Jokes and Life Lessons with Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost

For this unique event, USF Board of Trustees member, Jeff Silk ’87, who established the Silk Speaker Series with his wife Naomi, moderated the conversation in front of a crowd of over 1800 attendees. He kept a sense of playful banter with Jost, asking how someone who attended a prestigious Jesuit high school in Manhattan, and later Harvard, became a career comedian. 

“I'm still not sure it's a job,” said Jost. “It's very weird. My parents were all about education and the only jobs I could conceive of, besides firefighter, were lawyer, doctor, and business person. I didn't know until I went to Harvard and went to an introductory meeting for the Lampoon, their magazine for comedy — I met these weirdos, fun people, who read tons of books, but none of them were the assigned books — I loved it.” 

Jost made sure that almost every story was accompanied by a punchline, but there were moments of earnest reflection in equal measure. On the subject of friendships and values, Jost shared lessons from his Jesuit high school experiences in New York that align with USF’s Jesuit mission of educating people for others. 

“It was an all-boys school,” said Jost. “‘Men for others’ was the motto. Most kids commuted over an hour, were grateful to have that great education, and they were humble. My closest friends now, we like joking around with each other, but we really are there for each other. At the same time, a lot of times I feel like I'm not doing enough — I try to give back, do charitable work. 

“I realize now too the joy of being a mentor. You think, oh my god, they have something special. If I can help them along, it's the greatest feeling in the world.”

The longtime SNL writer proceeded to take the USF audience on his suspenseful journey from Staten Island newspaper editor — covering stories such as the tragic fate of one New York raccoon — to getting interviewed by Lorne Michaels and hired onto the SNL staff. 

He said that he’s learned a lot via the high failure rate that comes with being a script writer, the fast-paced nature of SNL that gives him only 24 hours to enjoy any success, but also the knowledge that he has a clean slate with each new week. For him, that process has become a metaphor for life. 

In parting, Jost left some words of advice for current and future students. He said, “The most helpful thing is to find peers that are interested and engaged about what you want to do. Personally, I think it's good to find people who are funny because life is so weird and hard at times, you might as well find people who you can laugh about it with. But find people who care about it and want to get better at it — people who you can have the same vocabulary as, over time, who can push you to get better.”

It should be noted that Jeff Silk convinced Mr. Jost to end every SNL episode with “Go Dons!” and the USF community will wait with bated breath to see if Mr. Jost makes good on his promise. 

The Silk Speaker Series, established by USF Trustee Jeff Silk ’87 and his wife Naomi, invites industry leaders and influential thinkers in global affairs, economy, and business to engage with the university community.

Curious about the Silk Speaker Series? Check out the stories from some of our past speakers.