MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every week, a famous guest draws a card from the deck and answers a big life question on NPR's Wild Card podcast. As host of NBC's "Late Night," Seth Meyers is used to focusing on politics, current events, but for his new stand-up special on HBO, "Dad Man Walking," he talks more about his family life. And he kept the focus personal in his conversation with Wild Card host Rachel Martin,- reflecting on his early career at "Saturday Night Live."
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
One, two, three?
SETH MEYERS: Three.
MARTIN: Are you good at knowing when something should end?
MEYERS: Yes.
MARTIN: Relationships?
MEYERS: Uh-huh (ph).
MARTIN: Conversations?
MEYERS: Conversations, definitely.
MARTIN: Disagreements?
MEYERS: Yes, I'm very good. I once - I hope I don't get in trouble for this. My wife and my sister-in-law were fighting once, and I walked out. It was, like, during a very fraught Christmas vacation. It was like, we were all - too many people were in my in-laws' house, you know?
MARTIN: Just a classic...
MEYERS: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Recipe for...
MEYERS: Just too many.
MARTIN: Yes.
MEYERS: And they were fighting in the hallway. And I came out and I screamed, you know, some people de-escalate.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MEYERS: And I - they were both very taken aback. But I...
MARTIN: It's easier to end someone else's debate, fight.
MEYERS: ...I'm very good - I know when to walk away from an argument. I think I'm really good at that way. I think I - part of it is I'm, more often than not, willing to take the L.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MEYERS: Yeah.
MARTIN: That's interesting.
MEYERS: I think I'm happy to take the L in a disagreement for the purposes of moving on.
MARTIN: That's a thing I would hope to be able to teach my kids, is to have the confidence and security, emotional security...
MEYERS: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...'Cause it takes that to be able to say, I don't care enough about winning this.
MEYERS: Yes.
MARTIN: You win it, and it's OK. And I'm not giving you false winning. I'm really like...
MEYERS: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...It's OK. I'm going to walk away.
MEYERS: I - you know, another thing - I feel like I was in - I think this is true of a lot of people. I was a far more temperamental - when I was younger, and things ran very hot at "SNL." And there were definitely times where my instincts were to say something that would have been relationship-ending to people.
MARTIN: Oh, really?
MEYERS: You know, just - you're having an argument, and - you know, looking back, all shamefully petty, you know?
MARTIN: But you didn't say those things, or did you?
MEYERS: No. And one of the reasons I didn't say them is because my producer and dear friend Mike Shoemaker, who works with me now, worked with me on "SNL" - I remember once saying what - you know, I'm going to go tell so-and-so he's a you-know-what. And he used to always say, it's a long life. It's a long life. And the people that you work with here...
MARTIN: And you want a long career. Yeah.
MEYERS: Well, it's not even about career. He's like, look, the people you work with here - what you are going through with them is going to - even for the ones that aren't your favorite people, this is bonding. And you will need - for the rest of your life, you will need these relationships to remember what this time was like. And these people - more of them are going to be at your wedding than aren't. And so I'm very happy I lived by the adage of, it's a long life, because if it's somebody you think might be your friend in the future, there's no reason to burn it down in the present.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: The new special is called "Dad Man Walking." You can see it on HBO Max. It's very funny. It's worth your time. Thank you for doing this.
MEYERS: Thank you. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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