Tickling Our Neurons: Jonathan Adler '08

Jonathan says that writing for what is now known as the "Eighth Page" of The Phillipian, "catapulted me into taking comedy writing seriously." He started by doing cartoons, and drew inspiration from other comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld and Conan O'Brien, but then moved into writing more observational works. He describes his house counselors, teachers, and older Phillipian writers as very supportive and encouraging in pursuing comedy further, saying "once I started, I didn't stop for the rest of my four years." 

Jonathan recalls his time at Andover as being "a very lucky time", as some of his classmates also became interested in writing comedy. After graduating, a few went on to write professionally for TV as well. "I don't know that there's been a period like that before [at Andover], where so many people were interested in pursuing comedy as a career. [W]e had a lot of fun just goofing around in the basement of Morse... but then everyone was very good at flipping the switch and getting to work when you needed to work. But it was certainly a good release valve for stress."

"I'm definitely on the more wry, dry sarcastic side. But think the best way to sum it up is probably just Jewish."

Jonathan Adler is a member of Andover's class of 2008, and works at the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In addition to writing for the show, he also does a reoccurring skit where he pretends to host a podcast with Tariq Trotter, a member of the show's house band, The Roots. At Andover, Jonathan wrote for the "Eighth Page" (previously called "Features") and was a part of the improvisation group, Under the Bed. 

Jonathan credits his start in comedy with watching comedy on TV as a kid; he enjoyed The Simpsons, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Seinfeld, and Saturday Night Live, in addition to reading comedy books and listening to stand-up albums. When he was 13, his mom took him to see a speech by a Simpson writer (whom Jonathan has since gotten to meet in-person). Jonathan remembers thinking "that sounds like a very cool job" and says that was where "the seed was planted" for him. 

At The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jonathan describes his work as "trying to respond to whatever is in the news", by looking over the news late at night and in the mornings.

“I definitely appreciate the outlet I have with what's going on in the news for the last 9-ish years; it can be helpful to feel like you have a way to comment on how absurd a lot of things feel"

So how does one draw the line on what is an edgy joke, and what cannot be aired? Jonathan describes the general rule that many writers subscribe to -- not punching down. "You don't want to make fun of people who are already being pummeled. It's a lot more reasonable to punch up -- we make fun of Jeff Bezos and the president and presidential candidates and other people in power, rather than hitting groups that are suffering." Jonathan provides an example of punching up and down -- "if there’s a story that the company is laying off 5000 employees, which might be in the news or something, you probably want to make a joke about the CEO or the board mismanaging things, not about the workers getting laid off.”

The live audience at The Tonight Show allows for instant feedback on how well a joke is being received. “The crowd keeps us honest. Their laughter is the ultimate arbiter of our material.” Jonathan seems to enjoy getting feedback from the audience, as he says that “one of the upsides of working in late night TV is being able to engage with the live crowd.” As opposed to a scripted series, which he says, “Doesn’t typically offer the same opportunity to hear a crowd reacting in real-time.”

When asked about his least successful skit, Jonathan said there were "too many to count". But he says, “The worst sketch that comes to mind involved me walking out of the curtain to perform a ‘one word Yoda impression.’ It was just going to be me saying the word ‘impressive’ as Yoda. It was, rightfully, cut before rehearsal. It would not have been impressive.”

As far as his favorite skit, Jonathan does a 'fake podcast' on the Tonight Show with the emcee of the house band (The Roots), Tariq Trotter. The Tariq and Adler Podcast consists of Jonathan and Tariq pretending like they host a podcast together, and talking about random topics for a minute or two. 
"It's been a lot of fun to be out on the show just sort of being myself, which is a very boring, plain man talking to this very cool, world famous rapper."