Seth Meyers Sets New Comedy Special at HBO

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Seth Meyers is bringing his comedy to HBO.

The Late Night host has lined up his next standup special, which is set to debut on HBO (and Max) later this fall. The hour, his first for the WarnerMedia brand, was taped in front of a live audience in June at The Vic Theatre in Chicago.

“Critics say it’s the special my kids will be talking about in therapy twenty years from now!” Meyers joked in a statement Tuesday. His last hour, Lobby Baby, which famously tackled the messy birth of his second of three children, among other subjects, was released on Netflix in 2019.

“As longtime fans, we’re so happy to partner with Seth on his first HBO special,” noted Nina Rosenstein, executive vp HBO programming, late night and specials. “He’s such a charismatic storyteller and we’ve always loved the way he reaches people on such a personal level. This special is endlessly relatable and so much fun to watch.”

The news comes as comedy specials have found themselves in demand, as new entrants like Hulu muscle into the marketplace. HBO has managed to differentiate itself from the bigger, more volume-focused competition; instead, it’s sold itself as a destination for prestige, boundary-pushing comedy. In fact, four of HBO’s most recent specials, including hours from both Alex Edelman and Ramy Youssef, were rewarded with Emmy nominations. (Half a decade earlier, Meyer’s Lobby Baby nabbed an Emmy nomination as well.)

Meyers, himself a current Emmy nominee for his NBC late night series, has remained active on the road despite his vast TV and podcast commitments. In fact, he regularly performs to sold out crowds across the country and co-headlines a monthly residency with fellow late night host and Strike Force Five podcaster John Oliver at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Asked earlier this spring what itch standup scratches that his nightly TV show doesn’t, Meyers told THR: “It’s a totally different muscle. I also think there’s a risk when you have an incredibly talented writing staff of just getting a little soft — you can kind of ride off of their talents. And because you also owe it to your writers to constantly be trying to sharpen your delivery system, standup is great because it forces you to do that.”

The new hour is directed by comedy vet Neal Brennan, who also helmed Lobby Baby, and executive produced by Meyers and Mike Shoemaker, his Late Night showrunner and partner in Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions. Like his first hour, Meyers’ second is being produced by Irwin Entertainment.

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