiency, that's the Harvard 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:13.789 precision, maybe. But Norm MacDonald, he provides 00:09:13.789 --> 00:09:16.850 that model for the detached deadpan delivery. 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.929 That willingness to just let the absurdity of 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:22.490 the news hang there. Which you need when the 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:24.929 headlines themselves are so polarized. Ah, okay. 00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:28.450 So, Jost takes Norm's tone but applies Kina Faye's 00:09:28.450 --> 00:09:30.590 focus. That's how I see it, yeah. That makes 00:09:30.590 --> 00:09:33.129 sense. Gotcha. And while he was mostly writing 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:35.909 and anchoring, he did do some character stuff 00:09:35.909 --> 00:09:39.490 too, right? Brief cameos? Like playing Ohio Governor 00:09:39.490 --> 00:09:42.279 John Kasich in a debate sketch? Oh, yeah. And 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:44.220 the super meta one playing his actual friend 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.700 and Harvard doormate, Pete Buttigieg, during 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:49.200 the 2020 primaries. Right. That works on so many 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.519 levels. The comedian playing his real life buddy 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.539 who's now running for president. Exactly. And 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.960 he did NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, too, during 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:58.399 the 2021 season. So, yeah, even with all the 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.019 writing and anchoring, he could still jump in, 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.559 play a part, understood the ensemble thing. OK, 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:04.740 so we've got the definitive SNL chapter covered. 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:07.940 But Jost has been really smart about. building 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:10.519 his brand way beyond that building, beyond Studio 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:12.419 8H. Let's talk about his other work, starting 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:13.919 with stand -up. That's a whole different beast. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.019 It really is. And trying to keep a stand -up 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:17.980 career going while you're also headwriting and 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:20.539 anchoring SNL, that's an insane juggling act. 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:22.860 Seriously. But he did it. He performed on Late 00:10:22.860 --> 00:10:26.019 Night with Jimmy Fallon, TBS, HBO. And that's 00:10:26.019 --> 00:10:28.419 important, right? It shows his jokes work outside 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:30.960 the update desk format, without cue cards, in 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.519 front of a live crowd expecting laughs now. And 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.720 he got that early industry nod, too. He was picked 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.240 as a new face at the Montreal Just for Laughs 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.500 Festival in 2009. Huge deal for a comic. Yeah. 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:44.220 And he kept doing Montreal, did the Chicago Festival, 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:47.159 too, for a few years after that. So that suggests 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.399 he was building a real independent voice as a 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:52.379 performer. Separate from just being an SNL writer. 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.039 Definitely. And then moving off the stage, his 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.440 writing the literary stuff that's really core 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:00.120 to his whole intellectual brand. He's published 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:02.879 four Shouts and Murmurs pieces in The New Yorker. 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:05.059 Which, for people who don't know, Shouts and 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:07.620 Murmurs is like the gold standard for short, 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:10.080 smart literary humor. Getting published there 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.179 is a big marker of sophistication in comedy. 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:15.340 Absolutely. Pieces like Explaining Your Time 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:18.259 Warner Bill or I Will Slap You. It shows that 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:21.539 high level wit. And publishing in The New Yorker, 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:24.940 New York Times Magazine, Huffington Post, even 00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:27.740 back at the Staten Island Advance. It shows he 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:30.139 can adapt his satirical voice for different places, 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:32.559 different kinds of readers. Very versatile. And 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:34.259 then, of course, the big one for a lot of people 00:11:34.259 --> 00:11:37.940 was his memoir, A Very Punchable Face, came out 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:41.200 July 2020. Right. That did really well. It did. 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:44.200 It seemed like people responded to the vulnerability, 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.379 the self -deprecation maybe. It let people connect 00:11:47.379 --> 00:11:50.220 with him personally beyond the SNL persona. And 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:52.779 hitting the New York Times bestseller list, that 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:54.860 cemented him as a marketable author, not just, 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:56.960 you know, an SNL guy. Okay, let's talk hosting 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.220 gigs. Because this seems like a clear strategy, 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:01.299 positioning him as more of a mainstream media 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:03.940 figure now. Co -hosting the Emmys with Michael 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:07.039 Che back in 2018. High profile, high pressure. 00:12:07.179 --> 00:12:09.600 You've got to appeal broadly, keep the show moving. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.919 It's an administrative task as much as a comedy 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:14.759 one. And then the ultimate tightrope act, hosting 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:17.080 the White House Correspondents Dinner, April 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:20.529 2024. Oof. Yeah. That's the job where you have 00:12:20.529 --> 00:12:22.409 to race the most powerful people in the room, 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.649 including the president, right to their faces. 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:26.830 While also kind of celebrating unity in the fruit 00:12:26.830 --> 00:12:29.610 press. It's a crazy balancing act. Totally. His 00:12:29.610 --> 00:12:31.610 monologue there, it's interesting. About 20 minutes, 00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:35.610 he roasted Trump. He roasted Biden. Kept that 00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:38.490 expected impartiality. But he did throw in a 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:41.809 line supporting Biden's decency. Which is a calculated 00:12:41.809 --> 00:12:45.340 move in that room. Yeah. A bit of a risk. He 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:47.220 also joked about being married to Scarlett Johansson, 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:49.399 did the requisite joke celebrating the press. 00:12:49.659 --> 00:12:52.100 That performance, I think it really cemented 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:54.299 him as the kind of satirist the establishment 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:56.919 is comfortable with. Sharp, but professional, 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.120 palatable. It's an endorsement of that controlled 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.500 intellectual style he has. In looking ahead. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.320 That announcement, July 31st, 2024, he's hosting 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.120 Pop Culture Jeopardy on Amazon Prime Video. That 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.240 feels like the clearest signal yet of him diversifying. 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:15.399 It really does. I want to pause on that. Hosting 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.610 Pop Culture Jeopardy. Is that just smart? brand 00:13:18.610 --> 00:13:21.490 extension, or is it maybe a step away from the 00:13:21.490 --> 00:13:23.970 political stuff that made him famous? It feels 00:13:23.970 --> 00:13:26.909 like a big move towards being a mainstream host 00:13:26.909 --> 00:13:29.789 playing to a much wider audience that isn't necessarily 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:31.889 tuning in for political takes. I think it looks 00:13:31.889 --> 00:13:34.529 very strategic. It leverages the persona he's 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:37.929 already built, smart, quick, composed, but puts 00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:40.110 it in a safe, non -political format that could 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:42.169 run for a long time. It's a high -profile pivot 00:13:42.169 --> 00:13:44.769 that really cashes in on the celebrity status 00:13:44.769 --> 00:13:47.940 he built at SNL. Very savvy. Okay. If we're talking 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:49.879 unexpected moves, though, we absolutely have 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.460 to talk about the weirder stuff. Film work and, 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.200 yes, professional wrestling. Right. Okay, film 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.159 first. He wrote the screenplay for Staten Island 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.879 Summer back in 2015 and had a small part in it, 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:02.799 too. Played Officer Greg Callahan. He was also 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.840 in How to Be Single in 2016, minor role. And 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.279 he's kept acting a bit, sometimes mixing it with 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.679 his personal life, like having a cameo in Fly 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:12.879 Me to the Moon last year, which starred his wife, 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.320 Scarlett Johansson. Right. Supportive husband 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.200 move. And he's got a voice role coming up, Mr. 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.139 Moon and the bad guys, too. So he's definitely 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:21.860 building out a little acting and screenwriting 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:24.779 sideline. But the story that just screams deep 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:29.419 dive absurdity has got to be the WWE thing. March 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:33.039 2019, Colin Jost and Michael Che show up on WWE's 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.139 Monday Night Raw as special correspondents for 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:39.620 WrestleMania 35. Oh, my God. Yes. What were arguably 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:42.480 the two leading political satirists in America. 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:45.279 doing anywhere near a wrestling ring. What's 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.360 amazing is how fully they committed to the bit. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.019 They didn't just observe from the sidelines. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.080 No, they got pulled into a whole storyline with 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.659 Braun Strowman, this absolute monster of a wrestler. 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:56.559 Okay. And it ended with both of them, Jost and 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.860 Che, being surprise entrants in the Andre the 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:02.580 Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania itself. 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:04.039 They're kidding. They were in the match. They 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.299 were. And the sources say their brilliant strategy 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.440 was to hide under the ring for most of it. Classic 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.659 comedy survival move. Avoid the giants. Totally. 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:14.940 But eventually they had to come out and they 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:18.019 made this one doomed attempt to try and eliminate 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:20.879 Stroman together. And here's the perfect Jost 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.940 moment. He tries to reason with Stroman by bringing 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:27.879 up his therapist. No, he tried to use therapy 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:30.879 talk on Braun Stroman. He did. It's the absolute 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.340 peak Jost persona applying that sort of Harvard 00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:37.059 educated analytical approach to a guy who throws 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.759 people for a living. How did that go over? About 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.240 how you'd expect. Strowman immediately chokeslammed 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.559 him, then tossed both Jost and Che out of the 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:47.759 ring like nothing. End of story. Oh, man. Proof 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.419 that dry wit doesn't stop a chokeslam. Apparently 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:53.740 not. But it was just this perfect, bizarre, unforgettable 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:58.600 clash of worlds. Weekend update meets WWE. Hilarious. 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:00.879 Okay, let's shift to his personal life a bit. 00:16:01.230 --> 00:16:02.929 There's some really interesting connections that 00:16:02.929 --> 00:16:04.750 actually loop back to that intellectual start 00:16:04.750 --> 00:16:06.809 we talked about. Like the fact that Jost and 00:16:06.809 --> 00:16:09.009 Pete Buttigieg, former Secretary of Transportation 00:16:09.009 --> 00:16:11.789 Pete Buttigieg, weren't just at Harvard. There 00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:14.710 were dorm mates. Dorm mates in Leverett House. 00:16:14.929 --> 00:16:17.889 That's wild. Isn't it? Sharing a dorm at the 00:16:17.889 --> 00:16:20.870 start of their careers. And clearly they stayed 00:16:20.870 --> 00:16:24.029 connected. Just donated to Buttigieg's mayoral 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:26.889 campaign back in 2015. And then, like we said, 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:29.169 he ends up playing Buttigieg on SNL during the 00:16:29.169 --> 00:16:31.690 primaries. Yeah. It just highlights that small 00:16:31.690 --> 00:16:34.769 interwoven world of the American elite connecting 00:16:34.769 --> 00:16:37.509 politics and comedy. His biggest personal connection, 00:16:37.649 --> 00:16:39.929 obviously, is his marriage to Scarlett Johansson. 00:16:40.110 --> 00:16:42.909 Met when she was hosting SNL, which happens a 00:16:42.909 --> 00:16:45.669 lot there. The classic SNL romance story. Right. 00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:50.370 Started dating May 2017. Engaged May 2019. Got 00:16:50.370 --> 00:16:52.690 married pretty quietly October 2020 at home in 00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:55.909 New York. And they had their son in August 2021. 00:16:56.210 --> 00:16:59.269 And that relationship undeniably boosted his 00:16:59.269 --> 00:17:01.649 profile massively. Took him from being mainly 00:17:01.649 --> 00:17:04.150 known by comedy fans to being a globally recognized 00:17:04.150 --> 00:17:05.910 celebrity figure. And then there's the project 00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:08.470 that's just pure quirky Staten Island love. The 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:12.089 ferry boat. Oh, yes, the ferry. In 2023, Justin 00:17:12.089 --> 00:17:14.250 Pete Davidson, another Staten Island SNL guy, 00:17:14.430 --> 00:17:16.930 they bought a decommissioned Staten Island ferry. 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:19.500 The MV John F. Kennedy. What are they even doing 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:22.519 with it? Well, it's partly just this giant amazing 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:25.099 inside joke, right? But it's also kind of an 00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:27.420 investment. The sources mention it was actually 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:29.460 used in a movie last year called Screamboat. 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:32.079 Screamboat, okay. So it grounds them back in 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:34.920 their roots, gives them this very tangible, very 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:37.980 weird piece of local New York history. It's kind 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:41.640 of endearing. We've talked acting. But there 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:44.279 was a more recent kind of short -lived venture 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:47.420 into sports. He surfs, apparently. Yeah, he's 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:50.240 an avid surfer. Which led to this slightly odd 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.319 gig in 2024. NBC Sports sent him to Tahiti to 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:56.119 cover the surfing competition at the Summer Olympics. 00:17:57.369 --> 00:18:00.190 A dry political comic covering surfing in Tahiti 00:18:00.190 --> 00:18:02.609 for the Olympics. Why? I guess it speaks to how 00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.289 celebrity works now. Networks want familiar faces 00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:07.529 everywhere, maybe. But it raises questions about 00:18:07.529 --> 00:18:09.789 juggling all these side hustles. Because his 00:18:09.789 --> 00:18:11.990 time there ended abruptly. Oh, really? Yeah, 00:18:12.029 --> 00:18:14.210 he left before the competition finished. The 00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:16.289 sources just said it was due to multiple health 00:18:16.289 --> 00:18:19.569 issues. Kind of vague. Huh. Just a little reminder, 00:18:19.609 --> 00:18:22.089 I guess, that even super successful people have 00:18:22.089 --> 00:18:24.730 limits. Not every gig works out perfectly. Exactly. 00:18:24.849 --> 00:18:27.809 Even for a pro. Okay, let's wrap this deep dive 00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:30.470 up by looking at the hardware, the awards, the 00:18:30.470 --> 00:18:33.809 honors, the proof of impact. You don't get to 00:18:33.809 --> 00:18:35.750 be the longest running update anchor without 00:18:35.750 --> 00:18:38.130 racking up some serious recognition. Oh, absolutely. 00:18:38.650 --> 00:18:41.900 Colin Jost has been an awards magnet. 19 Emmy 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:44.839 nominations total for his SNL work. That's a 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:47.079 cross -writing. The show itself is a variety 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:50.359 series. And now even hosting, he got nominated 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.140 for Outstanding Host for a game show in 2025 00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:56.740 for Pop Culture Jeopardy. 19 nominations. That's 00:18:56.740 --> 00:18:59.619 just sustained excellence over... decades across 00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:01.740 different roles it really is and he's one too 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:03.940 he's a two -time primetime emmy winner and what's 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:07.059 cool is his recent wins in 2025 were for the 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:09.960 snl 50th anniversary special ah for the big anniversary 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:12.599 show yeah one for outstanding writing for a variety 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:14.900 special and for outstanding variety special live 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:17.299 it really shows his influence spanning his whole 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:19.460 career arc from a young writer contributing week 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:21.759 to week to being a key figure in celebrating 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:24.500 the show's massive history And beyond the Emmys, 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:27.039 the writers themselves have recognized him consistently. 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.119 Multiple Writers Guild of America awards. Yep. 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:32.680 WGA wins for Comedy Variety Sketch Series in 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.960 2007, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018. Those WGA awards 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.519 are huge. They mean the people actually doing 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.880 the writing respect your craft. That's validation 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.019 from your peers. And then bringing it right back 00:19:44.019 --> 00:19:46.400 home. full circle to Staten Island and academia. 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.480 He got an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:52.539 the College of Staten Island, CUNY, in 2025. 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:55.259 That's fantastic. Yeah, recognizing his work 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:57.599 in comedy, TV, and community service. It's a 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:59.779 nice way to tie his celebrity status back to 00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:02.160 his local roots in civic contribution. It really 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.079 is a remarkable story, blending that high -level 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:07.680 intellectual start with huge success in mainstream 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.220 entertainment. So if you step back and look at 00:20:10.220 --> 00:20:12.369 Colin Joust's whole journey... It's pretty amazing 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:14.230 from that super intellectual background writing 00:20:14.230 --> 00:20:17.089 about Mbokov at Harvard to becoming this incredibly 00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:20.170 steady, dominant figure in modern comedy, holding 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:22.710 that weekend update record. Yeah, the key takeaway 00:20:22.710 --> 00:20:24.750 for me is really about the power of applying 00:20:24.750 --> 00:20:27.890 intellectual rigor to mass media. Just took that 00:20:27.890 --> 00:20:31.190 deep academic training history. literature structure 00:20:31.190 --> 00:20:34.549 and used it to become this really effective satirist 00:20:34.549 --> 00:20:37.089 of American culture, politics, everything. He 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:39.509 managed to take the kind of precision needed 00:20:39.509 --> 00:20:42.430 for Nabokov and make it work on the biggest, 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:45.170 most accessible comedy stage there is. Building 00:20:45.170 --> 00:20:47.910 that bridge, making smart humor work in a broad 00:20:47.910 --> 00:20:51.470 format. That's his real genius, I think. So we've 00:20:51.470 --> 00:20:54.690 seen his success in writing, acting, hosting 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:57.640 these big events. The memoir did well. Now he's 00:20:57.640 --> 00:20:59.960 got Pop Culture Jeopardy lined up, which feels 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:02.599 like a long -term play. Given all that, where 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:05.079 does his legacy ultimately lie? Is that weekend 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:07.480 update record the thing that defines him the 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.920 ultimate comedy writer and satirist? Yeah. Or 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:11.680 is that just the launching pad to becoming more 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.200 of a pure media personality, a mogul even? That's 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:16.420 the big question, isn't it? Yeah. You have to 00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:19.220 wonder, how does that shift reflect where... 00:21:19.529 --> 00:21:21.890 comedy celebrity is going right now does the 00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:24.650 smart political satirist eventually have to soften 00:21:24.650 --> 00:21:26.910 the edges move away from the controversy to achieve 00:21:26.910 --> 00:21:29.809 that broader maybe less volatile mainstream success 00:21:29.809 --> 00:21:31.990 something for you to think about as we see what 00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:32.410 he does next