Lorne Michaels is a legend, but that doesn’t mean the Saturday Night Live boss always gets everything right. Just ask Seth Meyers.
In a new interview with Vulture ahead of the release of his latest comedy special, Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking, the host of NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers revealed the worst advice that Michaels ever gave him.
“My first summer on SNL, [Michaels] told me he thought I should take tap-dancing lessons because he thought that would give me more confidence as a performer,” Meyers told Vulture’s Hershal Pandya. “In fact, it was so important, he told someone else to tell me.”
While Meyers never actually took those tap-dancing lessons, he isn’t opposed to taking up the skill for SNL’s landmark 50th season. “Maybe I should now and do something special for [Michaels] at the 50th [anniversary],” he added jokingly. “Just tap across the stage and give him a hug.”
Of course, Michaels has also given the comedian plenty of good advice over the years. When asked about the best piece of advice that his former boss ever gave him, Meyers responded, “When I started Late Night, he said, ‘It’ll take you 18 months to figure it out.’ I thought that was too much time, but he was 100 percent right. I think it was almost 18 months to the day that I realized I shouldn’t be standing for the monologue.”
“[Michaels] has a reputation for being an impatient person,” Meyers added, “but I think he does appreciate the process and that you sometimes need to learn by doing.”
Meyers was on SNL from 2001 to 2014, making him the show’s third longest-running cast member to date (just behind Darrell Hammond and Kenan Thompson). During his time on the show, he also acted as head writer and anchored “Weekend Update” from 2006 until his departure to host Late Night.
Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking premieres Saturday, October 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
