On Sept. 14, Tina Fey came to Charlottesville as the first Presidential Speaker for the Arts, a new lecture series through UVA on the importance of arts. Three staff writers attended the lecture, and wrote reactions to Fey’s speech.

We are the Generation of Background Toilets, Sarah Honosky:

Tina Fey walked onto the stage, and I saw God. Honestly, coming into this I didn’t think it would be worth it. Waiting four and a half hours in the outdoor pavilion at UVA surrounded by hundreds of college students didn’t seem very appealing.  It was very hot, and many of the students had donned brightly colored plastic sunglasses that did more in the way of making me want to punch them in the face than shielding them from sun. By 8 p.m., I estimated there were about 600 people crowding the stone steps and white fold-out chairs that were set up in front of the stage. Luckily, a lot of out competition had been taken out by the Taylor Swift concert that same night.

When Tina Fey walked on stage, besides experiencing an intense metaphysical euphoria, I realized something. If I wanted to, I could make a mad dash for the stage.  It looks like about 100 meters. I did track for a season, I could outrun those security guards, plow through a couple rows of chairs, and clear the low black mesh fence surrounding the stage. But in the end, I don’t make a break for it, primarily because I don’t want to be charged with a restraining order at age 16.  But it was nice to know that the possibility was there.

Tina Fey was absolutely hilarious as expected. The way she speaks was so endearing and comical. She looked shockingly small behind the podium; I think I spent a good five minutes just considering her hair. Let it be known that she has very nice hair. She discussed her participation in the arts growing up, from winning an art contest in elementary school to playing the male lead in her high school performance of “Dracula.” She made a memorable speech regarding the fact that she doesn’t mind selfies themselves, but she doesn’t understand why there is always a toilet in the background. She said that we will study those toilets in future art history classes, that they are our generation’s plate of figs and pheasant. At this point in her monologue, I’m sure I am going to have a heart attack or puncture my spleen from laughing, whichever comes first.

Comedian Goddess Comes to Charlottesville, Amalia Garcia:

I have only ever cried out of sheer joy twice in my life. Once, when I found out Tina Fey was coming to speak at UVA, and again when I watched her walk onstage last Saturday night. After waiting for five hours on a concrete seat with bratty college students, seeing Tina strut to the podium was like high-fiving a million angels. The initial applause was overwhelmingly loud  because the mere presence of this comedy goddess was enough to send even the most prestigious Jefferson Scholars into hysterics.

She started the speech by explaining why she had pursued a career in the arts, which had a lot to do with her (bad-ass) father, Don Fey. As an innocent five-year-old, Fey made the mistake of asking her father, “Is it better to sell one can for $5 or five cans for a dollar each?” Don Fey was so excited that his daughter was interested in business that he forgot to answer her question, leaving her forever puzzled over the concept of money. Her lack of knowledge about money, Tina said, was what forced her to get a job in the arts. The drama students surrounding me absolutely loved this joke and it was obvious that Tina really knows how to cater to her audience, which is yet another aspect  that makes her so superior to us mortals. By that point, I was planning to run on stage and touch her face even if it meant being dragged out of the amphitheatre by old men in white volunteer shirts.

The rest of Tina’s speech was filled with hilarious jokes, sometimes at her own expense. If I could, I would recount each word she said because any description of mine would not do her comedic talent justice. Her topics ranged from the feminist plays of Caryl Churchill to the art of taking selfies with “background toilets” in them. She even showed her adorable side by demonstrating her “Frankenstein arms” on stage which made everyone’s heart melt a little bit. This speech epitomized everything that Tina Fey is and ever will be. She managed to convey a deep message in a beautiful and debilitatingly funny way. After affirming that art can not be judged with a monetary value, she tied her whole speech together by sharing a few words of wisdom which resounded powerfully with everyone present, “Selling one can for $5 is more profitable for the individual, but selling five cans for $1 each is better for society.”

Taylor Swift Isn’t Having This Much Fun, Kristi Hagen:

I arrived at the amphitheatre at 5:30 p.m., almost three hours before Tina Fey was supposed to come on stage. There was absolutely no way I was going to miss this, so I told my friend we had to get there early to get a good spot. Expectations and hunger rose (there was no food in sight, unfortunately) until the sun set, and the lights on the stage turned on.

Seeing Tina Fey, the real Tina Fey, in person, was something unreal. Her speech? In one, cliche word: amazing. It was, of course, absolutely hilarious, as well as thought-provoking. In an incredible discussion about the purpose of art, she talked about her experiences and revelations. Her story about the play “Dracula” that went terribly wrong had the entire audience laughing.

Fey then talked about a realization she made about theater, about how it was really a communication between the audience and the players. She said it was the fault of the Internet that she got cast to play Sarah Palin in the infamous Saturday Night Live skit. “I didn’t even work there anymore,” she laughed.

Another fascinating point of her speech was the inspirations she found in other artists. I whipped out my phone to make a note of Caryl Churchill and Chris Rock, two people she mentioned that discussed hot topics like feminism, racism, and class through art.

“I wonder if they’re talking about this sort of thing at the Taylor Swift concert,” she said.