As a writer/performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jenny created the show’s most popular recurring segment: "Jokes Seth Can’t Tell." She’ll use her experience writing that segment for the last 7 years to talk about comedy in an increasingly socially aware landscape. Who is allowed to tell certain jokes? And why? What does the phrase “punching down” mean? Are there certain topics that are totally off-limits for jokes? Jenny will examine media uproars over various jokes - and some comedians’ uproars over their perceived censorship. Her talk will include clips from Jenny’s performances on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Amber Ruffin Show, to illustrate the points she makes. (And because watching clips of comedy is fun.)

This talk explores the question "Are Women Funny?" - a question that people are obsessed with asking. Is it true that women are less funny than men? If not, where did that idea come from? Is there scientific research proving that women are just as funny as men? (Spoiler: There is!) And if women are just as funny as men, why aren’t there more women in comedy? Jenny has been a professional comedy writer and performer for 20 years - so she has the boots-on-the-ground experience to speak to this topic with authority. And she’ll do it in a way that makes her audiences laugh out loud the whole way. Because, despite the fact that she’s a woman, she is funny.

As someone who has worked as a writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers - and then lead a staff as Head Writer of The Amber  Ruffin Show - Jenny is an expert at brainstorming effectively on a tight deadline. And in this talk, she'll reveal her secrets. She’ll talk about how to generate a bunch of ideas in a short amount of time, how to make the most of the ideas your team creates, and how to create a work environment where team members aren’t afraid to say their ideas out loud. Most importantly, Jenny will talk about how to do all of this very quickly and very efficiently. This talk will include behind-the-scenes stories about times when the staffs of the shows Jenny has worked on had to work together quickly to write comedy in response to breaking news. And she’ll show clips of the (hilarious) results.

The news is bleak and the world is ending. How can we possibly laugh at a time like this? Emmy-nominated comedy writer Jenny Hagel will show you how.