Parsa Lotfi, Photo Editor
Actor, writer and comedian Bill Hader, most famous for his time on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), came to Strong Auditorium on Saturday night to participate in a Q&A as the Winterfest Weekend comedian. Organized by Campus Activities Board (CAB), the event was largely advertised as featuring the “Winterfest Comedian Bill Hader.” Although this did not draw attention to the fact that the performance was not, in fact, a standup show, Hader’s meer presence was nonetheless nothing short of hilarious.
The night featured selfies with audience members, drowned plants, an uncomfortable administrator, an ongoing correspondence with actress Kristen Wiig (with whom Hader was casually texting the entire show, because they are best friends), and general life advice for those of us who are a little more than afraid of the vast enigma surrounding our futures.
Before Hader came on stage, the crowd was primed with clips of his past performances in “SNL,” “Superbad,” “Adventureland,” and his recent movie, “The Skeleton Twins,” among others. Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jonathan Burdick began by asking Hader what he has been up to recently, to which Hader replied matter-of-factly, “Nothing.” Throughout most of the night, in fact, Hader downplayed his success, stating that he and most of the comedians and writers he has worked with never have any idea what they’re doing.
One of the most entertaining aspects of Hader’s performance was his interaction with his “props,” turning what would have been a casual, perhaps comedic information session about Hader’s experience in the entertainment world into a full-fledged improv show, much to the chagrin of the awkwardly-situated Dean Burdick. The randomness alone of some of the things he did was enough to get the whole room cracking up.
Between the two armchairs in which Burdick and Hader were sitting stood a table which held a small potted house plant and two water bottles. While Burdick was speaking and trying to carry along the interview (and clearly wary of time, considering his interruptions of Hader’s tangental responses to continue with more questions), Hader picked up his water and poured a little bit of it into the plant. “This may be the last plant in Rochester,” he said, clearly in his element. Moments later, Hader again ignored Burdick’s questioning and began pouring the water into the plant again, this time emptying the entire bottle. Burdick looked unamused and very concerned for the well-being of the furniture as Hader tipped the table to release a waterfall onto the floor.
Once Hader was finished essentially playing with Burdick, the audience formed into two lines in front of either side of the stage to ask their own questions. He was incredibly open about answering questions and interacting with the audience, and he even took pictures with the people who were bold enough to ask. At one point, people started to sit back down from one of the lines, and he insisted people come back up, saying that it was cold outside and he had nowhere better to be. In the first five minutes, Hader frequently addressed a girl in the front row as “Number One Fan.” He made the large auditorium space feel like the audience was all just sitting around drinking coffee.
Hader provided the audience with personal anecdotes for just about every question asked, which was one of the most worthwhile parts about the show. He gave an inside scoop to the behind-the-scenes world of SNL and different celebrity personalities. He talked about jokes people would play on each other during the live show, like writing the wrong thing on a cue card to get each other to break character, and he explained the process of pitching SNL skits and the weekly production of the show. He also told a story about Robert Downey Jr. on the set of “Tropic Thunder.” Asking the cast to look at “this thing” he’d been working on, Downey Jr. then proceeded to show them the “Iron Man” trailer.
All of the stories, plus the fact that he sent a selfie of himself with the audience to Kristen Wiig creating the feeling that we could relate to him, and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to spend a night hanging out with Bill Hader?
McAdams is a member
of the class of 2017.
