ETSU to host virtual comedy series with ‘SNL’ cast members

Published 1:37 pm Thursday, April 23, 2020

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University will host a Laughing Alone Together Comedy Series featuring “Saturday Night Live” cast members Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman and Kenan Thompson from April 30-May 7.

These virtual comedy events will be open to all ETSU students, faculty and staff via Zoom.

Mikey Day will be the featured comedian on Thursday, April 30, at 8 p.m. Day is in his fourth season with “Saturday Night Live” as a cast member after joining the show as a writer in the 39th season. Day gained recognition in his first season as a cast member for his popular “Haunted Elevator (ft. David S. Pumpkins)” sketch with Tom Hanks, as well as his Donald Trump Jr. impression.

Day was a member of the Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles and was a cast member on Nick Cannon’s MTV comedy series “Wild ‘N Out” for seven seasons. He was also a co-head writer and cast member on NBC’s “Maya & Marty” and co-writer for the 2016 comedy “Brother Nature.” Alongside “SNL” writer Streeter Seidell, Day wrote the Disney “Home Alone” reboot, and the duo is currently writing Disney’s reboot of “Inspector Gadget.” He will appear in Netflix’s upcoming Adam Sandler film “Hubie Halloween.”

Chloe Fineman, who will be featured on Sunday, May 3, at 8 p.m., is in her first season with the “SNL” cast. The comedian, actor and impressionist was a 2018 New Face at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival and has performed with the Groundlings. Her television credits include “Search Party,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Grown-ish,” “Mozart in the Jungle” and the new Hulu original series “High Fidelity.”

Fineman, whose popular Instagram feed @chloeiscrazy was featured in the Wall Street Journal and Vulture, graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and is from Berkeley, California.

Kenan Thompson will conclude the series on Thursday, May 7, at 8 p.m. This Emmy Award-winning “SNL” veteran, now in his 17th season, is the show’s longest-running cast member. He is known for his hilarious impressions of the Rev. Al Sharpton, Charles Barkley, Steve Harvey and David Ortiz and for playing such memorable characters as DJ Dynasty Handbag, the scathingly fierce co-host of Deep House Dish; boisterous second wife Virginiaca Hastings; Weekend Update correspondent Jean K. Jean; convict Lorenzo McIntosh; and D’Andre Cole, the disruptive singing talk show host on the popular sketch “What Up with That.”

The Atlanta native made his television debut as a member of Nickelodeon’s all-kid sketch comedy series “All That” and is now executive producer of the network’s “All That” reboot. He is also producer and a judge, alongside Chrissy Teigen and Jeff Foxworthy, of NBC’s comedy competition series “Bring the Funny.”

Using the Zoom Webinars platform, participants will be able to send live questions to the comedian during each event, and questions may also be sent to the comedians in advance via survey.

Participation will only be open to students, staff and faculty with ETSU email accounts. Those wishing to attend must register in advance to receive an invitation to attend. Participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance for each comedian one week before the events. To register and submit questions for the comedians, visit the Student Government Association (SGA) Concerts page at www.etsu.edu/concerts.

ETSU co-sponsors of the Laughing Alone Together Comedy Series are the Student Government Association, Buctainment, Residence Hall Association, Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, Student Activities and Organizations, Department of Sustainability, Leadership and Civic Engagement, College Panhellenic Council, Black Affairs Association, Gospel Choir, Multicultural Center, Clemmer College and D.P. Culp Student Center.

For more information, contact Carter Warden, director of Student Activities and Organizations, at wardence1@etsu.edu or 423-439-8474. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.