Seth Meyers turns UTA’s College Park into collosal comedy club

The best jokes were recent SNL funnies banned from NBC.

Paul Drinkwater/NBC via The New York Times

Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live made a Monday night appearance at UTA.

ARLINGTON — The University of Texas at Arlington's Maverick Speakers Series is a major event for the university and its students; the free series has featured guests like Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Soledad O'Brien. Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers stopped in on Monday night to add his own comical point of view to the Speakers Series. Straying from the traditional lecture structure, Meyers stuck to stand-up comedy. Whereas most speakers at the UTA series impart professional advice on the many students in attendance, Meyers focused on the recent presidential elections and getting too drunk in Vegas.

UTA President James Spaniolo and student Josh Sours started the night off right with a hilarious video imitation of SNL's "Weekend Update" to introduce the head writer. The instant Meyers walked onstage and began to deliver his sarcastic commentary, the college stadium, with its plastic seats and giant overhead scoreboard, transformed into just another comedy club. Comfortable and relaxed, he jumped right into jokes about Mitt Romney and Donald Trump. Warming up the crowd was easy: He stated that he knew the difference between Arlington and Dallas because he had attended Super Bowl XLV. He didn't miss a chance to make fun of Jerry Jones either, stating that the ice storm during that Super Bowl happened because Jones made a deal with the devil.

The "sold out" crowd (tickets were required, but free), didn't fill up the massive 6,750 seat stadium -- almost the entire second level remained vacant throughout the evening. Although it was an open event to the public, Meyers made sure to reference his college audience regularly. Spot-on accents and imitations enhanced his punchy delivery, reminding us of his raw talent. Though he's spent 11 years at SNL, he only brought it up as a segway or to usher in the highly-satisfying closer -- recent SNL jokes that had been banned from NBC to use on the air. They ranged from a vulgar line about Paris Hilton to bestiality. His final jokes resulted in the loudest laughter of the evening.

Meyers went onto to answer questions from the crowd, which ended up being more about capitalizing on his celebrity status than about asking useful questions.