John Mulaney’s next gig is from the same company he last worked for: NBC. The stand-up and frequent Saturday Night Live host has apparently made the most of his time at Rockefeller Center these last few weeks and secured employment in a pandemic, namely on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Mulaney is famous enough to appear on Seth Meyers — in fact he did just that following his latest SNL hosting gig that earned him a nice jacket from the lead singer of The Strokes. But apparently he’s interested in a writing gig, and on Thursday the show’s executive producer, Mike Shoemaker, tweeted that Mulaney had joined the staff of the show for “as long as John wants.”
John Mulaney likes to work so this week he officially joined Late Night with @SethMeyers as a staff writer. I hope he stays for 100 years but I will settle for "as long as John wants".Here's the 1st sketch from rookie @latenightseth writer John @Mulaney:https://t.co/IMZ4DHbOAJ
— Mike Shoemaker (@shoemakermike) November 13, 2020
“John Mulaney likes to work so this week he officially joined Late Night with Seth Meyers as a staff writer.” Shoemaker tweeted. “I hope he stays for 100 years but I will settle for as long as John wants’.”
Mulaney had yet to say anything about the apparent gig on Twitter, though he did appear on Seth Meyers with the aforementioned jacket last week. He also had a fitting follow-up to his “horse in the hospital” analogy he made about Donald Trump in the wake of him losing the election to Joe Biden.
…And stay out! pic.twitter.com/52pGN9tSFt
— John Mulaney (@mulaney) November 7, 2020
Despite the initial lack of confirmation from Mulaney the move was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, and though a stand-up as famous as Mulaney taking a late-night writing gig may sound strange, well, that’s the kind of job any standup often settles into. And though THR said the extent of his role on the show is “questionable,” they did point out that NBC’s comedy circuit often has this kind of thing happen on its shows.
The move does seem very much in the wheelhouse of Late Night. Meyers and executive producer Lorne Michaels have used the show as a hospitable environment for infrequent collaboration. Fellow SNL alum Fred Armisen, who has several other jobs, serves as the leader of Meyers’ house band. And Amber Ruffins, who broke out as a writer and frequent guest on Late Night, continues to make appearances since launching her own late-night vehicle on Peacock.
It’s unclear if Mulaney’s work behind the scenes also means he appears on the show more often, but that certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing now, would it?
