Michael Schur in Conversation: In-Person & Online

Marlene Holston

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SAL Presents

Michael Schur in Conversation: In-Person & Online

Past Event: Friday, March 4, 2022

At Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

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In Person & Online

Although this event has passed, you can still purchase tickets now through Friday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. (PT). The event will be viewable until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 11.

From the creator of The Good Place and the co-creator of Parks and Recreation, comes How to Be Perfect—a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world. Q&A with George Meyer.

Most tickets include a copy of How to Be Perfect (except Student/25 & Under, complimentary, and a limited number of no-book Reduced Price and Side Wing tickets). Books will be shipped by our partner bookstore to the ticket holder’s door shortly after the event.

Most people think of themselves as “good,” but it’s not always easy to determine what’s “good” or “bad”—especially in a world filled with complicated choices and pitfalls and booby traps and bad advice. Fortunately, many smart philosophers have been pondering this conundrum for millennia and they have guidance for us. With bright wit and deep insight, How to Be Perfect explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more so we can sound cool at parties and become better people.

Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. By the time the book is done, we’ll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. OK, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.

Michael Schur is a television writer and producer who has worked on shows like The OfficeMaster of NoneThe Comeback, and Hacks, and created or co-created Parks and RecreationBrooklyn 99The Good Place, and Rutherford Falls. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jennifer and their two kids, William and Ivy.

George Meyer, our Q&A moderator for the evening, grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where he was an altar boy and a paperboy. He studied biochemistry and was president of the Harvard Lampoon. Meyer wrote for Late Night with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and the first sixteen seasons of The Simpsons. He also created Army Man, a short-lived humor zine. A Seattleite since 2008, Meyer enjoys books, travel, yoga, and the Mariners. He lives near the Space Needle with novelist Maria Semple and their daughter Poppy. His latest writing can be found at https://www.frogsandturtles.com.

Event Details

Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

1119 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

Know Before You Go

COVID-19 Policies

Seattle Arts & Lectures requires attendees to provide proof of vaccination for our in-person events this season. See our FAQ for details and exceptions. Masks are required for all attendees, regardless of vaccination status. Likewise, our staff and volunteers will be vaccinated and masked.

These policies are subject to revision as health and safety guidelines change. You will receive a pre-event email two days prior to each event to confirm our most up-to-date policies.

Can't find your tickets? Need access to the digital event?

All tickets have been emailed for Schur’s event, so be sure to check your inbox for an email from [email protected]. Call us at 206-621-2230 x10 if you can’t find them, or visit the SAL Box Office as early at 6 p.m. (PT) the night of the event.

For in-person attendance: Your e-tickets come attached in a PDF with your ticket order confirmation email. Present on your mobile device or bring your printed ticket to the venue the night of the event. Check your pre-event email for details on COVID safety precautions.

For online attendance: Your e-tickets, which come attached in a PDF with your ticket order confirmation email, contain your digital access instructions. The night of your event, return to lectures.org/event/michael-schur/ and enter the password where prompted. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and will be available for viewing for a week after the event.

SAL will also send an email the day of the event, containing the same information. If you have opted out of receiving SAL emails, you will miss this important information—please email us at [email protected] and we will assist you.

Have a question for the speaker?

Want to ask Michael Schur something? Send your question to SAL at [email protected]—it might be asked onstage!

Books

Our partner bookstore will have books available for purchase at their table in the lobby and on their website.

Transportation & Parking

Town Hall Seattle is centrally located at 1119 8th Ave, on the corner of 8th and Seneca. Their venue is served by frequent bus routes, is near access to light rail stations, and close to a number of parking options nearby. Please see their website for more details.

Accessibility

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing losses, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. To make a request for open captioning, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10. Please note: for in-person events at Town Hall Seattle, we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure captioning services. 

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video for online events. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Town Hall Seattle has a hearing loop system, so you can switch your T-coil hearing aid to telecoil to have the stage’s microphones transmitted directly to your hearing aids. To pick up a headset, check in with any Town Hall usher when you arrive.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at Town Hall Seattle, which is fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Town Hall Seattle recommends that visitors use the 8th Avenue Entrance for events in the Great Hall, and elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. The venue has all-gender, ADA-accessible restrooms on the lobby and Forum level. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on accessibility features at Town Hall, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

All-gender restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at [email protected], or Monday-Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Sponsors

Novella Sponsor