Seth Meyers on Leaving Politics Behind in His New Stand-Up Special and Finding Out How Much He Can Joke About His Family

variety.com:

William Earl While Seth Meyers is discussing his new HBO stand-up special “Dad Man Walking,” he’s visited by his 8-year-old son Ashe, who’s trying to keep it cool while his dad is on the phone. “He’s doing what he thinks is a helpful tiptoe walk that is 1/10 of the speed of normal,” Meyers narrates. “Now he’s pulling paper out of the printer one piece at a time.

He’s finally leaving … He’s also wearing pajamas that look like prison stripes.” It’s fitting that Meyers is facing the typical interruptions of parenthood while answering questions about “Dad Man Walking,” which is largely filled with the wry observations of a modern father and is in the race for the Golden Globes’ best performance in stand-up category.

While his day job as the host of “Late Night With Seth Meyers” is marked by political comedy and celebrity interviews, he says he enjoys the different muscles he uses while sharpening his stand-up. “On ‘Late Night,’ I feel like my entire staff is a really good dance partner, where we all know what we’re after,” he says. “It’s so thrilling too to be doing your stand-up special where all of a sudden, you’re in Philly and realizing, ‘Wow, if I was in Studio 8, a lot of people would help me out — even just on a hair and makeup level.’ But I get that rush of going out on stage and just making people laugh.

And the fine-tuning of language is a thing that you can do with a stand-up special that I’m so drawn to.” The process of crafting and perfecting a joke is instrumental to Meyers as a writer.