Cecily Strong on the Catharsis of Her Goober the Clown SNL Sketch
One of the things I loved most when I was performing on Saturday Night Live was creating controlled chaos. When I was doing my Jeanine Pirro impression, I wanted to…
Rachel Dratch on the Greatest Compliment She Gets to This Day About Debbie Downer
I started watching Saturday Night Live as a kid during the show’s first season, and I was immediately fascinated by it. That first cast of the Not Ready for Prime…
Cheri Oteri on the Highs and Lows of SNL: You ‘Still Have to Audition Every Week’
The beginning of my SNL journey felt like the first day of school—that perfect mixture of nervous excitement and possibility. While a few of us knew each other from the…
Al Franken on Political Humor at SNL: ‘Our Goal Was to Get Laughs From Everyone’
On Election Night 1988, I was returning in a small jet to New York from Boston, where I had just emceed Michael Dukakis’ “victory” party. Looking down at the lights…
Garrett Morris on SNL‘s First Season: ‘You Have to Be Very Brave to Make Fun of a Lot of What Should Be Made Fun of’
I had been in show business for about 17 years before Saturday Night Live came along. I was an actor on and off Broadway. I wrote a couple plays, and…