“Veep” actors Timothy Simons and Matt Walsh returned to their fictional home of seven years on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to encourage young voters to make their voice heard in who will actually occupy the office that Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, eventually held in the hit HBO show.
In the first-ever live recording of their Second in Command podcast, a weekly comedy show that takes a humorous dive back into the series, the duo sent the capacity crowd at the George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium into a range of emotions that included laughter, gratitude, surprise, awe, anger and even sadness.
But mostly laughter.
Simons and Walsh traded quick-witted barbs with each other, their guests and GW community members during the 90-minute spot that featured various panels, appearances and audience engagement.
“We’ve had a wonderful time here; we had to get up very early on LA time, so we came here to get sympathy and sympathy only for the hard life we live,” joked Simons, who portrayed the power-hungry White House aide Jonah Ryan in the show.
“Yes, very hard life we live,” quipped Walsh, who played eventual White House Press Secretary Mike McLintock during the series.
That humor hovered above the stage for most of the evening as zygomaticus major muscles—the one most responsible for smiles—were well worked throughout the live show. Co-star Tony Hale, whose character was the eventual president’s personal assistant Gary Walsh in “Veep,” joined the duo for a panel that included a game where Hale had to name a restaurant based on a few menu items provided. Hale, a lover of chain restaurants, drew a chuckle when he noted that he, Simons and Walsh were looking forward to going to Founding Farmers after the show.
The D.C. area chain was one Hale has enjoyed in the past as he was presumably introduced to it when the series filmed in Baltimore through 2015.
“Tony likes familiar; he likes things that don’t change,” Simons said tongue-in-cheek.
“Hey, I don’t like to shake it up,” Hale chimed back.
But as they joked throughout the night about their own lives and Hale’s reluctance for change, the episode’s entire premise was advocating for change for people whose everyday lives may be quite challenging.
An opening panel included Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón, End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller and Amanda Carpenter, a writer and editor at Protect Democracy. All three discussed the importance of voting and stressed the urgency of democratic freedoms under the rule of law. Their collective call to action was for the audience to stay informed and engaged in the fight for democracy to ensure every voice from all backgrounds can be heard on Election Day.
Aside from being just four blocks from the White House—where the characters Hale, Simons and Walsh all portrayed did the bidding for Louis-Dreyfus’ Meyer, GW was an appropriate setting for such a conversation.
GW was above national average in voter turnout during the 2020 election, and student groups such as GW Votes are working hard to ensure that is the case once again by helping students get registered, encouraging them to vote early, assisting with mail in ballots and making them consider remote voting options.
“It's vital for students to understand that voting is an essential way to make change,” said Assistant Vice Provost and Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service Executive Director Amy Cohen. “We must uphold the value of democracy and protect the civil right to vote, which many have fought hard to secure.”
Additionally, GW students contributed more than 600,000 hours of community service last academic year and frequently serve the areas of D.C. not seen on sitcoms and dramas.
GW President Ellen M. Granberg echoed the sentiment when she delivered the night’s opening remarks.
“As one of the most politically engaged universities in the nation, there is no better place to learn to debate and to engage with the democratic process, because here at GW we don't just study democracy, we live it. It's who we are and what we do,” Granberg said.
“GW is very proud to host this unique event, one that blends entertainment, education, humor and critical discourse, all in the service of inspiring the next generation of engaged citizens and leaders.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) joined virtually to emphasize that voting and engaged citizenship are responsibilities people have to themselves, neighbors and communities to be informed about how certain issues or candidates affect everyday life.
During his virtual remarks—a serious message given in a humorous tone to fit the theme for the evening, Polis delivered his punchline with a nod to “Veep.”
“In the famous words of President and Vice President Selena Meyer, I don't want to talk about the present. I want to talk about the future,” Polis said, quoting a line from when the fictional Meyer gave in a speech to a joint session of Congress. “Whatever we have in store cannot be known, but given time, it can be understood. The past was once the future. The future is, I should say, unknown, and the only way to roll past the bad future, so to speak, is by voting.”
Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn was the last guest of the night as he joined Hale, Simons and Walsh on stage to discuss his harrowing day at work on Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
He highlighted the trauma and danger faced that day and emphasized the importance of accountability and justice. He called on the need for fighters who will stand up for democracy and decency, looking at the crowd of GW students.
Because he was appearing on a comedy podcast, he participated in a game called “Who Dunn It?”, aptly named by show writers who gave the “Veep” trio trivia questions about mystery movies hoping Dunn might use his police skills to “solve” the riddle.
“I mean, honestly, you're probably gonna win [a prize T-shirt] because you're an American hero,” Walsh said.
Dunn did, in fact, win the T-shirt.
Simons closed the night with one more call for audience members to have their voices heard at the polls—said of course with a humorous undertone as he addressed the many students sitting in the middle and back rows of the auditorium.
“Everybody here that maybe is in the further back rows, I'm going to be dead so much earlier than you,” Simons said. “You're going to have to live in this world a lot longer than I'm going to be living in it. So please, please go out and vote.”
People then filed out of the auditorium with more encouragement to exercise their democratic right as citizens—and probably a few more laughs.
