Maybe there’s something in the water in Hillsborough County. How else to explain that three giants of modern comedy, all born within seven years of each other, hail from this small region of south-central New Hampshire? 

Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman are both natives of Bedford, and Adam Sandler grew up in nearby Manchester. All three have lent their comedic talents to TV’s humor boot camp “Saturday Night Live,” from which Sandler and Silverman graduated before embarking on lucrative solo careers.  

Meyers has now been an “SNL” cast member for more than a decade and currently serves as the NBC show’s head writer. He’s hosted the parody news sketch “Weekend Update” since 2006, co-hosting with Amy Poehler before taking over as solo anchor in 2008. He’s also appeared in several movies, has twice hosted ESPN’s ESPY Awards, and served as keynote speaker at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. 

Standup comedy is a bit of a rarity for Meyers, but he’ll perform at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom on Saturday, Aug. 20.

“The last time I went to Hampton Beach I was probably 17 years old hoping to make a good impression on a woman,” Meyers said. “So, mostly, I would just like to take one trip to Hampton Beach where I execute my goal.”

Meyers said he has fond memories of his childhood in Bedford and his teen years at Manchester West High School. He’s a diehard Red Sox and Celtics fan, although he favors the Pittsburg Steelers over the New England Patriots (“My father is from Pittsburg, and being a Steelers fan was pretty nonnegotiable,” he said).

As for his native proximity to other comic stars, Meyers has no explanation, although he has discussed the phenomenon with Silverman.

“It’s so crazy Sandler, Silverman and I are all from this tiny area. We haven’t quite been able to get to the bottom of the reason,” he said. “I do think there is a New England comic sensibility that has stayed with me over the years.” 

Meyers started performing sketch comedy as a student at Northwestern University and went on to join the improv group Boom Chicago. He also performed at the Improv Olympic (now called iO), which has also hosted “SNL” alumni like Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Bill Hader.  

Meyers joined the “SNL” cast in 2001 and became co-head writer with Tina Fey in ’06. He began co-hosting “Weekend Update” that same year, joining the ranks of past anchors like Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Norm Macdonald, Colin Quinn and Jimmy Fallon. Even after five seasons, Meyers finds no shortage of current events to satirize. 

“When you’re the part of the show that focuses on the news, you never run out of inspiration. The other way I think the show stays fresh with inspiration is that they always cycle new people through,” Meyers said. “There are always young comedians and new voices and unique voices, and as long as you keep bringing those people in and good writers, I think the show stays fresh.” 

The Republican presidential primary will surely be a regular talking point in the next season of “Saturday Night Live,” which premieres Sept. 24. Whether or not frequent SNL target Sarah Palin will be among the candidates remains to be seen. Meyers wrote some of the material Tina Fey delivered for her uncanny impersonations of Palin during the 2008 primary race. But the crew will be looking for other political victims to serve as comedic fodder this year.

“I think Michelle Bachman is going to be a nice Sarah Palin 2.0,” Meyers said. “As well as we executed on Palin last time, it might be good to kind of move on to something else. Plus, Tina Fey is incredibly busy.”

Myers had to confront some of his own targets during a hilarious performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April. He good-humoredly poked fun at President Obama, who was seated just a few feet away, warning him that if his hair got any whiter the Tea Party would endorse it. 

“The most intimidated I’ve ever been was just having Obama next to me,” he said. “At least with everybody else, I knew they were there but I couldn’t really see them, whereas with Obama I knew there were a couple of jokes that I was going to have to literally deliver directly to him.”

Obama proved a good sport, though, chuckling through the presentation. The same cannot be said of Donald Trump, who sat expressionless while Meyers gleefully dropped a rash of jokes about his hair, accent and presidential aspirations.

Trump later made headlines for criticizing Meyers’ performance and calling him a “stutterer.” Meyers, whose sarcastic cadence and impish grin are tough to mistake for genuine hostility, said he never expected such a negative reaction. 

“We never thought that would be the story, and I don’t think it would have been had he reacted differently,” Myers said. “When I walked offstage I was getting texts that were like, ‘Look out for Donald Trump at the after-party.’” (Meyers has since run into Trump at a charity event. “I thanked him for being a good sport,” he said.) 

Perhaps Trump could learn a lesson from the incident. When you are made the butt of a joke, it’s best to take it gracefully and not expose your thin skin. 

“When somebody makes a good-natured joke about you, it’s better to laugh along and be on that side than to sit stone-faced,” Meyers said.

He’s hoping the crowd at Hampton Beach won’t sit stone-faced, either. Around 20 of Meyers’ old friends and family members will be at the show. He said he’d be sure to discuss life in the Granite State, this unlikely hub of comedy stardom.

The 18-plus show begins at 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, 169 Ocean Blvd., Hampton, 603-929-4100. Tickets are $29 to $39.