Seth Meyers, the comedian and actor best known for being the head writer and a cast member on Saturday Night Live, will perform stand-up comedy at NMU next semester.

Northern Arts and Entertainment (NAE) will bring Meyers, who hosts SNL’s “Weekend Update” and is in 2008’s “Journey to the center of the Earth” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” to campus.

NAE President Whitney Tapani said that the group selected Meyers over another comedian and that his name recognition was certainly a positive factor.

“A lot of the members in our group knew of the name Seth Meyers, because he is all over SNL,” she said. “People are saying he is the only funny one on SNL.”

NAE arranged the event through Concert Ideas, a national college talent booking agency and the group secured funding through the Student Finance Committee (SFC), at the Thursday, Nov. 6 meeting.

The budget that NAE proposed to the SFC was for a total of $31,313 and included advertising, printing and audiovisual expenses. SFC Chair Andrew Foster said the event seemed as though it would be appealing to most students.

“The main selling point for the (Meyers) event likely varied between each SFC member, but I think everyone would agree that a large comedy event featuring an SNL actor would likely be well received by the NMU student body,” he said.

The event, which will take place in the Vandament Arena, has a tentative date of Thursday, Jan. 22. Tapani said that she has hopes for a high turnout.

“With comedians, we’re not usually as nervous as with concerts, just because everyone says, ‘Oh, a comedian is funny,'” she said. “If they know his name, people are even more willing to go to it.”

Aside from the Meyers event, NAE has a couple of other events in the works, as well.

The group is planning on bringing “American Idol” winner David Cook to Northern in the near future and has posted a student announcement asking students to submit their opinions for a spring concert.