Recap: Nantucket Film Festival’s Fifth Annual All-Star Comedy Roundtable

Ben Stiller, Mike Myers, and Seth Meyers at the Nantucket Film Festival’s 5th Annual All-Star Comedy Roundtable. Image via ETCanada / Twitter

The 18th Annual Nantucket Film Festival took place last week and this weekend, and a whole bunch of big names graced us with their presence. Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell (who shot a movie in Boston recently) was presented with the 2013 Screenwriters Tribute Award, and actress-gone-writer Lake Bell was awarded with the New Voices in Screenwriting Award. Actress Glenn Close was on the island to present the screenwriting tributes, and also in attendance was NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, as well as his daughter and Girls actress Allison Williams.

The highlight of the week was the event that took place on the fest’s closing day, the All-Star Comedy Roundtable. Ben Stiller, whose family has a personal connection to the island, presents the event every year and invites comedians in Hollywood to sit on a panel for a moderated Q&A. Stiller undoubtedly always brings promising comedians to his event; in years past, guests included Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Sarah Silverman, and Zach Galifianakis.

This year put the roundtable in its fifth season, and Stiller hosted comedians Michael Ian Black (Burning Love, Wet Hot American Summer), Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Shrek), and Seth Meyers (Saturday Night Live) as guests.

The Comedy Roundtable will air on Epix later this year…but here are a few spoilers to keep you on the edge of your couch. Although he is probably the lesser-known one of the group, Michael Ian Black borderline stole the show with his hilarity as the moderator from the second he walked on stage. “There seems to be a theme of wicker this year,” Black joked as he gestured toward the patio furniture. “But really, is everything here made out of wicker?”

Mike Myers came to the show wearing a New York Mets T-shirt, at which Seth Meyers rightfully suggested may have been a bad idea considering this is a primarily Boston-based crowd. Myers also provided some insight on why he prefers to stay in character all day—especially the ever-gross Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.

Unsurprisingly, Seth Meyers admitted that his favorite cast member he’d worked with on SNL was Amy Poehler. According to Meyers, Poehler has the proper amount of confidence in her comedy, and she’s always the biggest laugher when it comes to everybody else’s jokes. So he basically confirmed that Amy Poehler is a perfect person.

Meyers also talked in detail about his creative plans for taking over Late Night on NBC and how he’s going to provide some Seth Meyers originality after Jimmy Fallon’s reign.

For more information about the 18th Annual Nantucket Film Festival and for updates on the televised Comedy Roundtable, visit nantucketfilmfestival.org.