This week on our Inside Late Night podcast, Mark Malkoff sits down with Emmy-nominated comedy writer and performer Jenny Hagel, longtime writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers and executive producer of The Amber Ruffin Show.
Hagel shares a candid, funny, and relatable look at her path to late-night TV—one that involved 35 rejected writing packets, 10 years in Chicago, and one final “give up on your dream” moment that somehow led to her getting hired.
Hagel opens up about:
- The brutal reality of late-night submissions, and how writing packets shaped her as a writer
- Why Seth Meyers’ table reads are unlike any other in late night, and how “bringing in your weird little heart” creates better comedy
- Creating a functional, humane comedy workplace—and how Late Night gets its writers home by 6:30pm
- Her work building a safe, supportive writers’ room at The Amber Ruffin Show
- The origin of her live shows Late Night Trash Can (featuring rejected material) and Jenny Hagel Gives Advice
- And how Hillary Clinton asked to tell more jokes in Jokes Seth Can’t Tell
From improv road trips with Second City to juggling parenthood and monologue writing, Hagel reflects on how she found her voice in late night—and how she’s helping others do the same.
Click the embed at the top of this post to watch our conversation with Jenny Hagel now, or find Inside Late Night on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
