Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today's podcast is sponsored by sea Geek. If you didn't know,
Sea Geek is the official ticketing partner of the Brooklyns.
Whether you're trying to go to a Nets game, Liberty Game, concert,
or any other event at Barclay Center, you really only
need Sea Geek. Welcome to Quartside Conversation. I'm your girl,
(00:31):
Ali Love. After years on the Hartwood as the in
arena host for the Brooklyn Nets, It's time for me
to take a courtside. We're here with artists, athletes, and
all of our favorite people to break down the game
called life. We're getting real about the grow up and
the glow up. So let's take a seat. What's up everyone,
(00:57):
It's your girl, Ali Love. Welcome to Quartside Conversation and
as we take a court sight seat with the one
and only I mean she is one of the funniest
people that I know ego would in no egos a
comedian and actress, a writer, and it's best known for
her work as a cast member of Saturday Nett Live. Hi, Hi,
how are you? I'm good? Welcome? How you doing? You know?
(01:19):
I am getting by. Things have been very busy, but
I'm good. You know, I'm good. I'm good. I just
left a workout. I feel energized for the first time
ever after a workout, but the first time ever. Why
normally are you just tired? Normally I'm tired after workout.
(01:39):
I don't know everybody who's like I feel. It's like
I have so much energy after I work out. I'm like,
I will need it. I generally need a nap after
I work out. So I feel good. It's the weather's
good here in New York. It's been a longish winter,
and so yeah good, I'm all good, Okay good. I
have to tell you I just saw you. You You didn't
(02:00):
see me, but I just saw you when you hosted
a Varieties power of Power of Women, and you were exceptional.
Now we share the same agency team, and so Jordan
on our team, I like, he's like, how is EGO doing?
And I'm like, she's exceptional. And I was like, oh,
I need to know this one. I assumed you you
wrote the speech yourself, but did you have any support?
(02:21):
And that speech was perfect. I don't think I've ever
heard a more perfect and entertaining and informative and inspiring
like welcoming speech as a host and sincere, oh my goodness. Okay,
that's really really kind of you. Ali, I did not
get um. They gave me a template, okay, okay, And
so the template was like, we want you to touch
(02:42):
on this, We want you to introduce this honoring or
at least like introduced the fact that this person is
being honored. And so I I was so stressed about
it because I was also in the middle of like
a show run at SNL so and I shot some
like a movie, a cameo in a movie the day before,
and so I was like, I don't know when I'm
(03:03):
gonna do this speech. So all day on set the
day before, I was like, Okay, I'm gonna throw this in.
And I was like putting little notes in my phone
notes app and I was like, I don't know if
I have a hit on my hands or not, but
this is what I'm gonna have to say. Because this
speech was due to them this morning and it is
currently eight pm. So so I did not I read
(03:27):
it for one of my friends who doesn't do comedy,
is not an entertainment at all, and he was like,
sounds good to me. That was all the feedback I got.
So I was so worried. So this is really really
nice to hear that someone enjoyed it. Thank you. I
think the entire room that I can tell you by
obviously the response everyone did enjoy it. But the fact
(03:49):
that you did that last minute says one or two
things about you won You work really well under pressure,
and that is like your prime moment or two there's
way more in you and your own giving us half
of it right now and we're waiting till the last minute?
Great things? What if it's what if it's both? So
it says both of those things about me. I like, well,
I was. I asked for the template early to be like,
(04:11):
let me just get a sense of this early and
so I can get ahead of it. I don't want
to be doing this last minute, but I was by
the time they you know, by the time we were
having the conversation, not about doing it, but like, okay,
there's this template and things we want you to cover.
I was already going back to work at S and
L to do a show run. So it was like
I'm asking for it early, but like getting it early
right at this point isn't really gonna do anything for me.
(04:34):
But I thought, okay, well, ago, what if you like
write a sentence of it a day, and I'm just
not that person. So it was it was very very
last minute. I do work well under pressure, but I
keep being like, Okay, I keep telling myself, like, if
you work this well under pressure, imagine what would happen
if you got a head start and your girl just
(04:56):
almost never gets the head start? Like I don't do that,
but I think you know, I say, working where you're thriving.
And since you're thriving, so we're not even into the
courtside conversation, let's go ahead and jump into four quarters
game called life and have time where there's a little
bit of fun. So let's let's go ahead and tip off.
Take me back growing up obviously from Baltimore, you study ballet,
(05:17):
you come your family is Nigerian. You kind of get
those roots of and you've said this before, as a
Nigerian family of wanting you to be a doctor. So
you would have would have been pre med if you
didn't go into comedy and entertainment, Like growing up in
your household, what are some of those memories of you
being just tapping into that your comedy or tap it
into that humor. When did it start to show in
(05:39):
your household. Well, you know, the thing is, I was
pre med. In college, I studied biology, which was truly
why did I I mean I know why. It was
the pressure of the pressure of family. But even as
I tell that story, I'm like, you know, I it's
just like most first generation kids story where your family
(05:59):
comes to this country and it comes for better opportunity
and for a better life for you, and they have
these dreams for you, and it all comes from a
good place. In my opinion, and or at least in
my experience, it was from a good place. My mother
wanted me to have stability and to not have to
be struggling in the same way she did to get
to where she is. And so you know, as far
(06:20):
as the comedy goes, I didn't even understand it as
like a career option well into like pursuing acting. Honestly, like,
I've always been a fan of comedy. I've always been
very silly. I have not that silly equals equals comedy,
but I feel like they are cousins of one another,
and so like I've always been wanting to entertain my family,
(06:41):
mimicking my family members, making them laugh at holidays, I
loved Martin growing up. Yeah, my older brother put me
on to Seinfeld. He was such a big Seinfeld fan
and so like, it's always been a part of my life.
But it's it's funny because sometimes when you're just living,
you're not naming things. And especially that age when I
was so much younger, I wasn't like and this is
(07:03):
comedy and this is the intellectual stuff that stimulates me.
It's just like, this is my life and I'm I'm
gravitating towards the things I enjoy. So I didn't even
know or conceptualize it as a career option for myself.
So I actually, you know, I studied biology in college,
like I said, and I thought I was going to
take be a theater double major. I was like, that'll
(07:26):
be the sneaky thing I do. Like I made this
deal with my family that if if they let me
go to college in Los Angeles, because I knew I
wanted to act, and I was like, that's where the
acting happens. I don't know what I'm doing, I don't
know how to get into it, but I know I
should be where it happens. And then you know, I'll
go to college there. I'll study the thing that's going
to make you feel like I'm not throwing my life
away and falling off the deep end here. I'll do that.
(07:48):
And then when I get to LA, if I can
just get closer to where this thing happens, I can
figure it out, but I just need to be there.
And so I thought I was going to be a
theater double major. I took a theater class at USC
where I went to undergrad. I really did not enjoy
it the class, but I still knew I wanted to
be an actor. And I was like, I just know
I want to be an actor. I know I have
(08:10):
this in me, this desire, and I you know, in
my mind everyone at that time, I was like, yeah, everyone,
if they could be an actor, they would be in
the older I got. I was like, oh no, not
everyone feels this way. Not everybody wants to do this,
And so let me know that this passion I had
inside of me was for me, unique to me, and
was special and meaningful and something I should pursue and
listen to. So I started taking acting classes outside of USC.
(08:34):
Like just I was like, we're in LA. There's an
abundance of acting classes. I don't have to be a
theater double major, even though that would have allowed me
to get a scholarship. I like the class, Like what
was it about the class? Like that's important, you know
what I mean. It's like, Okay, you went in, you
didn't have a great experience. And sometimes that can be
someone's quote unquote sign, Like we're always looking for a
sign like Okay, I know I'm want to do this.
(08:55):
I'm in the right place, so this works out. This
is a sign that I'm destined to do it for you.
You're like, I didn't love it. Well, here's the thing
is like it was like dating. So I'm like, I
like men, and I've dated men that like weren't for me.
And then I'm like, it's not the answers, not like,
oh like men, it's like I don't like you. And
so it was sort of like that where I took
the class and I was like, I don't like this class.
(09:16):
I don't care for this professor. She don't seem to
care for me. And that's all good, and but I
know that, yeah, I know that I have this burning
desire inside of me, and I know, you know, I
had friends in college who didn't know that I wanted
to be an actor, and they would be like, you know,
one of my friends, he the one actually the friend
(09:37):
I read the speech too. He very early and he
didn't go to school with me. He went to Brown.
But we were talking and he's like, you should be
like an entertainer of some sort. And I was like,
here's the secret. I want to do that. And every
once in a while my signs were like people i'd
meet in college being like, you should do entertainment like
and and I mean I knew that already, but I
(09:58):
was like, Okay, it's in me and other people's see
it and me, even though they don't know that, that's
what I came out here to do or pursue. And
that was what my heart's desire actually was. And so
when I took the class and I didn't like it,
you know, I'd done a play as a as a
as a youth, I was going to say, a young
person between me, sound old, old I've done. I did
a play like when I was younger, and I really
(10:19):
enjoyed that. And even as a ballerina, like I loved performing,
I really really loved doing our performance that would happen
at the end of ours dance season, and so it
was a lot of rehearsing for this one performance, and
that was my favorite part. I would be like, all right,
let's tell many rehearsals that we have to have. Just
let's do the performance. And so, like I knew that
(10:39):
I enjoyed performing, and so when I was in this class,
I was like I can. I was like, this person
doesn't care for me. I don't really know that I'm
getting this much out of this class, and I don't.
And I knew I wanted to do TV and film
largely like I did a play. I like theater, but
I wanted to do TV and film, and even now
I love being on TV. I love doing TV. It's
(11:00):
such a passion of mine. And so I was like,
I'd rather go and be in an acting class where
I'm learning the skills to do TV and film where
they are certainly overlap. And I absolutely think the skills
you gain from working in theater a million times over
prepare you to do TV and film. But I just
I wanted to. I was like, this class, it's not
(11:22):
for me. So for me, I was like, okay, it's
like dating that took this class. It wasn't for me.
I'm gonna go date somebody else. And so I found
and I was like, it's La, there's a billion acting
classes in this town. It doesn't have to be the
one at my school. And so I went and found
an acting class outside of campus and I loved it.
I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And it was
a television acting class and it's mainly an audition class,
(11:44):
but still I feel like if you're I had such
great teachers coming up that it was like, yes, you're
teaching me how to audition, but you are certainly teaching
me how to act. And then I took other sorts
of acting classes outside in the world in LA, like
Alexander Technique and such so, and then I started taking improv,
so where I get to comedy, just to take you
on that path. As I started taking improv be grudgingly,
(12:07):
I was mad. I was like, I did not want
to take improv. Your girl was big mad. I was like,
I'm not taking this. You're giving me busy work. So
it was like agents and managers, some of whom were
my agents or managers, and then some of them were
perspective agents and managers, like you should take an improv class.
But I feel like back then, I don't know, I
feel a little lot of touch in this regard right now,
(12:27):
But I feel like when I was coming up, there
were so many things that developmental agents and managers would tell,
you know, developmental clients like myself to do that. We're
just busy work ultimately, and I was starting to get
the sense like I was like, I need some ROI
a term I learned in my business, minor return on investment.
I need some I'm doing all the things. I'm doing
(12:49):
the things, and it's like do this, and it's always
like one more thing I need to do. I need
to go get new headshots. I just got headshots, but
now I need new headshots. And I just I went
and took that class. You told me too, but now
I need to go take this class. And so I
was like, no, I'm gonna eat some roy before I
do anything else. But enough people told me to take
an improv class, friends and reps alike, and so I
(13:10):
was like, fine, I'll take it, and no one I'll
take one on one and no one can talk to
me about an improv class again because I will have
done it. And then I did one on one, and
I was like, oh my god, I love this and
this is the most me thing I've ever done. And
then I felt so me and I wanted and I
was like, Okay, well now I'm I'm in I'm in
this community, I'm committed to I want to get on
(13:30):
the main stage at this improv theater. I want to
get I want to I want to go the distance here.
And that was so funny. Like I've said before that
sometimes the thing that is for you is on the
other side of this thing you don't want to do.
And I didn't want to take an improv class to night,
and honestly I should have like put my foot down
about other things and be like I'm not taking this
(13:51):
or I'm not doing that. But it was like the
one thing I was like, I'm not doing that that
ended up being so me and so for me and
opening a million indoors for me and offering me the
some of the most important relationships in my life right now.
So wait, take me to you know, you're in college
and you're studying, and you know you talk to your parents,
right they call, and now you're taking these classes. Do
(14:12):
you tell them that you're you've already agreed, like I'm
going to do this for this, but are you telling
them now you're really investing a lot more of your
outside time into this exploration. Well, I mean when I
graduated college, it was this whole thing about you know,
I told my mom and it was my sister Mike.
God bless my older sister. M She's brilliant and she is.
She she went to med school and she didn't want to,
(14:34):
and when while she was there she got her MBA
and she just got her MFA and screenwriting and she's
just so highly accomplished and loved school, I guess, but
in a way that I could not relate um. And
so she she having gone to med school when she
didn't want to again be having the same first gen
(14:54):
experience I was having, just older. She was like, I
was going to take the MCAT after like my senior
year of college or my junior I can't remember when
you're supposed to. That's how much I wasn't gonna do this,
but I was maybe gonna take it as like I'm
gonna have my MCAT score. It'll be mine, and like,
you know, I don't have to go to med school,
but I'll take it. It's just another step in the
process and I'll have this score. And my sister, because
(15:17):
she had gone to med school and didn't want to,
she was like, do not take the MCAT. And I mean,
I got the books from my brother because he is
a doctor and I'd gotten his books, and I was like, Okay,
I'm gonna study this summer. And she was like, do
not take the m CAT because you know, you don't
want to be a doctor and if you take this MCAT,
you are going to find yourself in med school when
you don't want to be. And I was like, I'm
(15:37):
not just gonna find myself in med school. I'm not
like you. I'm not as smart as you are, so no,
it's gonna take some real work on my part. We
can't We're not all you. But she's so smart. But anyway,
I was like, okay, great, I'm not taking the m CAT.
So that was something I told my mom. You know,
once I had made that decision and missed the window
so that I wasn't on the path to med school anymore. Basically,
(16:00):
minute I didn't take the MCAT and made that decision
to not take the m CAT or study for the MCAT,
it was like thank god I did it, by the way,
but like it was like, okay, she's really not going
to med school. So then when once I graduated, of
course my mom wanted to know what I was up to,
like I got a job, a day job, and before
the what was that conversation? Like were you nervous? Because
I feel like for me we do share it similar
(16:22):
paths and that I was pretty open that I wanted
to be a dancer growing up. I was like, I
want to be a dancer. I know, I want to
move to New York City, That's where dancers make it.
I'm from Miami born and raise, going to an arts
high school. Came to New York in a summertime, and
I was like, I love the rhythm of the city.
How can I go to How can I live here?
And I remember my parents saying, well, no, you can't
just graduate high school and become a dancer. You need
(16:42):
to go to college. You need to continue your education.
And the agreement was you go to school, you get
a scholarship because we can't pay for it, but you
go to school an academic scholarship, and you can get
a bachelors in fine arts for sure. But you have
to get a minor, and mine was the study of religion.
I did theology, and that was like the agreement is like, Okay,
I'm going to put myself in New York because that's
where dancers make it. Yeah, and I'm going to be
(17:04):
in a city that I love and that's where people
just do great things. And I will go to university
to appease my parents and get it and get a
degree because I get it. I'm the first of our
entire family. My mom's one of ten kids to graduate
like college, of all my cousins. So I was like, Okay,
I get what I'm doing here. I know that I
want I'm going to do this for this reason, but
I'm really doing it because I want to be a dancer.
(17:26):
And then I kind of had to have that conversation
later in college, junior senior where your parents are now.
One my grandma didn't know what I was doing in general.
She would come and visit and it's like, what do
you do with your time dancing? That doesn't make sense.
And I had to have a conversation, you know, with
my parents of I think I want to pursue this
full time, Like I think I want to become a
professional dancer. Yeah, and maybe they had the hopes of
(17:47):
if you go to university, you'll find some structure in
academia and like really go on that side. So having
that conversation wasn't bad, It wasn't like it, but it
was tough. It was one of those things where you're
not You're kind of convincing your parents to trust you
as an adult, which isn't always easy because even to
this day, my mom and my dad thinks I'm a kid,
(18:08):
you know what I mean, They're going to think that
forever exactly. So how was that conversation for you? Where
you nervous? How did you prepare? Do you have to
talk to your siblings to get a little mill booth
the confidence? Like? What was it? I mean of my siblings,
my sister, I felt like had seen so much more
and ventured beyond what anyone had expected of her. I mean,
she still went to med school and got her babe,
(18:29):
but like she deferred her admission to med school for
a while, and my family was like panicate. I think
my sister was like the sort of pioneer of like
I'm gonna do something a little unconventional. So like, I'm
going to defer my admission to med school by two years.
And she did get a scholarship, and she's like, I'm
gonna go do this Disney program where they like postcought
like post undergrad program they have, and my family was like,
(18:52):
what is going on with this girl? I mean, and
also she graduated high school very early. I believe it's
sicken and so it was like she has the time
to do that. So I feel like because of her,
and it's like a family thing. It wasn't just like
my mom or my siblings. It was like the whole family,
extended family, Like they're also invested in what I was
(19:14):
going to do and what each of the kids and
my cousins was going to do. But my mom is
the oldest girl of her siblings, the second oldest of
all her siblings. She's one of nine. So I feel
like people were invested in our particular family familial unit
because we're all older than all of our cousins. So
so my mom's got the oldest kids, and so I
(19:36):
just it wasn't as hard as like the sketch I
did at at SNL called Proud Parents. So Daniel Kloetz,
it wasn't as hard as that, but there were elements
of that. I think my mom is far more understanding
and gracious and flexible than perhaps the character I played
in that. But thankfully, I think because of what my
(19:59):
sister or it done and had gone sort of an
unconventional path that was like blowing their minds every step
of the way what I was doing where I was like,
I know, I've gotten out here. I got the degree.
You guys came to the graduation. We did the thing.
I had two miners in college. I'm like, and it
was business administration and it was sociology with an emphasis
in health and social welfare. So the conversation it was like,
(20:22):
it wasn't okay. Listen by the way, I think I
meant to minor in psychology. But then like midway through
the sociology, I was like, oh my bad, I think
I meant to do psychology. Wait I did the same thing.
I meant to do psychology. And then they're like, great,
all your credits are adding up to theology and I
was like, yeah, but that's not what I meant to do,
and they're like too late. Yeah, and then you're just like, okay, whatever,
(20:42):
what does this actually mean whatever whatever, but yes it's
in retrospect. I'm like, I'm meant to do psychology. This
is so crazy, but anyway, okay, hey twin. So I
was like the conversation itself once it was like I'm
not taking the mcat. It was like okay, a lot
of like okay, what are you doing? I mean, I
went to a high school. They didn't under my family
didn't like understand because it had technical in the name,
(21:04):
so they thought it was a vocational school for people
who didn't plan to go to college. I was like,
it's actually a magnet school and this is just and
it used to be vocational like well before I was
ever on this planet, but it's not anymore, and like
trust me on this one. So I feel like I
had gained a little trust over the years of like
she knows what she's doing. But it is a constant
thing with like your family, your parents. I'm the youngest
(21:27):
of four, where it's like you can trust the values
and the wisdom you've instilled in me at this point,
like that you didn't raise me to be wayward, and
like I'm gonna make good decisions and I'm gonna as
much as you want me to be successful and self
sufficient and independent. I want those things for myself tenfold
so more than you want them for me, truly. Like
(21:48):
so I just feel like the conversation. I was not
intimidated by it because it was what it was, and
I'm gonna I'm gonna have to tell them and they
are gonna ask me, like, what are you doing every day?
You know? There were some first gen people at UCB Theater,
which is where I came up in improv and sketch
comedy um, who were lying to their families about what
(22:09):
they were doing. It was like, I'm in grad school,
but it's like you're taking improv classes and doing zip
zap zap. And if they found out, they would be like,
and there is no cap and gown and there is
no prestigious Like I'm like, you're living a lie and
God speed, because that would just stress me out. So
I knew I needed to have it. But I was
also three thousand miles away from my family, so it
was like, I'm also gonna do what I'm gonna do.
(22:32):
Trust me on this one. So you know, I think
my sister having created a path of like you know,
unconventional way of going about pursuing her passions and career
helped me out a lot. And the fact that I'm
the youngest. I do think by the time, like parents
get to the youngest, they're like whatever, they're just like yeah,
(22:52):
like the commercial like just hold my kid, like but
it's don't even get to the second You're like, it
doesn't matter, drums or germs, Yeah it doesn't. Yeah, it's fine, Yeah,
it's but the past buyer, I was just on the
ground right in their mouth, it's fine, doesn't matter, everything's fine.
So yeah, basically that was also I think played a
role in it. That I was the youngest, but my
mother was always you know, she was worried, but support
(23:13):
Like the worry came from a good place, truly, but
like my mother raised me was also supportive, So I
think she was worried, but there was also this like, Okay,
I believe that this is going to work out for you.
She had once been like I prayed and I saw
that it was going to work out for you. And
so now it just like has calmed me down a lot,
Like this road is quite bumpy and you're getting a
(23:35):
lot of nose and facing a lot of rejection and
there's so much uncertainty on it. But I saw and
I went in a prayer that this is going to
work out for you, and so that I was like, cool, cool,
great love it. Today's podcast is sponsored by sea Geek.
If you didn't know Sea Geek, it's the official ticketing
partner of the Brooklyn Nets. Unlike any other apps, set
(23:58):
Geek makes buying tickets super simple. Whether you're trying to
go to a Nets game, Liberty game, concert, or any
other event at Barclay Center, you really only need seek Geeks.
Seek Geek puts tickets from all over the web in
one place to make buying simple. Let's use Mama and
segue into into the second quarter. So in the second
(24:20):
quarter we talk about adversity and assists and so what
you did say, which I think comes up a lot,
especially in entertainment, but just in general, no matter what
your road um, your trajectory, and your career is, most
of us have held space for the many knows that
we've had, right and so for you you saying okay,
like you're at UCB, like you're doing you're doing your thing,
(24:42):
you're figuring out, it's unlocking that passion in you, You're like,
this is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is
where I am in terms of the adversity, what was
that kind of what was that road in terms of
getting to Saturday and nilive in terms of like knowing
what was available and what was the opportunity during that
time for you? I mean I felt I felt like,
(25:03):
you know, when I started taking improv one oh one.
By the time I got into two o one, which
is the next level, there was a teacher that's like, listen,
getting on a mainstage team here as an improviser is impossible.
The stats, We've done the math, and it's harder to
get on the main stage here than it is to
get into Harvard. And so you don't need to aim
for that. You shouldn't aim for that. In fact, there
(25:24):
are other things you could do at this theater, basically
tempering our expectations. And I when I hear that, I'm like, well,
I've already had the mind to do that, and that's
what i want to do. And when I hear that,
I'm like, I'm up for the challenge. I'm like, this
doesn't apply to me. I did as like exception to
the rule over here, I was like, I get it.
Tell everybody else that, and you know, for the people
(25:45):
who hear that and go, I don't want to try now.
And now that's not something I'm going to aim for
and I'm going to take that off my goals list,
or I'm going to approach it in a less like
hungry way. Great, But if when I heard that, I
was like, no, I'm gonna get on. I don't care
what the stats are, like, I'm getting on. And no,
it didn't come without its hiccups. The first time I
tried I didn't get on. Thankfully, the second time I
(26:05):
tried out, I did became eligible to try out, because
you don't only become eligible after you'd complete all the
coursework and an advanced course as well and so like.
But then at the same time, I'm auditioning in LA
for various guests co star roles and guest star roles
and series regular roles. The more I the more along
(26:27):
on my trajectory I get. And I had done CBS
Diversity Showcase, which is something that really transformed my career
and is actually where SNL saw me at first. But
the first time I auditioned for that, I didn't get
it either, and so I kind of became accustomed to
the nose. Like even now I feel not as perfectly
(26:48):
I feel. So I feel like no doesn't impact me
the way it might impact some people. And I feel
like that's the same for a lot of actors who
had come up and faced a lot of rejection. And
but you know not to take it personally, which is
something you get in the practice of. You kind of
get in the practice of if you're you have healthy
(27:08):
ways about it to like throw those rejections into the
sea of forgetfulness. Especially like my goal became to like
my goal became to like just do work I was
proud of. Right, So, like you have an audition, you
get to do it one time in an audition with
a casting director the piece you've rehearsed at best maybe twice.
(27:28):
But then you know, at best maybe twice. But like
I would go, I want to do work I'm proud of.
I'm not in control, Like I'm not in control of
whether they pick me for this job or not, whether
I'm what they're looking for or not. What can I
be in control of? And so I was like, I
just want to do work I'm proud of and that
would be like my prayer before I go into auditions,
(27:50):
Like I want to be able to step out of
this audition and be like, I'm proud of the work
I did in there, regardless of what the outcome is.
And so if you book a job, great, icing on
the cake, but let me go put on all the show.
I had five minutes to put on a show for
this casting director. So I just became very like, Oh,
me and No, we were such good friends for so
many years. I was like instilled even now, you know,
(28:10):
like I'm not scared of a no, and generally try
not to take it personally. It's not easy to do,
and it's like a constant practice too for me to
you know, not take those nos personally or not, you know.
And by that, I mean you don't take a no
and say, oh, what does this mean about me and
my inadequacy or how I'm not right, or what does
(28:32):
it mean about my trajectory or the heights to which
I can go? It doesn't it doesn't have to mean
any of that, and oftentimes it just doesn't, you know.
So I feel like those things, all those years of
hearing no, gave me resilience to keep going I just
knew I had this belief, this desire inside of me,
and thankfully kept going because of that. I was like,
(28:53):
I'm on a mission. There's nothing else I'd rather do.
In fact, when I speak about like knowing I wanted
to act, there was a moment where I was like,
I knew I wanted to act. I thought everyone wanted
to act. I met someone like in my mid twenties,
my neighbor who was like going back to college to
get his second bachelor's degree because he didn't know what
he wanted to do. And he was like working in
the mail room at WMME, which is a talent agency.
(29:16):
As you know, I don't know if our listeners are
our listeners now, it's our it's our broadcast now, yeah,
thank you, But it's an agency. And he was working
in the mail room in the music department and he
absolutely freaking hated it, and he loved music a lot.
But he and he studied economics, I think, and kind
of had a bachelor's in economics and he was going
(29:37):
back home to South Carolina to get a second bachelor's
degree in engineering. And I remember sitting at with him
at at a restaurant and he was like, I don't
know what i'd want to do, and I think I'm
gonna like engineering because I like putting things together. I
really sure to God hope I do, because this will
be my second time going to college. And he's like,
(29:59):
I MVP, who know what they want to do? So
I it always felt like this gift and a curse,
but I didn't know that there were people because I
have such a like burning clear desire to do this
acting thing, and that seemed nearly impossible. It's so not linear,
there's no like real model for how to go about it.
Everyone's story is so different and that's so scary actually.
But to hear him say like I envy people who
(30:20):
know what they want to do because I don't know
made me be like, oh yeah, I can really listen
to this thing inside of me, and it's a special
that it's inside me, that I have such clarity about
what I want to do, as opposed to feeling like
oh my god. At times end it felt like such
a burden, like why don't I want to do anything else?
Why is this the thing? Why is this the thing
I want exactly? Why oh why did we choose this
(30:43):
or why does the thing choose us like and then like, yeah, here,
I just I will never forget that conversation because in
my mind, I'm like, okay, yeah, but like if you
if someone told you could be an actor today, everyone
would say yes. But that's not the case. So it
just and it stopped feeling like a vain desire for
me too in that moment, because I'm like, I just
(31:03):
know that I want to do this and it's not
for everybody, but it's certainly for me. So that felt special. Yeah,
when you did so you did the show, it was
it was like what was the title? Was I called
um great Black and then there's me yes, yeah, and
I've never read it yea, and then there's me yeah,
and like what led to that? Because I feel like, one,
(31:27):
it's a bold choice as a black woman, just as
a black woman to say like, they're great black woman?
And then there's me, Um, what led to wanting to
share this kind of part of you? In terms of
that also being your moment of recognition from S and L. Two.
You know, I did that show. I had a new
manager at the time who was like, oh, we need
a vehicle for you, and then I was like, great,
I'm going to write a stage show at UCB. I'm
(31:48):
a senior performer here at this point, and orm at
least a mainstage performer here at this point, and I um,
I was like, great, I'm going to do a mainstage
show here at UCB is my goal. And then I
was like, okay, I'll put my friends in it. But
sometimes when I write, I forget to write myself meaty parts,
and so I was like, no, that's I. If I
write an ensemble, I'm gonna screw this up and like,
(32:10):
what's meant to be a vehicle or a showcase of
any sort for me? It's going to be like, damn,
my friends are shining and I'm going to stand back
and be like, oh amazing, I wrote this show from
my friends and I say a thing here or there.
So I was like, okay, you have to try to
make it a one woman's show because that will kind
of help. That is certainly going to help you not
do that thing you always do ago where you're like, oh,
I forgot to write myself a part or like a
(32:30):
meaningful part or a showcase part. So I was like,
it's gonna be a one woman's show. And the name
came to me. I kid you, not not in a dream,
but it just came to me. And sometimes I work
backwards that way, where I'm like, even with a sketch,
I go, I want to write a sketch that's in
this setting, like it's a and then I go from
there and I'm like, I don't know, now, we got
to find something weird to happen in this setting because
(32:51):
I didn't have an idea. So similarly to that, I
had this title and the person directing my show was fantastic,
Alice and Rich. She was like, great, let's figure out
what you want to do with that, but honestly, you
don't have to be married to this title. And I
spent I remember it was over like Thanksgiving, all of
Thanksgiving trying to think of a new title, and I
was like, nope, this is the title. Well, we're gonna
have to work backwards from here. And in that show, Jeah,
(33:14):
just that show explores a dichotomy between the like the
portrayal of black women in media and how they're great
or like really tragic, and so I felt like it
was a nice way for people to get to know
me too, and the range as my range as a performer.
So I am a pretty private person and I feel
(33:39):
like even for people that know me in real life now,
I'm the scary way because it's it's also interesting because
if you knew me in real life, you'd be like,
she'd sure to share a lot about herself, but it's
I'm still really private. It's it's I'm very into vulnerability
now in the last several years of my life. But
I'm like so very private person. But I was like,
this could be fun to explore, like and be open
(34:02):
and transparent about my own imperfections because I do feel like,
especially at that time in the community I was in,
I feel like everyone had kind of like thought of
me is so put together, and I am I like
to look nice, sue me. Yeah, but like I'm like,
I just felt like people were like, oh, she's so
put together, she's got it all figured out. But I'm like,
I'm very human, and as a black woman, it feels
(34:24):
like we have to be these superheroes to people, frankly
for them to respect us. And I'm like, I'm not
a superhero. I'm a person and I'm very incredibly flawed
and I've made a lot of mistakes and that's just
being human, and there's room for other people to make mistakes,
and I want that same room for us as black woman.
And I basically yes, I spent the last bit of
(34:45):
that show make confessing all my sins, and so I came.
You know, my hope was to just show all that
was inside of me and what I was capable of.
It was I was asked to create this vehicle or
showcase for myself, and I was like, Okay, if I'm
going to do it, I want it to mean something
and I want people to walk away feeling like they
(35:05):
got to know me a little more and that they
maybe learned something not just about me, but about society
and how black women are navigating the pressures put upon
them in society. And so that was really really rewarding
to get to do. I don't know if I answered
your question, but you did. And then no, No, that
was like the unlock for SNL. You said like that,
that was like your showcase in the sense of showcase,
(35:28):
showcasing your talents, getting you to that moment of Again,
one of the most sought after stages in the world
when it comes to entertainment, to comedy, to TV is
being on Saturday Night Live. So yeah, yeah, yeah, you know.
They saw me at CBS Diversity's Showcase, which I did
in twenty sixteen. So I tested for SNL, which is
(35:48):
that like testing is the final audition before like you
get a job, so like they will you're a real
contender here, and so they flew me out to New York.
They were looking for a guy, white guy. I heard
and I understood, and I was among like ten other
dudes and it was me because I did a good
job at my audition in LA and then so they
(36:08):
flew me out. I did that, and I was like,
oh cool. And this was after my CBS showcase was
like April, and I was like, they don't hire people
in April? Do they? They have from time to time.
But I was like whatever. I was not expecting this.
I was not looking for this, and like that's so great.
I'm so happy that they saw something in me. But
I was like, this is just a cool little like
(36:28):
post birthday gift for me. Frankly, I was like, great,
but they're looking for a guy and now they're flying
me out. I was like, this is kind of low
stakes because I'm not what they're looking for. But I
had also gotten the practice of getting like honing my
comedic voice in CBS Diversity Showcase. And so by the
time SNL came calling, or vice versus whatever it was,
(36:51):
came calling like two years later in twenty eighteen and
I auditioned, I had done my one woman show and
I had had that run, and then I I had
honed my voice even more because my one woman show,
I got the chance to do anything I wanted. It
was my baby, like there were there were no guidelines,
there were absolutely no rules. I got to create this thing.
(37:13):
And so I had really done a job of honing
my my comedic voice. I'd written like twenty characters for
that show. It's half an hour show, so there's only
I only got to do I think like seven or
maybe eight. May I think I did eight, But like, yeah,
I got in the practice of like this is this
is my comedic voice. So by the time SML came
(37:34):
calling in twenty eighteen, I was like, oh, I'm auditioning
right now or testing for this in a way where
I'm like I know myself and I'm so self assured,
and I know what I think is funny, and I
know what I like to do I know what kind
of characters I like to play. It's it's a miracle
that I in a blessing. I didn't get this job
in twenty sixteen while I was still figuring those sorts
of things out and really getting my arms wrapped around that.
(37:57):
And so by the time, you know, twenty eighteen rolled
around and I did that One Woman's Show. Because I
did that One Woman's show, I knew what I enjoyed doing,
and I knew what I wanted to say with my comedy,
and I knew what I what was in the tank
for me in a way that I didn't two years prior.
So it was this like I went, I embarked on
this journey of writing this show, but I didn't know
what the show was going to afford me actually until
(38:18):
after the fact. And that was really special. Wait, you
have to give me insight of like when you're going
into audition, like they're flying you here to New York. Yes, yeah,
you're not, like are you just like cool comm and collected,
like you're like, I knows are my best friends? You've
seen again this idea and I completely identify this idea
of being put together because one of my colleagues from
the UK. We were out last night and she was like,
you're just so prim and proper. And I was like, honey,
(38:40):
that's rude in New York. Like in New York, that
is not a compliment. You're so prim and proper. I
was like, you know, I don't know what that means.
But she was paying a compliment to so put together.
She was like, you just are so put together all
the time. And I was like, what are my options?
My options are either to be put together or not
get the job, like let them get a second chance.
Yes exactly. I mean honestly, when I talk about not
(39:02):
liking that first theater class, the teacher used to call
me missus neat and I was like, okay, you don't
see me like you're literally looking at me on the surface,
and I don't know what the hell this nickname is, ma'am.
But but no, but no, but no, that's a note
for me to talk about a backhanded whatever compliment. And
so like I I, yeah, I go, I do you
do have to be prepared. I had a lot going
(39:24):
on in my life at the time that I got SNL,
so that you know, I told that story at Variety
about the cockroach. Um that that kicked me out of
my apartment, and so the cockroach sent me backing um
literally But because of that, I was like CouchSurfing, which
is not my jam. You know. I know some people
(39:44):
people do that and are fine. I like, need, I'm
real pisces in this regard. Need my space, my time,
my sanctuaries. Like I've introverted tendencies as well, and so
like I was going through a lot, and I I
had just got an offer from Comedy Central to make
a show of mine at the same time, and so
(40:07):
I don't know, yeah, but I so I was like, oh,
I'm going in this direction, and this is I live
in LA and this is my community and I'm settled here.
One thing I didn't mention is that most of my
time in LA, including college, I was like, I need
to get to New York. I shouldn't be living here.
I belong on the East Coast. I'm an East Coast girl.
I need to get to New York. And I was like,
dear God, get me a job in New York, an
opportunity to New York. I'm ready to go. And then
(40:29):
my last two years of twelve years in LA I
was like, I'm happy to be here. Actually, you know what,
Like I spent two years from like year eight to
ten being like, be content. No one wants to hear
about how you don't like LA, like, shut the hell
up about it. And then like years ten through twelve,
I was like, I love it. This is home now.
I have found my people, I have my routines, this
(40:50):
is my city now. And then it was time to
move to New York. So this was coming up, and
I was like, well, I just got happy to be here,
like really happy, and been like I'm gonna get my
family to move here. Truly. I was like, let's convince
my mom and my brothers. I was getting my little
plan in order. And so this came when I least
expected it, frankly, and also when it was like, oh,
I'm not desperate for this anymore. I don't. I don't.
(41:12):
I'm not desperate for this, And so that gave me
a confidence too. But it's also a lesson in what
like relinquishing and making your peace wherever you are affords you.
Because this was an incredible opportunity. So by the time
I was testing for this job, Ali, I had so
much going on in my head and swirling around in
my head that I was like, oh right, you're testing
(41:34):
for Usanel and because that was a source of stress
for me too, because I was like, am I about
to upend my life? Like I don't know that I
feel like doing that now, Like I don't. I mean,
of course, I remember being like I'm gonna I'm gonna
definitely test because I want to have it in my
book one day that I tested twice for Usanel like
some of my comedy heroes. But I'm like, I don't
know that, I like want to like upend my life
(41:56):
this way, and like, oh my god, the stress I
was under when I tell you, Like, when I got
to New York to test, I realized I hadn't rehearsed
my you know, I had done their showcase, which was fine,
it was like low stakes, Yeah, of course I'll do
the showcase in audition in LA. But then when it
came time to test, I was under such stress that
the night I got here, you get there the night
before your test, I was like, oh my god, ago,
(42:20):
you haven't rehearsed your audition at all since you did
it two weeks ago at all, Like not even a
little bit, my girl. So I was like in my
hotel room the like night before, I had gone like
I went to get a drink with my friend Paul,
Paul the common thread in all of my stories. Here
Bye Paul. He's a big sports fan, he'll love this.
(42:41):
But he I called him and I was like, let's
get a drink in the city. And then like leaving that,
I was like, I didn't rehearse this at all. I'm
so stressed. I haven't even thought about running my audition. Girl,
So like the next day because I was like, I
still want to do a good job. I'm just an overachiever.
And so it's like, even if I don't know if
this is right for me or the right timing, I
want to impress. I'm gonna be into auditioning in front
of Lauren michaels like I need to do a good job.
(43:04):
And so I auditioned or I ran my audition the
day the morning of several times, and I remember when
they came into someone came in too, like give me
some contract of some sort. Her name is Sonia in
the accounting department. I was listening to Didn't you Know
by Erica Badu She's like, you're the only person just
like chill in a zen mode. I was like, I
(43:25):
gots to be. It was like I have been on
the go, running, hopping from couch to couch, Like can
I sign a lease in an apartment in LA for
like five weeks now. I was like, I am, you
are catching me in a place I need to be.
And she was like, You're just like chill in a
way that no one else is right now, and I'm like, yep,
so yeah, it was. It was a scary process, but
(43:50):
I had so much going on in my head, and
I really think the vibe I was giving off too,
was just like I'm sorry, Like this is amazing and
such a blessing and such an incredible opportunity, but I'm like,
I don't even know if I'm prepared to do all this.
So so so like I'm gonna do a good job.
I want to do a good job. It means it
means something to me to do a good job. It's
important to me. But like y'all, it's a lot going on,
(44:13):
and I knew I have to miss my brother's wedding
if I got the job. Girl, I was stressed so
like it was stressed for like other reasons beyond like
am I going to perform? Well? It was this weird
like yeah, I know I'm a perform well, but what
about all this other stuff going on? It was like
you you you were doing those like epic scenes in
a movie where someone's like leg is broken and they're
in pain, and that like the comedic relief is they're like,
(44:34):
you're in pain, and then the person breaks their finger
and they're like, at least your leg isn't hurting anymore. Yeah, yeah,
exactly that. Yes, that's the stress you're dealing with. It's like, yes,
it's stress over here, so you're not dealing with the
immediate stress of actually having to go in this room
and perform, which everyone else is probably dealing with because
that's their only stress. It's like, yeah, let's you. And
like literally the night before I was like, you need
(44:55):
to get psyched up about this audition too, And I
was in my hotel room and I was like, Okay,
let's just jump up and down the like Yay, this
is amazing. You're getting into the audition for us. Now.
I jump up, I jumped down, and I sliced my
foot on the baseboard of this hotel, the room they
just renovated, and it was like gushing. I guess. I
was like, oh so I'll be limping in my audition tomorrow.
I like really messed my foot up and I was like,
(45:17):
I don't know what everything's going wrong, but whatever. Um. Yeah,
But it was, like you said, it was like there's
a different kind of stress swirled around in my head
that I was like, that was driving me honestly. All right,
let's step into halftime really quick. Some fun questions, super
super easy. Who was your celebrity childhood crush? So she
(45:40):
were listening to Ericabaudu and that that kind of like
literally set the tone up you growing up? Who were
you like, Oh, oh man, my celebrity child my celebrity
childhood crush. It was I would say, see these are
married people now, and so I'm like, if I was
the wife, I'd be like, I'm that little bitch. Anyway,
(46:03):
we're talking about childhood. Me. I'm grown now. Don't have
a crush on these men. Let's be very sad here. Um,
justin Timberlake, big time. Justin Timberlake. Um Grant Hill, Yeah,
I oh my gosh, I love it. Yeah, I love
me some grant hill too, hidden hidden talent, hidden talent.
This is weird. But I don't even know if I'm
(46:24):
allowed to call it talent because you're gonna be like proven.
But I know area codes very weirdly. Like if I
see an area code, I'm like, I'm three or five Miami,
Like I know, how could you not like ask me? Yeah?
But I like no random area codes? Um, I'm double
jointed as well? Those are two? Yeah, yeah, that is
(46:45):
so funny that you know, Eric, I don't know anything.
I'm like, who's calling? Not answering? Yeah, I mean I
still don't answer, but I know, but I'm like, I
know what city they're calling. Yeah. Least organized part of
your life, um, least organized part of my life is
easily my bedroom. It's it's a messy mess right now.
(47:07):
I don't keep it that way. I'm actually generally very
neat and like my brain is my mind is like
scrambled eggs right now because my bedroom's messy. I'm not
even in my bedroom, but I'm just thinking about how
messy it is right now, and I'm like, oh, because
I've been traveling a lot. The suitcase is like open
with clothes from when I came back from London two
weeks ago. Laundry gotta get done, Bed's not made. It's
(47:30):
been a hectic it's been a hectic few weeks. What's
the most organized part of your life. Most organized part
of my life, I would say is all my cabinets
because I had a closet organizers, and cabinet organizers come
to do my home easily. Thank you, Thank you to them. Yeah,
you're like and thank you all right. Last question? What
(47:53):
is a product that most people like? An item that
people will be shocked that you carry with you all
the time. I don't know if they'd be shocked, but
Bliss Decks I can't like, like the actual brand, the
blue pot of Blists. I cannot leave without it. Like
even if I don't carry a purse, I'm putting it
in my pocket to like go run an errand I
(48:14):
cannot leave home without it. I cannot. I'm like, it's
like I'm not addicted to it. Let me be very
clear here, but I just am like I need it
at all times, just all me and I know like
I need and I'm scratching my neck as I say this.
But not addicted, not addicted, um, but yeah that I
think that's that's all me at all times. Keep that
(48:35):
thing on me. Yeah, I love it. It's like for me,
that is that's very nostalgic blistecks. I feel like the
upgradest Aquafor, Like I carry Aquafor with me all the time.
I'm putting everywhere. I like, put it in my nose,
like well like when the nose gets sold, I just
like I put it on my face. I think it's
like moisturizer. So I lock it up and I'm real
shiny on camera for no reason, like people are like, Okay,
(48:56):
I feel like Aquafor. I'm like I need that tingle
from the bliss sex that menthol give me that mental tangle,
and it's not an addiction. I love that for all Right,
let's roll it to the third quarter. I gotta say, um,
and my producers on this show, they were like, you
should leave with this, but I saved it for the
third quarter. We're gonna talk about a little bit about basketball. Um,
you were recently on Jimmy Fallon and you were talking
(49:16):
about how you upright citizens bregade right like they have
a little team or like a very highly coveted team
to be a part of and finally a slot opens
up and they're just like they reached out and they
were like, we want you and we want you to
be on the team. With the fact that you had
no basketball experience, girl, or very little, tell us about
(49:38):
it because I you know what it in my front yard.
I don't yeah, no, you know what it is is
because I think and I don't know, to be honest,
how many times you shared this story. But for me,
like hearing this again when when my producers pulled a
clip but I'd seen it already, It just it goes
back to what you said earlier, is that folks always
think sometimes that you have it all together, like you know,
you're just like, well, what are my options here? You
(50:00):
have it all together, You're well put together, you are prepared,
you're working under pressure, but you always show up to perform.
And so in my mind, this stuff, this story actually
does provide some context to the you like you came
prepared ready to you didn't even say no, like no,
I'm good, you know, because I put my hand up.
I thought I would be good at basketball because I'm black.
(50:20):
I literally was like, I'm a little tall and I'm
black and I had a basketball hoop in my front
like my driveway growing up. Then my brothers played with
and I'd go out there and shoot from time to time.
Never played a game in my life, didn't know what
the rules were. I knew, I know you check a
ball when you're playing, but I'm not on a plane.
I don't do exactly, but I'm like, I do not know.
(50:42):
I put my hand up because it was like all
the comedy girls. It's a basketball league in LA. It
still exists, and it was like all the comedy girls
at the time we're doing it. There was like the
Pistol Shrimps was a very popular team. I feel like
GQ did a spread on them. But like anyway, it
was a whole thing, and I was like, oh, that
would be fun, be good, good to have another hobby
(51:02):
outside of comedy because at this point it's becoming work.
I'm enjoying the hell out of it. But it's like,
let's get some some other hobby on the docket. And
everyone's doing this, and it would be good for fitness.
I'm not working out at the time, and I'm like, great,
I think I can do that, Like these are comedy girls.
But I didn't know these comedy girls all played like
basketball in high school or basketball in college, or like
(51:23):
they were on a wreck team growing up, and I'm like,
I've never played. I didn't realize how little I knew
about the sport until I got out on the court
first game and I was like, I what have what
have I done? And like this is they have found
my weak spot. So for any of the girls who
thought I was all put together and had it figured out,
(51:43):
and like what is a go not good at? People
say that to me, like what are you not good at?
And I'm like basketball, I'm not good at basketball, And
I mean the list goes on, but let's start there. Yeah, no,
is that is hilarious because that's someone who you know
as a Pelton instructor. And I'm very much athletically built.
So anytime there are fun games, like you go on
vacation with your friends and everybody wants to play a
game of volleyball or like, yeah, let's go play some tennis,
(52:04):
like you have everybody who loves to work out on
vacation and I'm always like I'm good. Yeah. They always like, well, Ali,
you can be on my team, and I'm just like
just because I look like I can play anything. My
hand eyeball coordination isn't grow. So I just like I
just look like I can play. I can't play like
I just I'm I remember meeting Patrick Mortaglu, who used
(52:26):
to be Serena Williams's coach, okay, and we we did
a little session at the US Open, which I actually
think this is the first time you and I met,
you know, yes, we did meet at the US Open. Yeah,
and then my husband made that joke what are you
here for tennis? And you laughed politely, which she still
says and I still I am mad at you for laughing,
and even now anyways, I'm sorry. You know, you just
(52:48):
got it you It's it's it's sweet that people try.
I like that people try. And they met for ages
because you laughed once. How rude are you? Thank you
for putting I got a big dad jokes energy as
it is. I was with Patrick mortagu and we were
doing a tennis less than and we're doing a recording
(53:09):
of it and he's like, you're going to be great,
and I'm like, again, you're judging on how I look.
Sometimes people judge you for a favor because I do
not judge a book by its cover. Don't you have
no idea what's going on with that book? Okay? No,
I told him, I said, I said, you've obviously met
the best tennis player in the world because you trained
Serena Williams. But have you met the best worst tennis
player in the world. No, well, now you have. I
(53:30):
am really that bad at tennis. I've I've played tennis
one time. I tried, Like so growing up, my aunt
would take me and my siblings to play tennis. But
I was like so young that I was just like
tagging along. I feel like I was like five years old,
six years old, and I was just tagging along. And
they'd played tennis. My family like tennis. One of my
(53:51):
cousins played tennis in college. Actually, if three of them
played tennis in college, all the siblings and like went
to college for free because of that. And End is
a tennis instructor now, so I'm like, it's in the
bones blood somewhere. But no, that's also not how it works. Ago,
because the one time I played tennis with a friend
in La years ago, I was like, oh, this is
really hard. This is just even to hit. It's hard.
(54:15):
I was like, this is hard and I'm bad at
it and my hand eye coordination is garbage. So yeah,
if tennis and baseball had a sport, they married together
tennis in baseball and it was like, you know, Basin,
I would win because I can hit that ball really
really fall with that racket. Okay, that's to see. That's
the thing. It's like a baseball bat. I'm like, I'm
(54:36):
a little bit better, Like I can get in a
groove with like softball, I like I can get an
a groove. I do know the rules of that, but
I don't watch or play like so anyway, Yeah, in
the start order, I do want to talk about on SNL,
have you had any moments, like what are the best
comedic moments when it came to athletes, Like just like
when you just like wow, I didn't think the athlete
(54:57):
would be that funny, but I mean we were. You
haven't had too many on S and EL since I've
been there because of the like athletic schedule frankly, and
it coincides with ours, like athletes have the same schedule
we do basically. But Travis Kelsey just hosted JJ Watt
hosted a few years ago. It's fun to see like
how goofy they're willing to be. That's actually what's nice
(55:19):
is like I'm so impressed with anybody who comes up
there and host and who's doing something that is so
outside of their comfort zone and is like willing to
make themselves look an ass. Like Travis at Table Read
got up at one point and was really trying to
sell this sketch that actually wasn't necessarily doing that great
up until that point, and it was like he got
up and it was like he's like, I'm committed. And
(55:40):
I just loved seeing that because I feel like when
people are doing sketch and they're hosting our show, it's
so nerve racking. Of course, it's it's so outside of
a lot of these people's comfort zones. But like to
see him like overcommit and like it's not even overcommit,
it's like just committing the way we would. I was like,
this is amazing, He's gonna have a great show and
then did. But like, h that's that's always fun because
(56:03):
I'm like, how shy are you gonna be? Sometimes people
are timid with it because they're like I don't want
to embarrass myself in front of these professionals or like
this is so far outside of anything that I do,
but I love to see like an athlete come and
lean in and like I don't know what the hell
I'm doing, but like I'm doing it. So that's always fun.
It normally works like this, right you You you go ahead,
(56:24):
y'all write it out. You come to table reads, and
then you pre take the show in a sense of
like get a temperature of the timing and some of
the sketches, and then y'all will nix some of the
sketches that won't make it into the Lives show. Right Well, no,
I mean we do a table read with like forty sketches.
We read through forty sketches. That's always. That always blows
people's mind when we do that, by the way, because
(56:45):
they're like, I'm sorry, you read forty sketches and it's
like a table read. It's like five hours long, or
it's like four hours long or something. It's very long,
but I'm anyway, We do that and then sketches are
chosen for the show. Some of those sketches are pre
tape sketches, and you can tell which ones are pre
taped and not happening in the studio, and then some
of them are gonna be live sketches. We rehearse all
(57:09):
those pieces, We rewrite the pieces, punch them up throughout
the week up until these sketches are getting punched up
up until they go to air, honestly, so like things
are always changing. That's when people are like, you guys
need to memorize sketches enough with the Q cards. I'm like,
you need to understand these sketches aren't changing up, Like,
let me make that clear up until the minute they
go live, like they are changing. Somebody might come up
(57:31):
to you like four minutes before your sketch goes and
it's like we cut this whole part out or we
added this line for you, or we change this line
to that. So we need the Q cards and so
shout out to our qute card team. But like we
do the live sketches, and then we do that for
a dress rehearsal audience, I think earlier in the evening
before the show, and be based on how those sketches
(57:52):
do it that show. Things can get cut. Sometimes something
that goes really great at dress rehearsal gets cut because
like the host doesn't want to do it or conflicts
with something else. Um, so like the show is then
decided after dress rehearsal, Like this sketch is gonna go away,
this sketch is gonna go earlier in the show. This
one's now going later in the show. So um we
we we use our dress rehearsal audience is like the
(58:13):
first time anybody from the outside world that's not us
is seeing stuff. So that's we love them, thank you
for coming to dress rehearsal. The reason I knew, the
only reason I know this is there's been a couple
of times back in the day when I was in college,
that I put a dancer on S and L. So
they'd have some dancers like backup dancers, Yes, and we
would have to be there all Like used to get
(58:34):
there early in the evening, but then you're there all
night because yes, you do that, and then you're waiting
in the back and you're you're the thing that you're in.
Your sketches that you're in could get cut and then
you get to go home, but then your friend gets
to say and then their parents get to see them
on US and L. And that's but every time I've
done a couple. Yeah, I've done it a couple of times,
and each time I made it on and it was
one of those things where a couple of my friends
(58:55):
there's the sketches got cut and I'm like, I'm so sorry.
So my mom is saying so late and you know
you forget that. Yeah, yeah, I forget that, like even
as like it's so fascinating because we has cast our
dealing with that where we're like, we put so much
into this piece. We've poured our hearts and our souls
and all of our comedic juices and creative talent into
(59:16):
this for the week and oh no it got cut
and like how that makes us feel? But I haven't
thought about like the extras that appear in our sketches
or the dancers that appear in our sketches, and like, oh,
they're having that same experience, like a parallel experience of like,
oh I was look so looking forward to this and
I I told people to look out for me. Yeah. Yeah,
it's it's so crazy, it's so cutthroat, but truly makes
(59:38):
you resilient. I would say, look at that. I just
hope it makes me feel bad before we go into
the fourth quarter. What was your favorite guests. I know
this is oftentimes something you probably get asked, but sincerely
in terms of maybe it's like an unexpected favorite guess um.
I've said many times Harry's style is really surprised, I
(59:58):
think all of us with his ring change and all
the choices he made, Like just seeing a host make
choices is so refreshing at our table read frankly, like
that's I feel like, you know, the show does such
a good job of making all of our hosts look good,
and that's our goal as the cast to support you
as a host, like to make you look good and
make you shine in the ways that you are so talented.
(01:00:19):
What's so fascinating is table read to see a host
at table read, so that's before we've sort of figured out,
like really what you are good at and what the
show is even going to be. And so to see
like Harry at our table Read made such like strong,
bold choices that were just fascinating and they were big
swings and it was refreshing because I know for a
host it can again feel so intimidating in the in
(01:00:40):
our company or if they haven't done this show before,
this process before to feel like Okay, I'm just going
to go through the motions here, but like seeing him
make such big choices was really refreshing and like surprising
because I don't think any of us expected that but
from a host at all, let alone someone who doesn't
do what we do. So yeah, pretty amazing. I love
(01:01:01):
it all Right, fourth quarter? Last thing I know we're
talking about, and most people will ask you, well, what's
the next It's kind of like what is what is
now looking like? And I know you said you had
from your Variety speech something like the three week stench,
which is like you're going you're doing the show so
back to back, so your schedule's jampack, you're traveling a lot.
But in terms of things that you are currently working on,
and you always, like what you said before, is you
(01:01:22):
like to feel proud of the work that you're doing,
so it doesn't have to necessarily be attached to s
now because I'm sure you're proud of that. What does
your now look like? Well, right now, I would say
I am in a transition period, but it's really beautiful
because I get to I'm spending a lot of time
just kind of rearticulating and reorganizing my goals and for
(01:01:44):
myself and making it a point to just really be
present for all of this. Frankly, like I've had these
conversations lately with like old cast members, older or alumni
of the show and including Jimmy whose show I just
appeared on, or they're like this has been playing in
my head a bit lately that like this all it
flies by and then you miss it so much, and
(01:02:05):
so and because again SNL is so challenging, and this
is for us as cast members. It is so cutthroat.
It's not totally a merit meritocracy, excuse me, and so,
like you know, there are things to be frustrated about.
There are times when you're feeling so celebratory on it
such a high, and there's times when you're feeling very low.
And so I am trying to do a work of
(01:02:26):
like being really present and enjoying all of it for
what it is right now, because this is like the
only time I'm ever going to be a cast member
on SNL, the only time I'm going to be this age,
living in this apartment in New York City, and so
I'm like trying to just like be present. That's like
what now looks for now. What now looks like for
me is just being present and trying to find the
(01:02:49):
joy and the gratitude in where I am right now. Frankly,
because it's so easy for me to be like, yeah,
what is next and what are we building? And how
are we are we effectively building? In are we building
it fast enough? But now I'm just like, this is
beautiful right now, and like, savor these moments, cherish these moments.
Try to remember as much of this as you can,
document it as much as big as you can be
(01:03:10):
it in my journal or photographically, and yeah, and just
be president, be grateful. I love that. Well. Thank you
so much for coming on quartside conversation and taking a
quartside and sharing your story. I know that a lot
of our listeners really do appreciate the insight because we
always see the small aperture of so many folks on
the big stream, whether it's the pitch to court, the field,
(01:03:31):
the TV like streaming platforms, and it's always a question
of why and how. So the fact that you were
able to share the why and the how, we really
appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me Ali,
This was so lovely to talk to you. Thank you yes.
Of course, everyone at GOO voting and she just nailed
it because she's amazing. I will see you all later
for our next guest, who's going to take a quartside
the quartside conversation. Until then, I'm Ali one