Comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” writer Zach Bornstein is coming to Santa Clarita on Saturday to perform and speak about getting out the youth vote.
Bornstein will perform along other comedians at the Newhall Family Theatre on May 5 to encourage youth participation in upcoming elections.
The comedy night “It’s Not Funny,” hosted by local progressive groups CA25 United for Progress, Demand the Vote and NextUP, will feature comedians from “Stranger Things,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Bojack Horseman.”
Bornstein’s credits include writing for Saturday Night Live’s 42nd season. Before “SNL,” he directed and performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for 3 years. He has also directed, written, produced and performed original comedy for networks NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, FOX, Netflix, MTV, TruTV, The New Yorker, the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater and others.
Bornstein, a Brown University neuroscience graduate, originally had plans to apply for the Rhodes scholarship and take the MCAT after college. But comedy, which he had started doing in college, called to him as he did stints in New York during his first year out.
“The way I did it was, I aggressively disappointed my parents,” he said, by way of explaining his path to show business.
When he isn’t flying between Los Angeles and New York, the comedian said he tries to be as involved as he can with issues and fundraisers with activist organizations. One cause he feels strongly about is climate change.
“I really can’t imagine an issue that’s more pressing than global warming,” he said. “We have a ticking time bomb coming toward us and we’re not even trying to solve the problem.”
Bornstein is coming to Santa Clarita because of the contested 25th District congressional race, and his hopes that a “blue wave” of Democratic voters will tip the scales.
The event begins at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tom Segura, Brett Gelman, Aparna Nancherla, Dan Mintz and Emily Heller are also slated to attend.
Tickets are $25 and proceeds go to supporting 25UP’s voter registration, outreach and education programs before the California primaries in June.
Newhall Family Theatre is located at 24607 Walnut Street. Tickets will be on sale until May 4.
