ST SEBASTIAN’S

FINE ARTS
DEPARTMENT
Will Burke.
“It’s a very tough business. But, there’s also no ceiling. You can
do pretty well for yourself if you’re fortunate enough to catch some
breaks, work hard, and learn new things along the way,” noted
Burke. “I just hustled and I caught some breaks. I can’t really claim
credit for where I find myself at this time other than desire, hard
work, and luck. ere’s a ton of guys I met early-on in Los Angeles
who are just as funny and talented but haven’t caught breaks and are
still living the starving-artist life. ere’s no guarantee.”
JimmyKimmelLive! has
been on the air for eight years.
Burke has been working on the
show for the past five years. He
came to the show as a writer and
was recently promoted to
director.
“I direct the short comedy
sketches and bits that you would
find in our monologues or in our
guests segments,” said Burke. “All of the taped content that Jimmy
throws to you throughout the show - it can be fake movie trailers, a
commercial parody, or a news story. It can be altering a Barbara
Walters interview. Any of the filmed elements of those, there’s a
good chance I was the director.”
Work on the show begins early each morning when all of the
writers send Jimmy ideas for bits and sketches based on that day’s
news. Aer Jimmy selects the ideas he wants to use, everyone jumps
into gear to pull together what will become that day’s show.
Burke commented, “If you’re a writer who comes up with an
idea for something that’s accepted, you then write the idea out, it
24 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume VI, Issue II
Youcouldbethebestactorinthe
worldandnevermakeadimeinthis
town...Ifeelreallyblessedandgrateful
tobemakingalivingdoingthis.
gets cast immediately, a location is scouted, and whatever needs to
be built is built. You then tape it and take all of that footage into the
edit bay to prep it. If it’s approved by Jimmy, then it’s on TV at 7:00
p.m. It’s like shooting a short film everyday of the week - writing,
casting, shooting, editing, sweetening, all in one day… everyday.”
Burke realized at a young age he wanted to be an actor and
perform comedy. When he was nine years-old he talked a babysitter
into allowing him to stay up past his bedtime so he could watch
SaturdayNightLive. He had seen his father doing impressions of
skits from the show, and he wondered what the show was all about.
Watching that episode had him hooked. He now knew he wanted to
be one of those funny people on TV and, more important, he
wanted to land a job on SaturdayNightLive.
By the time he entered St. Sebastian’s he was ready to give acting
a try. Because of the School’s commitment to integrating the arts
and athletics, he was able to juggle his schedules to participate in
both.
“I enjoyed acting. I also enjoyed team sports. I feel there is a real
similarity between your teammates in the locker room and your
castmates on the stage,” he said. “St. Sebastian’s definitely fostered
an environment where it was possible to do both sports and theater.
e coaches and the drama teachers were very understanding and
accommodating. Everyone was onboard helping the students to be
the best they could possibly be. I would go straight from varsity
football practice to play rehearsal. Sometimes they would hold a
rehearsal late for me, or I would join it late. One of the great things
about a school like St. Sebastian’s is that it is just the right size where
you can do more than one thing. I think it raises renaissance men,
and that’s a lost and dying art in a world that continues to encourage
specialization.”
Burke began his professional career while he was still back in
Boston. during his years at
Harvard he performed in several
improv comedy troupes. e
summer following graduation he
was cast in a play at Harvard’s
Hasty Pudding eater. In 1999
he moved to Los Angeles and
enrolled in the Groundlings
eater, a famous sketch and
improv theater and school where
a lot of SaturdayNightLive alums started.
“I had head shots taken and I started sending them around
town,” Burke said. “I started getting some small jobs in small,
independent films and student films. I was just trying to build a
body of film work for myself, while at the same time training,
studying, and writing sketch comedy with a bunch of other young
and funny people who came out here to do the same thing. en I
tried to create opportunities for myself. It took me about four years
to get through the Groundlings Training Program.”
Meanwhile, Burke, along with a few Boston friends who had also
moved to Los Angeles, wrote, cast, and performed in an
improvisational sitcom. He did anything he could to build up his