Comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member Michael Longfellow performed for a packed crowd of Tulane University students on Wednesday in McAlister Auditorium, delivering an easygoing, high-energy set that mixed deadpan comedic delivery with exciting crowdwork.
The show, hosted by Tulane University Campus Programming, marked one of TUCP’s final major comedy events of the semester and drew a strong turnout ahead of Thanksgiving break.
Longfellow, known for his dry delivery and offbeat conversational style on SNL, leaned into that tone on stage.
Longfellow wasn’t the first comedian on stage Wednesday night; his opener, Sureni Weerasekera, got the crowd amped up before the main performance. Weerasekera is a Sri Lankan-born and San Diego-raised stand-up comedian who provided a very high-energy set before bringing the crowd back down with her dark humor and personal stories.
Students responded to the relaxed, conversational rhythm of Longfellow’s set, which was a tone shift from Weerasekera’s strong opening.
TUCP members said Longfellow was a perfect fit when deciding who to bring to campus. Senior and TUCP president Devin Chubb explained that the organization has booked many SNL cast members for campus events before.
“SNL comedians have always done really well on Tulane’s campus. In the past, TUCP has brought in people like Marcello Hernandez, Mikey Day,” Chubb said. “Over the COVID year, there was Bowen Yang and Chloe Feinman. We decided to go with that because we thought [it] was fairly relevant, especially with the new season starting.”
Chubb added that having Longfellow appear before Thanksgiving break was somewhat intentional.
“I honestly hope that the comedy show with Michael Longfellow is really just a time for students to relax, take a break,” Chubb said. “A lot of students have midterms going on right now, and it’s really just a good time to de-stress.”
Longfellow ended his show by responding to questions from The Tulane Hullabaloo. He encouraged students interested in starting comedy or writing to “attend open mics, see bad comedy and write what you think is funny, not what they think is funny.”
Longfellow’s final words, a quiet reminder that “everything is going to be alright,” capped off a night of much-needed laughter and community building.