Live from Binghamton University … It’s “Saturday Night Live!” Except this time, it’s on a Wednesday. Get ready for three members from the treasured NBC late-night comedy show “Saturday Night Live” to grace the stage of the Osterhout Concert Theater on Oct. 27. Cast members Alex Moffat and Mikey Day will perform with staff writer Anna Drezen as a special guest.
As headliners for the first in-person comedy show from the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moffat and Day are continuing a tradition of bringing “Saturday Night Live cast members to BU. In 2019, Pete Davidson took on the Osterhout Concert Theater as the last pre-pandemic SAPB comedy show. Past shows have featured cast members and writers from “Saturday Night Live” such as Aidy Bryant and John Mulaney.
Moffat and Day are known for their impressions of Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., respectively, in skits and interviews on the segment “Weekend Update,” a segment parodying nightly news that airs in every episode.
Lucas Bianculli, vice president for programming for the SA and a senior double-majoring in economics and environmental studies, said Moffat and Day were popular choices from this semester’s fall survey.
“We chose the comedy acts via our annual fall survey,” Bianculli said. “That’s usually how we pick any artist or act to come perform at [the University]. It’s definitely the best way for students to express who they are interested in having come to [BU].”
Moffat is a stand-up comedian and writer from Chicago, Illinois. He was a featured player on “Saturday Night Live” in 2016 and worked his way up to a main cast member in 2018. He’s known for his impressions such as Mark Zuckerberg, Casey Affleck, Anderson Cooper and Joe Biden, a role he reprised after Jim Carrey. He has also appeared as original recurring characters like “The Guy Who Just Bought a Boat,” a conceited rich person who offers terrible dating advice. He has been featured in films such as “A Conspiracy On Jekyll Island” and “Uncle John” and is currently a spokesperson for Natural Light Beer. Apart from comedy, he was an official member of the acro-dunk team with the Chicago Bulls.
Day is a native of Orange County, California who joined “Saturday Night Live” as a writer in 2013 after being recommended by cast member Nasim Pedrad. In 2016, he became a featured player and was promoted to repertory player in 2018. He’s best known for writing a skit known as “Haunted Elevator,” which introduced Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins. Day played a skeleton alongside Hanks.
Special guest Drezen has been a writer for “Saturday Night Live” since 2016. A Long Island native, Drezen and the “Saturday Night Live” writing staff earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series from 2017 to 2019. Starting as a staff writer in 2016, Drezen became a supervising writer in 2019 and was promoted to co-head writer in 2020. In 2019, she premiered a one-woman comedy show called “Okay, Get Home Safe,” which was inspired by true crime podcasts.
Bianculli said he expects the show to be a pleasant experience for students.
“We expect this to be a great show!” Bianculli said. “We’re really excited for [Moffat], [Day] and [Drezen] to perform. It’s not often you get to see [‘Saturday Night Live’] cast members do stand-up in person, and for only $9 per ticket, we’re hoping students are as excited as we are.”
The stand-up comedy show will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Osterhout Concert Theater. Tickets are $9 and can be purchased on the SAPB website.