Long before appearing on Saturday Night Live and stages around the country, Jeremy Culhane ’14 found his creative home at Texas Christian University. The comedian spent many late nights at TCU writing, performing and filming comedy skits. Now wrapping up his first season on SNL, Culhane fondly remembers his time with college friends, campus performance troupes and, specifically, the confidence he built in TCU’s John V. Roach Honors College.

 “I was just so engaged with the classes that I was able to take and the level of teaching in the honors college,” said Culhane over a phone interview. “It really stretched my confidence, belief in myself and thinking about the world.”

Piquing Curiosity
Culhane joined the Roach Honors College his sophomore year while trying to build connections with like-minded people on campus and soon found himself immersed in discussion-based classes that encouraged curiosity and interdisciplinary thinking.

Roach Honors colloquia still stick with Culhane today, especially the Nature of Giving course, taught by Wassenich Family Dean Ron Pitcock. The course challenges students to use research, collaboration and public advocacy to decide how real philanthropic funding is distributed.

“It was so interesting to be given real money to invest into philanthropies,” Culhane said. “I feel like it really emboldened us to be adults in a way that I hadn't felt before. A lot of other classes were lecture-based but you're not really leading the charge. And that was the first time that it was like, ‘Nope, you are in charge.’”

Pitcock said Culhane stood out not only for his humor, but for the thoughtfulness he brought into the classroom.

“It has been fun seeing national audiences become more familiar with Jeremy’s talents,” Pitcock said. “He is more than a comedic improv star, and I say that as someone who graded his papers. The wit was always there; fortunately, so was the substance. What I remember most and loved most is the warmth Jeremy brought into every room. He has always had a way of making serious things feel approachable and light things feel meaningful.”

The Altadena, California, native graduated from the AddRan College of Liberal Arts with a double major in philosophy and economics and balanced academics with a passion for comedy and filmmaking.

Relationships that Last
Having started theatre and improv in high school, at TCU, Culhane became deeply involved in the student comedy group Senseless Acts of Comedy and the Student Film Association, where he collaborated with other students on improv performances and sketch comedy. It became a creative outlet but also a place where many of his long-term friendships were formed. 

“SAC, SFA, and the Roach Honors College were pretty much my entire college experience,” said Culhane. “I really found a way that wasn’t a fraternity lifestyle to still feel really actively involved in the school, and it was awesome.”

One of those long lasting-friendships is with fellow Roach Honors and Bob Schieffer College of Communicationalumnus Grant Moore ’14. Not only were he and Jeremy creative partners while working on student films, they were also roommates. Their late-night brainstorming sessions for video skits later landed them and their TCU group of friends in Los Angeles after graduation, where they created the sketch group Safety Patrol.

“After college, our TCU group continued making short comedy videos for almost a decade,” Moore said. “It’s almost a comfort making stuff with the people you have such a shorthand with. I’m sure the collaborations will continue long into the future.”

That comedy cohort also included another Roach Honors and College of Fine Arts alumnus, Tori Twomey ’16, who said the experience gave the group far more than just comedy material.

“It gave us all valuable reps in producing content that built skills like confidence, autonomy, creativity, leadership and collaboration, all skills that we'd rely on later in life as we began pursuing careers across a broad spectrum, from performing arts and film production, to the business world and education,” Twomey said.

The connections built at TCU became even stronger when Moore and Twomey eventually married. The group still meets whenever they can.

“They're still some of my best friends. We see each other on Christmas, we try to see each other like once every two months,” Culhane said. “We’re all over different parts of L.A. now, kind of doing our own little adventures, but it’s sweet to see each other and hang out.”

Not an Overnight Success
Culhane hopes students understand that creative success rarely happens overnight and that growth often comes through trial and error.

“I see a lot of people that are just starting up that are like, ‘Oh, I need to get it right,’ and that’s wonderful, you should hold on to that, but don’t let that stop you from making things,” Culhane said. “Don’t worry if the first one or if the first 100 aren't right. Because even now, I’m on SNL, and I still feel that pressure to make it right. And it’s never right. It’s never exactly what you think it’s going to be, but that only makes it better.”

-Justine Arens