January 22, 2020 • 65 mins
Saturday Night Live’s Cecily Strong chats with the team about ketchup on hot dogs, other city food trends, why the SNL house band probably hates Questlove, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quesce Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
And then there were three Smick Suprema Cam, Suprema road Call,
Suprema Suprema roll Call, Suprema road Call. Cecily's a rye yeah,
(00:26):
and she'd be strong. Yeah, Oh my god, I just
messed up my own road call Suprema Sma. That's how
it is. Suprema, Suprema role call. My name is Sugar,
been waiting so long? Yeah, to profess my love for yeah,
(00:46):
Cecily gon Zigazar, Suprema, Suprema road Call, Supreme Cut, Suprema
roll call. Yeah with Cecily. Yeah, damn, that's up too.
I'm gonna say horny to you. Day subm sumroll. Well,
(01:12):
I'm cessling. Yeah, I feel kind of damn. Yeah. I
hope I don't ruin this show. Before it, Steven began
a minute stop should we know we stop stop stop? Yeah,
(01:35):
or muted. We just got murdered on our own. This
is some naj jay z ship where like Emin murdered
us on our I said, Zazar, you kind of fumbled,
all right, can you pronounce it fully? Did my name
or name? Oh? I thought you were referencing a middle
(01:58):
name or something cess Zia's are if I'm pronouncing correct,
I don't know your middle Oh it's not that. Okay,
that's not her, she wrote. Cecily von Zasar wrote the
novels that became gossip Girl. Right, Wait, how do you
know that, Steve? I looked up famous Cecily's to try
and get some ideas. Really your okay, did you know
(02:19):
this before? He references? Did this take you by surprise
as well? No? I mean it took I forgot. There's
a there's a couple of Cessili's. Yeah, there's not that
many in history, to be honest with you, grandfather with
cecil that's why Obsessily and yeah, Sisily, I don't know Cecily. Well, yeah,
this is a sad load for us, someone, Supreme, because
(02:42):
messing up our our theme is such a rarity. I'm
just saying, you know it. You feel very comfortable. I
will say, I feel it. Feel at home. You did awesome? Okay,
Well I'll give you that point advantage, Steve. I thought
you'd get out of this. We messed up, and gentlemen,
welcome to another edition of Anemic Supreme, brought to you
(03:05):
by the only one, uh quest love where at I
heart radio streaming on all four mats that you get
your podcast goodies. Uh, we have light yah in the house,
and we have sugar. Steve Um shout out to unpaid
Bill and Fontikolos out getting cigarettes steel he said he
returned one day. Uh, yeah, we're waiting and Boss Bill
(03:28):
were like three, Oh, boss Bill, that's right, we have
half a six pack. Yeah. So what rules can we
break now that we could eat? We could do I can't.
I'm supposed to be in char so I gotta joke
some order. So no, guys, we're sticking by the rules.
We talked to ceely and we don't go into the
back of my breakfast right now, Like, well, no one
knew you got some little bird seed. That's good. It's
(03:51):
good anyway, ladies and gentlemen, our guesterday. I'm very very
honored to have uh what I when I when I
mentioned my play of employment, I refer to it as
thirty Rock University. I consider it a college, a post
grad school. I consider it life lessons and it's always
(04:13):
an honor to pick the brain of fellow thirty Rock
thirty rockyans, especially uh those that are in the upper
echelon of the eighth floor of the institution otherwise known
as Saturday Night Live. Um, I will say, in the
last eight years, our guest today has given me some
of my favorite moments on the show. Ever, I try
(04:37):
not to stalk her. G MS with were praise over
that night's performance. But I'm a nerd. That's always like
somewhere in the audience judging every show. Um, your characters alone,
I mean your story, Stormy Daniels, your Milannia Trump, your
Lynden Manuel was That's why I'm really mad that freaking
(04:57):
Bill is not here Bills as a fellow ammal tonight. Anyway,
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the original Cecily Strong here. Yes,
we're very happy. How are you today? I'm cold. It's
called this weather is bad. Um, it is hell, especially
(05:18):
where we work. Getting to work. Are you American Gladiator
around this time of year? Like trying to get into
that building? It is. Yeah, it's the hardest thing in
the world. I try there firing as you know how
they did that on American Gladiator. Yes, I know, how
very familiar. Do you Are you a subway to work person?
(05:39):
Are you a walk to work? Walk? To work. Let's say,
oh god, you you oh you followed the rules. Wow. Okay,
So when I first started working here, I naturally thought, okay,
I'll moved to Brooklyn or whatever. My management is like, nah,
if it was up to them, like Steve wants to joke, like,
they want you to live at thirty one Rocket Fell
(06:00):
as a just you know, just in case, because it's
almost like being on call to be a doctor or whatever,
like you have to immediately and just as important. Yeah,
it's no, well it is actually usly. Yeah what you do?
I mean you too, But I was just saying that
what she does like the institution, So yeah, it is.
(06:22):
I feel like an on call doctor like you pretty much.
If they call you, you have to be with there
within like a half hour for anything. I don't know
if it's that way all year around for you though,
I mean once the seasons. Oh yeah no, then I
they are not allowed. You have something about a break.
Yeah you have two phones then yeah, yeah, yeah, they
don't get the other shout out to two phones. So
(06:45):
I told you, okay, but I do have a burner number.
That's kind of exciting. Oh my god, you're like a
character on the wire. Yeah, no, it's on my phone.
But it's because I use so many apps like drink thing.
I don't like time out. Okay, so I'm about to
reveal my age. You're telling me that I can get
(07:08):
a Burner number and still on my phone absolute for
free and have two numbers on this phone. Yeah, I
know you could do that. Is that like the Google
phone number thing you're saying, No, it's similar, but it's
its own app, and you can just like tender date
goes good, then you can give your real number real exactly.
And if it doesn't, it's great not having to give
(07:29):
out your real number. Yeah, we'll see. Now's the point.
My burner, my fake phone was, my bad phone was
once the coveted phone, and then for some reason now
I've given everybody my bad number. So my real number like,
no one calls that anymore. So I dubbed that mom
(07:50):
phone number. It's if we learned quick like answering this,
Yeah you know, I don't. Yeah, that's mom phone. Only
talked to my mother on that phone. Okay, So what
got you here? Where were you born? I was born
(08:11):
in Springfield, Illinois. Okay, so too Outsiders of the Midwest US,
East Coasters. In our minds, it's either Chicago or not Chicago, right,
So it's definitely not Chicago. Chicago. It's very not Chicago.
I mean only was there for a year and a half,
(08:31):
so I can't say I remember much of Springfield. It's
the capital of Illinois. Well, pretty exciting where the Simpsons live.
And I actually I I saw that's a I think
that's where Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his VP
in two thousand and you were there to see it,
you know it three and a half hours? I see?
(08:54):
And Abraham Lincoln Yeah, roll gossip girl. I looked up
famous Abraham's So, uh, you only live there a year
and a half and then right outside of Chicago Park.
Are you okay anybody that's did you say Simpsons didn't? Yeah,
because so that's why springfood. Well no, that was just
(09:19):
a weird coincidence. Um. So yeah, there's two questions about Chicago.
One or as as a resident. Are you sort of
dismayed at the sort of hashtag what about Chicago staying
that's on the city right now, or at least the
kind of the the cloud that looms over the idea
(09:43):
of Chicago, Like what is your version of Chicago. It's
weird because I when I mean I grew up, I
did a lot of theater in Chicago as a kid, uh,
and then I was my dad worked um in pr
in Chicago and did a lot for the Democratic Party. Again,
when I think of Chicago, it's all like Obama for
(10:06):
me because that's the years I was there. Um. I
think it's always um. And I have a good friend,
my little sister, my fake little sister from the South Side,
so of course her experience was very different than mine
growing up. But I think, UM, wait a minute, I'm sorry.
I just we have to acknowledge, like I only felt
like black people have like play cousins and family unless
(10:29):
it in the program. She an official little sister. No okay,
then yeah, okay cousins. No. You know what it was
like I met her. I just I lost a friend,
uh to a drug overdose, and she lost her older brother, uh,
which is part of Chicago too, And it was kind
(10:51):
of like we had like the universe gave y'all just
made us to each other. She's coming this weekend. College
young is she She's a she feels like she's like
fifteen years hangers sometimes, but she's about five years younger,
so you're mother. Well I'm an older I'm not motherlyer,
(11:13):
never designated driver, just older sister. Okay, I see. Um. Actually,
what I want to know. I don't think we've interviewed
anyone in the comedy world from Chicago on this show.
I don't think we have. Um what is it? Why
is something to do with mustard and catchup and how
(11:34):
it talks? No, that's that's the letter. I want to
know why catchup is not allowed? When you know I
don't even eat hot dogs or red meat. Time. That
not the one to ask, but I do know you don't.
You're not supposed to mustard, only mustard and whatever. What
is it? I've heard some I've heard some talk, and
(11:56):
I believe that this goes back to the Hindes family
from nearby Pittsburgh sort of having a beef with the
what's the billionaire family from Chicago? The pizza Yeah, yeah,
I'm hearing that the beef starts there. So do you
order must the two? Well maybe even it was like okay, well,
(12:22):
I don't want to be the person like spread false propaganda.
What I do know is that, um, you get laughed
out of any establishment. If I think it's just like
Chicago has a couple of things they just like to
be stubborn about. I think were your pizza sucks, not you.
But I'm just saying you don't like Chicago pizza after
I mean, it's going to kill you. Some research. Most
(12:44):
have food there will kill cheese steaks will kill us too.
So let's let you know. There's I will say, it's
my favorite city to eat. Some of the best restaurants
I've ever even just like a small, like little Greek
restaurant A little time. It's all so good. I've been okay.
So as of this taping, for some reason, I've been
booked in Chicago every weekend for the last five weekends. Um,
(13:09):
great time to be there. Gorgeous weather, No, actually, no,
weird enough the last time you're jinxing yourself. Now, I
will say, you're gonna be stuck there. I will. I
will say that both times in the winter it was
like fifty nine degrees. For some reason, I came dressed
for like, all right, where's it at, where's that? Where's
(13:29):
the cool? Where's the cold? And I was sweating like
it was it was spring weather. I mean I probably unpredictable. Yeah,
but it's the worst winters. Oh, I have like I
have like nightmares about it. I thinking about it. I know,
we we know, but I will say that I tried. Okay,
(13:50):
they told me not to call it the illuminati. Iluminati okay,
but there has there has to be a connection into
the Illuminati. Is that a food? All pizza? And I
will say, I know William mal Naughty. He has a
podcast now he's in New York about pizza. No, no,
(14:12):
it's this entertainment. But he is a mal Naughty And
I did a show with him when I was twelve
or thirteen at the good Man and it was during
the summer, so Taste of Chicago was going on it.
We got free pizza. Yeah, it's it's it's my favorite.
Lumina is my favorite. I will have to say I
was really impressed with that pizza. You can you can
get it shipped. Yeah, I don't want to do that
(14:35):
though I know that I don't want to. It's like
I have an addiction to pizza, so I have to
stay away. So how do you feel about New York pizza?
I mean I pretty much like a pizza. No, you
can't do that. I do. Have you taking a pizza
tour of New York. No, I will say, you know what,
(14:55):
I did have pizza I didn't like here, and I
I don't want to say where it's from because I
don't want to did not raise or is it an
established people shipped on in Williamsburg Um Grimaldi's I love it.
You're looking at me well because the show so nemic.
Now there's only two people left. Don't leave Manhattan. I've
(15:19):
been to Brooklyn three times. I mean, there's plenty of
shitty pizza in New York, but there's um. But it's
not like every slice you get is going to be
like New York see. For me, though, it's it's like
as far as the Korean Food Fair, Chinatown, even soul
(15:42):
food Jamaican spots in Brooklyn. I've I've I've slowed up.
I've kind of well, I've just discovered that Queens is
like I'm I might have to do my next book
strictly on restaurants and Queens. Like some of the best
restaurants in New York are those family restaurants? Yes, and Queens.
(16:03):
You gotta you gotta venture out the city. See, I
have a car I don't know. Yeah, you don't have
a vehicle right now. See yeah, if you just what
you said car anyway, I got you off track. You
were gonna say, I was gonna say about community, but
(16:27):
we often rabit hole on this ship. Um no, let's
go back to Queen anyway. You need a car to
explore the city, for I have such bad anxiety I could,
I would, I could never drive in this city. Really well,
this is the hardes city of driving in the country. Yeah. Always,
(16:47):
if you learn to drive in New York, you can
drive anywhere. I feel I can drive anywhere. Now they
have the rickshaws now to really expensive. You're like, I can't.
I don't. I will never feel okay about a person
acting like a horse to me. It just makes it
(17:09):
feels like I would the whole time might be apologize
saying I'd be asking if I could help. It would
just make me let me enterge all right, So lay
is clowning me about my swinky car towards because coats,
which in Philadelphia would never let my friends see me
(17:29):
in such a swinky, swinky car. So I'd like my
very first scion to beat up. Sign o God, I
will never you never give up your first car, like
I'm keeping that ship forever. I love that car. Um. However, yes,
I have a swink alacious car in New York because
I got to get around and go to point in
point B. The reason why I got that swinky car
(17:50):
was because I learned the hard way. And this is
pre uber how cabs really won't stop for people of color.
And I was rushing to Penn Station and a poor
rickshaw guy had to take me. And this is when
I was like four hundred pounds, so that was two
hundred pounds ago. People, I'm there, I'm almost there. I
(18:12):
got six pounds, all right, so yeah, four in Japan,
me and two big giant Kipling luggage bags. And the
poor kid, I was like, are you going to make
it the Penn station in an hour? I got this
and cut to like like he was, and the thing
was on my Twitter timeline, literally on my Twitter timeline.
(18:35):
There was like the narrative of the story, Like, guys,
I could have sworn. I just saw questions inside of
a bicycle rickshaw on Fifth Avenue. It looked like him. Yo, dude,
I'm on forty second stree. I just saw yo, dog,
I'm on thirty I think, you know, the poor guy
like listen, I missed the train, so it took him
(18:56):
that long to haul like five hundred pounds were the Yeah,
I am, I'm addicted to over tipping. That's that's one
of my And that's not even a humble bread like
one of those people that gets into those like you
know the pretty woman that watch costs two thousand dollars.
(19:19):
Oh yeah, I like I'm one of them people that
will like defy you, like I have money that that
sort of thing. You know. Sound engineers except tips, by
the way, that's what Derek said behind you. That's what
Stevens are. A sound engineer at thirty Rock anyway. So
why is Chicago the who dubbed it the or who
(19:46):
christened it as the comedy Epicenter? Like, why does one
have to go to Chicago? Yeah, I think it's just
so I think, well, there's a lot of theater in Chicago. Um,
it's cheaper than New York and LA to live. Yeah,
it's like all probably, Oh, my apartment cheaper is cheaper. Well,
(20:10):
I was living in It was a weird little artist studio,
but it was and this was a lot of money
for me, but it was like six hundred dollars a month.
My rent year that was two thousand. Williamsburg of Chicago. Hey, no,
this is old town. Wow, I don't know the section,
so like what would the town be here? So that's uh,
(20:30):
I would never know. That's the first second city. But
it was like a nice neighborhood. And my first apartment
it was a two bedroom. It was bit and it
was like we paid seven dollars. I had a roommate. Yeah,
so we each paid a second with your friends. I'm curious,
what if it's gone up? That's interesting. I mean, I'm
sure it's it's been a while, but yeah, um so
(20:59):
do you what was your childhood like, like, what was
your come to Jesus moment with flirting with comic because
I don't like when do people finally admit, like, I'm fun,
I want to be in comedy. Was it that you
wanted to be an actress? Yeah? I was. I did
(21:20):
a lot of like straight theater growing up, and I
did a lot in Chicago. I did my first, uh,
professional show and they were all like dramatic musicals growing up,
and then I went to college. It wasn't until college
I went to cal Arts tonight a teacher I was
doing a scene from Angels in America because when I
(21:40):
was eighteen, everybody wanted to do Angels. Um, and people
were laughing. It's like I'm being dramatic right now. Uh.
And then the teacher suggests that I take a class
at the Groundlings, and that was like I'd always I mean,
I thought I was funny, but I was also like,
but I'm a serious actor. That's what it is. You
really wanted to be serious instead? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, well
(22:03):
I think even now that's how I started. I think,
like a lot of comedy is just human beings feeling
anything can be funny. That reminds me um speaking of
And I didn't realize this until maybe a week and
a half ago that Will Farrell and Kristen Wigg actually
did a lifetime movie. Yes seriously, like they did it,
(22:26):
remember this, They did it seriously, but as a tongue
in chief thing to be funny, really smart. Yeah, yeah,
I love it. Yeah, I mean they're both are they
alumni from No? No, they're Groundlings there between Groundlings and
Second City Bloods, and they got both, so of course
(22:46):
I will say a like Groundlings is very character based uh,
and Chicago there's like, you know, so break it down
to people because somebody, I feel like I'm the worst
to break it down. So this will be very simplified.
Probably comedy nerds yell at me, but so l A groundlings,
it's all very character e uh. And then New York
(23:09):
improv is very like fast. Um, it's closer to like
what I would think of as like when you hear
British comedy, English comedy, you know. And then Chicago does
weird you do like the you know, we do slower
arts FARTSI sometimes, um, but but I would say like
(23:30):
improv is more Chicago, and sketch should be more l A.
And it feels like when you're doing it in l A,
you're doing it to get a part TV jobs. Yeah.
So is that was there an end game for you
and entering second city or pretty much people know that
the road that leads to S and L. I would
never have ever said that, um, because I just don't
(23:55):
like to set myself up to be let down. I
like to set the bar very low. But I uh,
I was just like, you know, if if this is
what my life, if I get to do, like some shows,
every now and then and um that Second City and
I out if this is like where the top that
I get, I'd be happy. So what is the process?
(24:15):
I'm only asking because of God? How do I say this? Okay?
So I once okay, So I once stated uh a
comedian okay, and uh I felt see I have. It
was miserable. I have. I have a I have a
(24:37):
relationship with failure, not as an f wort, but as
a learning experience. And I feel like, in your years
of comedy, it's almost like if you stay in your
comfort zone and only perform for your friends are like
this one bar, yeah, You're not going to grow. And
I kind of had to tell her, like you have
to go, like stop going to your normal well you
(25:01):
know your peeps are, and go to other spots to
see if it works there as well. And it was
kind of hard hitted about it. And then it really
got a life lesson. So she went to Second City
and her experimental spot. You know, she left and went
(25:21):
to Second City. And I guess under the hopes of
I'm ready, so I know I'm gonna go to Second
City and then in three years, I too can be
Tina faith Like that's what you think or and maybe
she's like, oh, you can stay like that, you can
just chill, and yeah people do because I mean after while,
(25:45):
you get paid for shows. So yeah, I guess that's
your life now. Yeah, And what I want to know
is that when people come, first of all, what is
the process of Second City? Is it a school? Is it?
Just like most people they say they're they've done Second City,
it's not that they've been on a stage. It's that
they've taken as there or done their own shows. There
(26:08):
there's a there's two main theaters. I mean it could
be totally different now. Uh. And I was on a
touring company for a while and I did a cruise
ship for four months but no region. Um so a
Second City cruise ship. That was my first job with this.
It was very exciting. But then well then it's like
(26:28):
you're on this ship for four months, you're just like
I was never on land at nighttime, which sounds crazy
to say, but I really was like I just want
to have a night on ground. Um. But it was
so it's like by two months and it I was like,
I can't tell if it's a prisoner vacation. Uh. And
(26:50):
you're doing like very wantered down sketch comedy for it
was well, we ported in New York. Was billed as
the Second City players or yeah yeah, yeah, I don't
think they have the contract anymore, but um it was
like the first job most people do at that Second City.
(27:11):
So that's the entry level. Yeah yeah. Were there any
other notable So I was on the ship with Alex Moffatt,
who's yeah his uh Trump's son. Yeah, yeah, Eric, that's
my all time favorite, like even when like I'll rewatch
his facial expressions. Well, everyone, it's some of the best
(27:35):
should have ever seen. Yeah, okay, and so, uh how
long was it until I'm assuming either Higgins or someone
discovers you and I got hired through I Oh. So
there's a couple of theaters, uh in prov Olympic, but
(27:58):
they have to be called it was like lawsuitor, you
have to say, I oh yeah, but it was I
oh where I got my I did my showcase for
Lauren and some of the writers. M Oh, so you
didn't have to go through the audition process that no, no,
I did, but it just was there, like they go
(28:18):
to different theaters, not because it's Second City. It's only
the people that are on the stages that will be
seen by uh SNL. So wait, this is I'm sorry,
I'm actually like a five year old. So this is
a special show that y'all will do because you know
that they're coming. Yeah, and they do it, uh in
every in l A. I think at different theaters they'll
(28:39):
just be showcases pretty much, and I'll be showcases for
SNL or just people or yeah, yeah for SNL. But
is it with other people in the audience? Are just
the seven of them in the audience? Oh? No? Other people? Okay? Yeah.
My family was there and I thought I bombed because
they were so they were so nervous because they were
(29:00):
sitting near and Lauren and there, so their faces were
just like they were like ghosts. Was like, wow, that bad?
Huh did you remember what you did? You remember your Uh?
I did like a lady from the cruise ship. I
did her trying to bring a pineapple on the boat
or something. I think I did Sophia Vergara. Nothing great,
(29:24):
I don't know it was and I had never done
like I wasn't an impressionist really, but it was a
gain like, oh, I'm going to do something that scares
me and just kind of try this out, and I
took a workshop on solo characters. I would imagine that
probably the best way to get on the show is
(29:46):
to be moldible to be anything, you know what I mean.
Like it's instead of like, okay, I do a very
specific uh Donald Trump, and then like what happens four
years if that's out? Like, but you can be mouldible
to be anything. So I almost feel as though some
(30:06):
people go into the process, like I know people that
have tried to go through the process that um, we're
kind of stuck in a category in a corner, and
they weren't mouldible. Yeah, you because I believe it's malleable.
I left this first two times. The third time, I'm like,
it's malleable. Bro, I just didn't know what he was saying. No, no, no,
(30:28):
I didn't even I wasn't even reaching for malla just
playing around. That's malleable, right, I wasn't reaching for malleable.
Actually it's not a word, okay, sort of like imagine
it's not a word, right, Okay, it's like seventy eight
other words. I hear you say every day that the
spirit of Bill is always here. Here we go malleable.
(30:49):
Thank you. I wasn't even reaching for that, but yes, malleable,
and y'all just go I thought it was a word. Yeah, well,
I appreciate this. This reminds me of the time when
the Roots let me go all day wearing a shirt
backwards and inside out. So when I got home and
(31:10):
went in the mirror, I was like, wait a minute,
oh ship. And then next day I was like, yo,
why the fun you don't tell me my shirt was
backwards and the inside out, And they were like, oh,
we thought multiple is cool. I'll start saying that if
you want me to know, but I will not. I
now know that multible is not a word. Good to
(31:32):
know that the same meaning the multiple and mullible that
the same meaning it's not one is not a word.
So that okay, let's go back to Chicago pizza. So anyways, No, well,
what I'm asking is, uh, I believe correct me if
I'm wrong. Wasn't your first show that Mick Jagger Season Closer?
(31:52):
I remember your entry? Remember No, that was Kate who
did like five episodes of that season, And I think, yeah,
but you did, you did? I could have sworn I
saw you on a season closer, Like I thought it
was weird that I tweeted out, wait, who's this person?
I don't know this person? And then someone said you, uh, well,
(32:17):
you're not a cast member. What is it called a
fat player? But when did you come in into the show?
Was the detail and of a previous show? Was the
start of season thirty two twelve many seasons? Lords, this
is beautiful so in a long time. So okay, so
(32:39):
you didn't have to go through the process of just
being in the room with seven people, and no, I
still had so I we had that showcase and then
we did like a weird speed dating thing in Chicago
where a couple of us from that showcase went to
go sit with the producers and and pretended that was normal.
And then uh then we got flown out a D
(33:01):
and I I sort of got to go through everything
with a D though, which was really nice because I
was going to ask you because Lauren is a very
I don't know him at all. I've been in a
room where he is, and he seems like someone who
is he could be intimidating. Yeah, so when you first met,
because you just said, like, you know what I'm saying,
I did speed dating. Lauren was there, but really, you
(33:22):
weren't intimidating and how No, I definitely was. I couldn't
tell you what I said at that table. I remember
talking about Trader Joe's. That's where I go. Yeah, I'm
not going right now, I mean, are you allowed to Okay?
This is the tester. This is how I know if
a person is cool or not. Now I'm gonna fail.
(33:44):
Are you allowed to have popcorn? His popcorn? Yes? Everyone is? Yeah? Okay,
Well then I'm not everyone. Well, in between the meeting,
in between dress and air, there's a big basket of popcorn, right, yeah, okay,
but that's showtime. But I'm talking about off show hours
(34:07):
in his office or something. He keeps it in off Yes, yeah,
that's important. I mean I'm sure he'd let me just
so he wouldn't have to say no. But I don't
know that i'd go knock on his store and asked
for his popcorn. Okay, I was the type of person.
That's where you went wrong. No, Actually I brought well,
I I purchased three big as bags of popcorn and
(34:31):
brought him in Lawrence. That was my first meeting with Lauren.
You purchased uh, would there was once on Street House
of Popcorn. He didn't charge you for his popcorn, though,
checking just in case he's I brought my own pop No,
I brought it for him because I knew that the
(34:51):
popcorn a big thing. But yeah, I didn't you better
you say it. But that was great. It's a good movie,
a great move. He's the ask to kish Ship, right,
I mean agree in eight years, do you feel comfortable now?
Is there's still tense if he's if you know he's
(35:11):
in proximity watching, uh, and I mean eight years you're
very established. No, yeah, I think you feel established, I get,
I mean yes? And no, who can never you always
feel like a hand on the guilty and button like,
oh no, I don't feel like hell. I guess it's
more about the audience where I'm like, I still don't
know what they find funny if it it's sort of
(35:34):
like it's still I don't know what's gonna work at dress.
So some things work that dress that didn't work on
the show in the opposite yeah yeah, yeah, or things
that like I find very funny that it turns out
it's only me. So how does this? So how does
this work? Because you're you're a writer, So how often
do you do your the things that you right get
(35:55):
to be a part of the show, Like, what's the
percentage of that? Um? If it's usually like if there's
something on update, then it's something I've written. And then
I've gotten a lot to dress this year and not
a lot to air es. Okay, so we get things
cut for time, Okay, okay, okay. I have a question
(36:16):
about the schedule because actually, like he and I sort
of quasi sort of follow the schedule. I'll schedule my
life during SNL season the sort of coincide with what
you guys are doing. So like Steve and I will
like work Saturday afternoons in my studio downstairs in my
dressing room, and usually I'll be done in time to
(36:37):
go watch the tapic. Yeah, so usually our schedule is
pretty multible, but multi that's nice anyway. So, um, I
know that from striking up a friendship with Tim Robinson.
(36:59):
Yeah uh when he was writing on the show, Um,
he explained to us that you guys do what eight
dress or a thirty dress? Eight eight a dress which
is a longer show. Um, y'all are so cute dress
short for dress rehearsal, dress rehearsal. Thank you just for me,
just for you know, yeah, dress rehearsal. You forget. This
(37:26):
is not a normal not your fault with more sketches
in it. And I guess who is the deciding committee
or on who makes it or doesn't make it to
the final show. It's there's a there's a room that
I've only been in once. Uh, and it's the people
in that room, but it's mainly it's Lauren Higgins and crew.
(37:47):
Yeah okay, so is there like the high school? All right?
So what word am I looking for? Where they placed
the zegazar know the high the the high school? Uh?
Will you put the board or there is a bulletin
for it? That's what I was looking for. So or
(38:08):
is it? Now? With technology, you guys just get alerts
of what your schedule is. No, and I wouldn't know
how to get that anyway. There is people have like
an app where they can watch their sketches, and I'm
blown away by that. I'll never get it, Okay, I
just won't know how. I have the burner number and
that's it. So when they put up when the person
puts up the bulletin board notice. Then you all run
(38:33):
like it's high school to see what made it, what
didn't make it? Well, you we all go into it's
called the meeting and we'll get notes and you just
kind of look at it and you try not to
show too much how heartbroken you are when your now
again with failure being the f word or an education process,
(38:58):
how should one and the most non diplomatic way you
can do it without jeopardizing yourself, But like, how should
one take failure as a writer or as as a
person on the show if their sketch doesn't make it
to I mean it always it's funny. Some hurt more
(39:20):
than others. And it's so like embarrassing how much sketch
comedy can be so emotional and Tim and I used
to joke because some things get cut during the show,
you know, there's that we always we usually go in
a little long so you may be dressed just like
a complete asshole, waiting to go your like dressed as
(39:40):
a pumpkin or something, ready to do your sketch about farts,
and then they say over the thing like that's been cut,
and you're just standing there like crying, dressed like a
pumpkin is that because of overdges, okay, over just case
and point. I was think that's a word, by the way,
(40:01):
thank you. I was watching all right, I was watching
a Debbie Downer sketch that obviously went way over. Then
it's a lot of time, but because of the after
and all that stuff to get to the end, somebody
has to get sacrificed. Are sketches based on a specific
(40:22):
time hoping that it doesn't run over or yeah? I mean, um,
usually if you're like in the last or second to
last spot, you're sort of just waiting to hear the
whole night and there won't be time. Like during the
Chance show, Um, there was an issue with the wires
(40:42):
and I just remember I was dangling there for so
long and I was like, something's getting cut for this.
I'm dangling here. I know something's getting cut for this,
which leads me to the Tuesday night pitch. Now, the one,
the thing, the thing that I always and let me
explain for our Listenersyiggins on our show, jimmy sidekick on
our show is one of the main producers of SNL,
(41:06):
So him doing the tonight show sort of like me
doing a DJ gig from the roots, like that's his
side hustle. He doesn't have to do it, but you know,
it's something to do and it keeps the sharp comedy
wise or whatever. Um. However, the thing I always ask about, Higgins,
the thing that I'm most curious about are how sketches
are pitched on Tuesday night to whoever the designated host is.
(41:30):
How do you do it and in such a quickly
executed time? How do you explain a sketch that really
depends on physicality Because that chance sketch that you speak
of is it was really I mean, what made it
hilarious was the fact that you guys were trapped in
(41:50):
mid air and these wires crashing all over the place.
So how is that conveyed at a table well that
they say yes, that to work? They I've never had
to do that. Uh, we have pitched Monday, but usually
that's like you're just meeting the host sort of and
seeing what they find funny or just hearing them speak
(42:14):
or seeing them for the first time in person, and
then we write on Tuesday. And I don't normally talk
to the host on Tuesday because I think then they
may say like, oh, that sounds fun, and what if
I do this and you're kind of like, oh, are
there every day? Yeah, from Monday till yeah, Saturday. Now
(42:35):
we can bring in the time lamps thing. Wait, but
before we will, before we do that, does that mean
that comedian hosts are harder, way harder? Yeah, so then
this weekend would be really hard coming up. Okay, well,
thank you. I don't know. I mean, the thing is
is that Eddie Okay, we're obviously speaking before the you know,
(42:59):
the the Eddie Murphy, the grand return of Eddie Murphy
to SNL, of which I think that because he's such
because he's such a maverick at his job, that he
would know to sort of go along with the climate
(43:22):
of the room as opposed to now. I was there.
I was there during the whole Chappelle hosting situation, and
once I saw Neil Brennan in the hallway, I was like,
oh boy, the media's bring their own Oh my writers,
that's the clusterfuck, you know, it's s I don't sometimes, Yeah,
I think like this week is actually I feel like
(43:44):
I can kind of sit back, um because it'll be
very much about and like, I think that's exciting and
what he wants to do and I'll probably are you
well only okay. What makes in my opinion, what makes
his Dolomite film work is he's actually kind of a
(44:07):
straight guy. It's it's his real it's it's like the
planets that the stars that surround and the moons that
surround his planet is what really makes that feel funny like,
and he's reacting to you're right like other people, and
(44:28):
you know, I think that you guys are on such
a role like I I now consider as an SNL expert,
that your era SNL will be considered like a high
Mark cast season. The way that we looked at the
cast with with with Fallon and Tita Fee and the
(44:49):
way that people look at the class of nine one
or seventy five like people have specific eras of right,
that was the Chicago bulls of you guys. Now, you
guys now have your own rhythm with each other. So
I think it would just be who any host two
(45:10):
joined the gang as opposed to disrupt them. No, Eddie
might be what do you think that's? Because I mean,
I have I don't know what will happen, but I assume,
I mean, because it's his first time coming back and
he was just he never hosted was the last time
he hosted when Beverly Hills Cop came out, and the
(45:30):
first time he hosted was inadvertently when Nick Nolty. Nick
Nolty was the only person to drop out of this
show like the Friday before, like time, I'm not doing this,
and so they were like yeah when he was on
the cast. Yeah, so they're like, well a year in
the movie too, so you hosted and that became a
game changer for him, Like so you really are an experts. Um.
(45:54):
I only know because Soul Train came on at one
am and Soldering came on right after SNL, So it's
like you watch SNL atven thirty and then one am
finally Soldering comes on. But if they were VCR back
then I would have probably just recorded Soldering and not
cared about SNL as much. We so on that note,
(46:15):
just question to you are you were you a fan
where you are Jane Curtain Guilder like you were all in? Yeah,
we had I definitely want My mom had me watch
like Gilda's show, her Broadway show on tape. I had
vhs of like SNLS commercials that I wore out pretty
(46:37):
pretty much. I liked Tracy. I mean I watched a
bunch of different Did you have a favorite grown up class? Like? Um,
I really enjoyed every iteration I think up until like
you're eighteen or whatever and you're too cool for SNL
for a while. You know, I'm never busif you're busy,
(47:00):
very busy, cool popular. So okay, I gotta bring up
uh two specific and did say Pacific specific um sketches
that you did that I felt like we're really mind
blowing one for the physical comedy when you do Fox
(47:22):
News is uh yeah, Piero, I don't care if I
mispronounce me um in dress rehearsal. Did you go that
hard with the spit takes and the falling on the floor?
Definitely you, all right? I was in the audience. And
(47:43):
so to see you it's one thing watching on television.
If you're at home watching the Angle of It, that's
one thing. But to see you actually put yourself in
physical danger, just like that second fall out the chair.
There's two moments where she you know, well, it's not
a double take, but you threw yourself out the chair, right.
(48:05):
I mean I had a giant matt and I made
sort of practice said a lot beforehand, and I was
very like serious about it, like you promised me time
to practice and throwing myself out of a chair, and
I need this time to do that. You did it
on the floor, like elsewhere on the floor, because you
only have that. I just needed to see like the space,
(48:28):
you know, seeing what you can do at that desk.
You nailed it because my shoe flew off on accident,
and then I was like, oh, I gotta keep that.
So then I had to try to flick my shoe
off air. Okay, I was it was spotaling perfect. But
the other thing is, um, you're Barbara Streisan jingle Bells
(48:52):
raddition as as a as a person who's whose band
member is known for his breath control. The first thing
I noticed was that you hardly all these words. How
do you how long do you prepare a sketch or
how long do you prepare bits? Well that one um
(49:14):
Brian Tucker. I got a text from him at like
two am with that song and he said, I just
heard this in a cab and I think this would
be really funny if you want to do it, And
so then I just I was like, number one, that's
very funny that Brian Tucker is sending me a Barber
Streissan's song, and then uh if I just started practicing.
(49:34):
I mean it was just like my neighbors probably think
I'm insane because I'll just be singing things like that
over and over and repeat on loop. Yeah. Yeah at
nighttime in my primary Yeah and sleep yeah, Malcolm Gladwell
hours Like there's no way, Like I put the I
put it on Spotify myself, and I was like, there's
(49:55):
no way that she learned this in less than a
month or year, Like I thought that was something in
your repertoire forever. No, it's just when you're a lunatic, um,
I think, and you don't sleep, You've got all those
hours in the night. You are a lunatic. Cecily, you
never took singing like serious series. Um. I mean I sang,
(50:18):
but it was never like a singer singer. No, And
there's a lot of singing I can't do well, So
I'm more like I can do sketch comedy singing. Speaking
of which, what's the determining factor of when you guys
warm up the crowd? Um? Is it that? In my mind?
(50:39):
I thought that was like, oh, this is when you're
new to the n b A and the freshman on
the new team had to carry all the bags. So
when they warm up the crowd, um Keenan does his
old soul review routine and usually three of the s
and l ladies will be his pips will be like
(50:59):
his version of Glass Night and the Pips, and they
dress up for it and all this other that same s.
They never never changed and well no, no, it's just
a warmup thing. Okay, so that's what I mean for
the warmup. They always do the same warm up. Yeah,
but I mean the audience isn't crazy like me and
be there every week. So it's new to everybody, right,
it's new to everyone. But what is the process of that.
(51:20):
It's like if you're new, you have to sing? Or
is it like how do you guys negotiate it? Are
they told like, well, it's my week to sing? Or no, no,
I uh. I did it for four five years or
something and then it was but you sing, uh, give
me some lovin And there was like I Now the
(51:43):
newer girls do it, especially because if the cold open
is coming, to do that warm up and then to
go right into the cold open can be kind of tough,
and a lot of times Kate will be wearing crazy
prosthetics or something. So then, yeah, I was wondering, how
do you guys run with just three seconds left to right?
So it's uh, but I was definitely like I am
(52:05):
done too. I broke my foot one year right before
the show started, so I got out of warm ups
and then it was kind of like can I stay
speaking of out? Uh? You were in the coveted anchor
chair of weekend Updates? Yeah, exactly, and then you well,
(52:32):
because of you, I guess we now have Michael Jay,
but why would you give up such a coveted spot? Well,
I think it was doing It was Seth, who was
so established made it feel like I could just go
in and it was already a thing that I just
could sort of slide into. And then when he left,
(52:53):
it was Colin I and it was like, clearly this
needs to now we have to figure this whole new
uh thing out, and and it was just like that
the what that would have taken if that was really
exhausting and sort of like, I don't know that I
want to spend my time now just figuring out what
(53:13):
updates going to be. So so there were a lot
of talks with Lauren and you know, and it was
it wasn't an easy decision necessarily, but it was I
think absolutely the right one. So what would doing this?
Doing update required that you really have to have a
chemistry with whoever your partner is on the show, And well,
(53:37):
I think it was because he was so new too,
so it was like two new people trying and it
was just like I just would rather I missed. I
just want to do more fun to do. You can't
do both. You can't do update and characters. I think
if if Seth had stayed longer, I would have I
could have stayed longer because it was I didn't we
(53:59):
didn't have makes something new. Yeah, but is it rare
though when we think about it, like it feels like
the folks who always do we can update, do the
least other stuff, right because Amy did a lot right? Well, yeah,
Amy did do a lot, but I think like once
you had but just to try to figure out what
that new dynamic was going to be just felt like
(54:20):
pretty daunting and and exciting, but not what I was
wanted to do on the show the most. Um, he's
so curious about SNL man like I'm gonna get past
the best. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying, that's
a very adorable child, very good to go see a message.
(54:44):
Now he sees like it, and it's like there's nothing
I truly am like. It's very flattering and exciting. You
can hear him laughing in the audience sometimes on bad No,
I told him, like, don't sit me the mica. They
put me under, but the mic is as close to
(55:07):
my seat as the microphone right now that I'm sitting in,
and so occasionally Jimmy will hit me. Really you thought that,
you thought that you thought that Harry Potter joke was
really funny? Really? Really? Yeah, I always get out of
with with my laughter, so I tried to, Um, here's
(55:28):
the weird thing. And speaking of when things get cut, um,
we were weird enough. Yeah, always brides me never bride.
We were we were busters band, weird enough hosted by
Donald Trump. We were Yeah, we were busting rhymes. Has
(55:51):
been uh on his on the ninety on his show,
I think hosted by Why to fold on this Rabbit
or um no, no, that was just give me some
more period. Uh, Okay, do I really want to try
to figure out this. No, no, no, don't. He's in
(56:12):
George of the Jungle. Um one wait, the Last Live?
What's he your voice? Come on, I don't do this
to me. He was also in the movie in which
the woman was the Devil. She's real sexy, she has
an English accent. Elizabeth Hurly, Yes you're right, yeah, yes,
Brandon Fraser, Yes we can play. We got Elizabeth Hurley. Yeah,
(56:41):
I hope you. I hope you burn in hell anyway.
So yeah, with the Brandon Fraser Show, um, and then
the Donald Trump Show and which we did an album
with two to the Maytaels, gwent Stefani. So does he
know you want to be in a skit? Because I
know that's probably no. No. I My my love of
(57:05):
the show is actually watching two things I love. I
love watching the panic. Whoever your wardrobe lady, is that
or not? The wardrobe the one that wrangles. That's my
favorite thing to watch, Like to watch her grab after
monologue is done. She will grab you by the collar
and yeah, that to me. Watching the Machine run is
(57:30):
my favorite ever still on some v I P ship
because I'm like other shows and the kind of show
where you can be like um, yes, can I get
on list for next month show? However, my second favorite
thing is, um, I love I love throwing off the
audience clap when it's time for the end. So the
(57:52):
band will try to teach them all the time. If
they're ever off watching the band, you know, that's so
disappointed in the dance. It's not the audience. It's not
the audience, it's me. They go so fast. I'm the
(58:12):
one in the audience that's speeding up the clap, knowing
that the nine people next Oh what are you doing.
I'm sitting in the audience and I'm speeding up the
clap knowing that thirteen and fourteen people next to me
are going to speed the clap with me, and then
so on and so on, and then I mess it up.
Every time it's messed up, you know, you know to
(58:36):
look up in the balcony be like, I gotta tell
the van no, don't do that, Please, please don't do that.
All right? My last question is that most people use
s analysis springboard two other careers. We're actually now be
(59:00):
on a sid Now is actually a cool end game?
I mean, Keenan's on his twentieth year. I believe, Yeah, yeah,
so wow, I've been Yeah, but it works for him
straight from Goodburger just be yeah, I mean he's a genius. Yeah,
but that's amazing. He's made for it. It works for him,
like and so, but I mean I'm certain that people
(59:22):
had like woe you know, Eddie Murphy did it, Sandler
did it. You know, Tina Fey didn't like for you.
Do you have a vision board? And I'm not asking
for like your last year, but but do you have
a vision board that you might consider like, Okay, the
end of this particular sentence will happen this particular year
(59:45):
and then I'm going to develop this show or direct
this movie or Yeah. I mean I think there's a
there's a lot of things I'd like to be doing.
Some things you can do at the same time. So
it's of it'll just depend on, uh, when it feels
right to go. But there's a lot of things I'd
(01:00:07):
like to be doing, like a lot of different things.
I think I brought up a project to you once
that I wanted you to do that I'm still hoping. Oh,
we're propatising each other now, yeah, yes, I'm I'm the
king of yes. And then Steve laughs at me, like,
when you want to fit the senior schedule, can you
be the gin of follow up? The schedule is always tough, Yeah,
(01:00:31):
and it's the worst. So do you plan your summers early?
Like are you a because so many things fall apart.
I mean in this just in this industry, you think
you're doing one thing, so then you don't plan for
something else and then that falls apart. So it's really
just like it's it's very frustrating. And then to know
(01:00:51):
that I'm taken from September to May, that's really tough.
So that'll sort of be the decide factor if there
is an important enough uh offer, are you given leeway
to take this week off? And then I think now
(01:01:14):
they've been more lenient. I mean maybe I shouldn't say
that out loud, but it seems like it's um that
they're that they're letting us sort of do that a
little bit more. That's something you already kind of yeah,
and I think it's I think, um, he likes having
an established cast and having people that know each other,
(01:01:36):
and it's sort of like, if that's how to keep people,
that maybe is the way to go. It's like Lawrence
Scorsese is like, I gotta have you as de Niro's
daughter and the irishman. Can you do it these reasons?
I think then Lauren would make me. Okay, that's yeah,
that's what I'm saying. Okay, cool. Oh one last thing, Um,
(01:01:58):
I was there when you did the last uh, I say,
the last White House Correspondence dinner. What was that like
for you? Um? It was so it was terrifying because
they asked me in August or something and it's not
till April, so I had like months to doubt myself
(01:02:18):
and think about failing. But it was like again, I'm
a big Obama head, and it was like I just
and and everyone was like, don't do it. Nobody like
you never win. You don't win in that room. The
best you can do is break even. But I was like,
but it's Obama, so I have to do it. Or
(01:02:39):
industry people, Yeah, yeah, we're definitely trying to talk me
out of it. People remember that. People just remember that
you did it unless you really want to make a mark,
like Michelle wolf In like really laving down. But I
thought it was great. It was a few in the pass.
I really killed it. But now did you say it?
I'm like, I can't even remember who was I killed it,
so yeah, yeah, well I think Colbert had a big one. Yeah,
(01:03:04):
which one was that Obama wrapped? I don't know if
the Kegan was there when I was there, that was like,
oh great, that was right before I go on, Oh
that was the same one. Yeah, that was a good
night then it was Yeah, I thought I thought it was.
It was tasteful, it was very it was cool, and
it was the first it was I brought like fifteen people,
(01:03:24):
my entire family and my grandfather and grandmother and Arlington
National Cemetery Colonel Cecil Struck, and it was the first
time I went with my dad to his parents graves,
so that it was a very emotional trip as well.
That's awesome. Well, I'm glad you may be decision and
not to listen to anyone that helped you talk to
(01:03:47):
yourself out of it. A great opportunity. Yeah, yeah, I mean,
I'm always going to take the chance to sit next
to Michelle Obama. That's a small group of people who
have been asked to do that. So that's a big honor.
That's it. Well, Cecily, I thank you for coming to
the show. Thank you and molding. We looked it up
(01:04:09):
multiples an actual word. Sorry, thanks again, Derek Man, you
come through in the clutch Man you Todd Rendren would
be very mad. Oh, thank you. I appreciate you coming
to the show. You're definitely one of my favorite players
(01:04:33):
and I appreciate you enlightening our our audience. Alright, kids, Uh,
that's another episode of course Love Supreme on BF of
Layah Sugar Steve the spelling Steve your new name. I'm
paid Bill. I guess one of these days, Uh Manuel
Miranda will let you come back to work and uh
(01:04:55):
Fontigelo you'll get you know, the throat cancer with the cigarettes.
Hopefully you'll come back. Uh this Quest Love and oh
my fault. How are you doing? Boss Bill? I hope
we did you proud. We will see you. We will
see you next week on the next round of Quest Love.
So free. Al Right. I Heart Radio m For more
(01:05:29):
podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Quesce Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
And then there were three Smick Suprema Cam, Suprema road Call,
Suprema Suprema roll Call, Suprema road Call. Cecily's a rye yeah,
(00:26):
and she'd be strong. Yeah, Oh my god, I just
messed up my own road call Suprema Sma. That's how
it is. Suprema, Suprema role call. My name is Sugar,
been waiting so long? Yeah, to profess my love for yeah,
(00:46):
Cecily gon Zigazar, Suprema, Suprema road Call, Supreme Cut, Suprema
roll call. Yeah with Cecily. Yeah, damn, that's up too.
I'm gonna say horny to you. Day subm sumroll. Well,
(01:12):
I'm cessling. Yeah, I feel kind of damn. Yeah. I
hope I don't ruin this show. Before it, Steven began
a minute stop should we know we stop stop stop? Yeah,
(01:35):
or muted. We just got murdered on our own. This
is some naj jay z ship where like Emin murdered
us on our I said, Zazar, you kind of fumbled,
all right, can you pronounce it fully? Did my name
or name? Oh? I thought you were referencing a middle
(01:58):
name or something cess Zia's are if I'm pronouncing correct,
I don't know your middle Oh it's not that. Okay,
that's not her, she wrote. Cecily von Zasar wrote the
novels that became gossip Girl. Right, Wait, how do you
know that, Steve? I looked up famous Cecily's to try
and get some ideas. Really your okay, did you know
(02:19):
this before? He references? Did this take you by surprise
as well? No? I mean it took I forgot. There's
a there's a couple of Cessili's. Yeah, there's not that
many in history, to be honest with you, grandfather with
cecil that's why Obsessily and yeah, Sisily, I don't know Cecily. Well, yeah,
this is a sad load for us, someone, Supreme, because
(02:42):
messing up our our theme is such a rarity. I'm
just saying, you know it. You feel very comfortable. I
will say, I feel it. Feel at home. You did awesome? Okay,
Well I'll give you that point advantage, Steve. I thought
you'd get out of this. We messed up, and gentlemen,
welcome to another edition of Anemic Supreme, brought to you
(03:05):
by the only one, uh quest love where at I
heart radio streaming on all four mats that you get
your podcast goodies. Uh, we have light yah in the house,
and we have sugar. Steve Um shout out to unpaid
Bill and Fontikolos out getting cigarettes steel he said he
returned one day. Uh, yeah, we're waiting and Boss Bill
(03:28):
were like three, Oh, boss Bill, that's right, we have
half a six pack. Yeah. So what rules can we
break now that we could eat? We could do I can't.
I'm supposed to be in char so I gotta joke
some order. So no, guys, we're sticking by the rules.
We talked to ceely and we don't go into the
back of my breakfast right now, Like, well, no one
knew you got some little bird seed. That's good. It's
(03:51):
good anyway, ladies and gentlemen, our guesterday. I'm very very
honored to have uh what I when I when I
mentioned my play of employment, I refer to it as
thirty Rock University. I consider it a college, a post
grad school. I consider it life lessons and it's always
(04:13):
an honor to pick the brain of fellow thirty Rock
thirty rockyans, especially uh those that are in the upper
echelon of the eighth floor of the institution otherwise known
as Saturday Night Live. Um, I will say, in the
last eight years, our guest today has given me some
of my favorite moments on the show. Ever, I try
(04:37):
not to stalk her. G MS with were praise over
that night's performance. But I'm a nerd. That's always like
somewhere in the audience judging every show. Um, your characters alone,
I mean your story, Stormy Daniels, your Milannia Trump, your
Lynden Manuel was That's why I'm really mad that freaking
(04:57):
Bill is not here Bills as a fellow ammal tonight. Anyway,
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the original Cecily Strong here. Yes,
we're very happy. How are you today? I'm cold. It's
called this weather is bad. Um, it is hell, especially
(05:18):
where we work. Getting to work. Are you American Gladiator
around this time of year? Like trying to get into
that building? It is. Yeah, it's the hardest thing in
the world. I try there firing as you know how
they did that on American Gladiator. Yes, I know, how
very familiar. Do you Are you a subway to work person?
(05:39):
Are you a walk to work? Walk? To work. Let's say,
oh god, you you oh you followed the rules. Wow. Okay,
So when I first started working here, I naturally thought, okay,
I'll moved to Brooklyn or whatever. My management is like, nah,
if it was up to them, like Steve wants to joke, like,
they want you to live at thirty one Rocket Fell
(06:00):
as a just you know, just in case, because it's
almost like being on call to be a doctor or whatever,
like you have to immediately and just as important. Yeah,
it's no, well it is actually usly. Yeah what you do?
I mean you too, But I was just saying that
what she does like the institution, So yeah, it is.
(06:22):
I feel like an on call doctor like you pretty much.
If they call you, you have to be with there
within like a half hour for anything. I don't know
if it's that way all year around for you though,
I mean once the seasons. Oh yeah no, then I
they are not allowed. You have something about a break.
Yeah you have two phones then yeah, yeah, yeah, they
don't get the other shout out to two phones. So
(06:45):
I told you, okay, but I do have a burner number.
That's kind of exciting. Oh my god, you're like a
character on the wire. Yeah, no, it's on my phone.
But it's because I use so many apps like drink thing.
I don't like time out. Okay, so I'm about to
reveal my age. You're telling me that I can get
(07:08):
a Burner number and still on my phone absolute for
free and have two numbers on this phone. Yeah, I
know you could do that. Is that like the Google
phone number thing you're saying, No, it's similar, but it's
its own app, and you can just like tender date
goes good, then you can give your real number real exactly.
And if it doesn't, it's great not having to give
(07:29):
out your real number. Yeah, we'll see. Now's the point.
My burner, my fake phone was, my bad phone was
once the coveted phone, and then for some reason now
I've given everybody my bad number. So my real number like,
no one calls that anymore. So I dubbed that mom
(07:50):
phone number. It's if we learned quick like answering this,
Yeah you know, I don't. Yeah, that's mom phone. Only
talked to my mother on that phone. Okay, So what
got you here? Where were you born? I was born
(08:11):
in Springfield, Illinois. Okay, so too Outsiders of the Midwest US,
East Coasters. In our minds, it's either Chicago or not Chicago, right,
So it's definitely not Chicago. Chicago. It's very not Chicago.
I mean only was there for a year and a half,
(08:31):
so I can't say I remember much of Springfield. It's
the capital of Illinois. Well, pretty exciting where the Simpsons live.
And I actually I I saw that's a I think
that's where Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his VP
in two thousand and you were there to see it,
you know it three and a half hours? I see?
(08:54):
And Abraham Lincoln Yeah, roll gossip girl. I looked up
famous Abraham's So, uh, you only live there a year
and a half and then right outside of Chicago Park.
Are you okay anybody that's did you say Simpsons didn't? Yeah,
because so that's why springfood. Well no, that was just
(09:19):
a weird coincidence. Um. So yeah, there's two questions about Chicago.
One or as as a resident. Are you sort of
dismayed at the sort of hashtag what about Chicago staying
that's on the city right now, or at least the
kind of the the cloud that looms over the idea
(09:43):
of Chicago, Like what is your version of Chicago. It's
weird because I when I mean I grew up, I
did a lot of theater in Chicago as a kid, uh,
and then I was my dad worked um in pr
in Chicago and did a lot for the Democratic Party. Again,
when I think of Chicago, it's all like Obama for
(10:06):
me because that's the years I was there. Um. I
think it's always um. And I have a good friend,
my little sister, my fake little sister from the South Side,
so of course her experience was very different than mine
growing up. But I think, UM, wait a minute, I'm sorry.
I just we have to acknowledge, like I only felt
like black people have like play cousins and family unless
(10:29):
it in the program. She an official little sister. No okay,
then yeah, okay cousins. No. You know what it was
like I met her. I just I lost a friend,
uh to a drug overdose, and she lost her older brother, uh,
which is part of Chicago too, And it was kind
(10:51):
of like we had like the universe gave y'all just
made us to each other. She's coming this weekend. College
young is she She's a she feels like she's like
fifteen years hangers sometimes, but she's about five years younger,
so you're mother. Well I'm an older I'm not motherlyer,
(11:13):
never designated driver, just older sister. Okay, I see. Um. Actually,
what I want to know. I don't think we've interviewed
anyone in the comedy world from Chicago on this show.
I don't think we have. Um what is it? Why
is something to do with mustard and catchup and how
(11:34):
it talks? No, that's that's the letter. I want to
know why catchup is not allowed? When you know I
don't even eat hot dogs or red meat. Time. That
not the one to ask, but I do know you don't.
You're not supposed to mustard, only mustard and whatever. What
is it? I've heard some I've heard some talk, and
(11:56):
I believe that this goes back to the Hindes family
from nearby Pittsburgh sort of having a beef with the
what's the billionaire family from Chicago? The pizza Yeah, yeah,
I'm hearing that the beef starts there. So do you
order must the two? Well maybe even it was like okay, well,
(12:22):
I don't want to be the person like spread false propaganda.
What I do know is that, um, you get laughed
out of any establishment. If I think it's just like
Chicago has a couple of things they just like to
be stubborn about. I think were your pizza sucks, not you.
But I'm just saying you don't like Chicago pizza after
I mean, it's going to kill you. Some research. Most
(12:44):
have food there will kill cheese steaks will kill us too.
So let's let you know. There's I will say, it's
my favorite city to eat. Some of the best restaurants
I've ever even just like a small, like little Greek
restaurant A little time. It's all so good. I've been okay.
So as of this taping, for some reason, I've been
booked in Chicago every weekend for the last five weekends. Um,
(13:09):
great time to be there. Gorgeous weather, No, actually, no,
weird enough the last time you're jinxing yourself. Now, I
will say, you're gonna be stuck there. I will. I
will say that both times in the winter it was
like fifty nine degrees. For some reason, I came dressed
for like, all right, where's it at, where's that? Where's
(13:29):
the cool? Where's the cold? And I was sweating like
it was it was spring weather. I mean I probably unpredictable. Yeah,
but it's the worst winters. Oh, I have like I
have like nightmares about it. I thinking about it. I know,
we we know, but I will say that I tried. Okay,
(13:50):
they told me not to call it the illuminati. Iluminati okay,
but there has there has to be a connection into
the Illuminati. Is that a food? All pizza? And I
will say, I know William mal Naughty. He has a
podcast now he's in New York about pizza. No, no,
(14:12):
it's this entertainment. But he is a mal Naughty And
I did a show with him when I was twelve
or thirteen at the good Man and it was during
the summer, so Taste of Chicago was going on it.
We got free pizza. Yeah, it's it's it's my favorite.
Lumina is my favorite. I will have to say I
was really impressed with that pizza. You can you can
get it shipped. Yeah, I don't want to do that
(14:35):
though I know that I don't want to. It's like
I have an addiction to pizza, so I have to
stay away. So how do you feel about New York pizza?
I mean I pretty much like a pizza. No, you
can't do that. I do. Have you taking a pizza
tour of New York. No, I will say, you know what,
(14:55):
I did have pizza I didn't like here, and I
I don't want to say where it's from because I
don't want to did not raise or is it an
established people shipped on in Williamsburg Um Grimaldi's I love it.
You're looking at me well because the show so nemic.
Now there's only two people left. Don't leave Manhattan. I've
(15:19):
been to Brooklyn three times. I mean, there's plenty of
shitty pizza in New York, but there's um. But it's
not like every slice you get is going to be
like New York see. For me, though, it's it's like
as far as the Korean Food Fair, Chinatown, even soul
(15:42):
food Jamaican spots in Brooklyn. I've I've I've slowed up.
I've kind of well, I've just discovered that Queens is
like I'm I might have to do my next book
strictly on restaurants and Queens. Like some of the best
restaurants in New York are those family restaurants? Yes, and Queens.
(16:03):
You gotta you gotta venture out the city. See, I
have a car I don't know. Yeah, you don't have
a vehicle right now. See yeah, if you just what
you said car anyway, I got you off track. You
were gonna say, I was gonna say about community, but
(16:27):
we often rabit hole on this ship. Um no, let's
go back to Queen anyway. You need a car to
explore the city, for I have such bad anxiety I could,
I would, I could never drive in this city. Really well,
this is the hardes city of driving in the country. Yeah. Always,
(16:47):
if you learn to drive in New York, you can
drive anywhere. I feel I can drive anywhere. Now they
have the rickshaws now to really expensive. You're like, I can't.
I don't. I will never feel okay about a person
acting like a horse to me. It just makes it
(17:09):
feels like I would the whole time might be apologize
saying I'd be asking if I could help. It would
just make me let me enterge all right, So lay
is clowning me about my swinky car towards because coats,
which in Philadelphia would never let my friends see me
(17:29):
in such a swinky, swinky car. So I'd like my
very first scion to beat up. Sign o God, I
will never you never give up your first car, like
I'm keeping that ship forever. I love that car. Um. However, yes,
I have a swink alacious car in New York because
I got to get around and go to point in
point B. The reason why I got that swinky car
(17:50):
was because I learned the hard way. And this is
pre uber how cabs really won't stop for people of color.
And I was rushing to Penn Station and a poor
rickshaw guy had to take me. And this is when
I was like four hundred pounds, so that was two
hundred pounds ago. People, I'm there, I'm almost there. I
(18:12):
got six pounds, all right, so yeah, four in Japan,
me and two big giant Kipling luggage bags. And the
poor kid, I was like, are you going to make
it the Penn station in an hour? I got this
and cut to like like he was, and the thing
was on my Twitter timeline, literally on my Twitter timeline.
(18:35):
There was like the narrative of the story, Like, guys,
I could have sworn. I just saw questions inside of
a bicycle rickshaw on Fifth Avenue. It looked like him. Yo, dude,
I'm on forty second stree. I just saw yo, dog,
I'm on thirty I think, you know, the poor guy
like listen, I missed the train, so it took him
(18:56):
that long to haul like five hundred pounds were the Yeah,
I am, I'm addicted to over tipping. That's that's one
of my And that's not even a humble bread like
one of those people that gets into those like you
know the pretty woman that watch costs two thousand dollars.
(19:19):
Oh yeah, I like I'm one of them people that
will like defy you, like I have money that that
sort of thing. You know. Sound engineers except tips, by
the way, that's what Derek said behind you. That's what
Stevens are. A sound engineer at thirty Rock anyway. So
why is Chicago the who dubbed it the or who
(19:46):
christened it as the comedy Epicenter? Like, why does one
have to go to Chicago? Yeah, I think it's just
so I think, well, there's a lot of theater in Chicago. Um,
it's cheaper than New York and LA to live. Yeah,
it's like all probably, Oh, my apartment cheaper is cheaper. Well,
(20:10):
I was living in It was a weird little artist studio,
but it was and this was a lot of money
for me, but it was like six hundred dollars a month.
My rent year that was two thousand. Williamsburg of Chicago. Hey, no,
this is old town. Wow, I don't know the section,
so like what would the town be here? So that's uh,
(20:30):
I would never know. That's the first second city. But
it was like a nice neighborhood. And my first apartment
it was a two bedroom. It was bit and it
was like we paid seven dollars. I had a roommate. Yeah,
so we each paid a second with your friends. I'm curious,
what if it's gone up? That's interesting. I mean, I'm
sure it's it's been a while, but yeah, um so
(20:59):
do you what was your childhood like, like, what was
your come to Jesus moment with flirting with comic because
I don't like when do people finally admit, like, I'm fun,
I want to be in comedy. Was it that you
wanted to be an actress? Yeah? I was. I did
(21:20):
a lot of like straight theater growing up, and I
did a lot in Chicago. I did my first, uh,
professional show and they were all like dramatic musicals growing up,
and then I went to college. It wasn't until college
I went to cal Arts tonight a teacher I was
doing a scene from Angels in America because when I
(21:40):
was eighteen, everybody wanted to do Angels. Um, and people
were laughing. It's like I'm being dramatic right now. Uh.
And then the teacher suggests that I take a class
at the Groundlings, and that was like I'd always I mean,
I thought I was funny, but I was also like,
but I'm a serious actor. That's what it is. You
really wanted to be serious instead? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, well
(22:03):
I think even now that's how I started. I think,
like a lot of comedy is just human beings feeling
anything can be funny. That reminds me um speaking of
And I didn't realize this until maybe a week and
a half ago that Will Farrell and Kristen Wigg actually
did a lifetime movie. Yes seriously, like they did it,
(22:26):
remember this, They did it seriously, but as a tongue
in chief thing to be funny, really smart. Yeah, yeah,
I love it. Yeah, I mean they're both are they
alumni from No? No, they're Groundlings there between Groundlings and
Second City Bloods, and they got both, so of course
(22:46):
I will say a like Groundlings is very character based uh,
and Chicago there's like, you know, so break it down
to people because somebody, I feel like I'm the worst
to break it down. So this will be very simplified.
Probably comedy nerds yell at me, but so l A groundlings,
it's all very character e uh. And then New York
(23:09):
improv is very like fast. Um, it's closer to like
what I would think of as like when you hear
British comedy, English comedy, you know. And then Chicago does
weird you do like the you know, we do slower
arts FARTSI sometimes, um, but but I would say like
(23:30):
improv is more Chicago, and sketch should be more l A.
And it feels like when you're doing it in l A,
you're doing it to get a part TV jobs. Yeah.
So is that was there an end game for you
and entering second city or pretty much people know that
the road that leads to S and L. I would
never have ever said that, um, because I just don't
(23:55):
like to set myself up to be let down. I
like to set the bar very low. But I uh,
I was just like, you know, if if this is
what my life, if I get to do, like some shows,
every now and then and um that Second City and
I out if this is like where the top that
I get, I'd be happy. So what is the process?
(24:15):
I'm only asking because of God? How do I say this? Okay?
So I once okay, So I once stated uh a
comedian okay, and uh I felt see I have. It
was miserable. I have. I have a I have a
(24:37):
relationship with failure, not as an f wort, but as
a learning experience. And I feel like, in your years
of comedy, it's almost like if you stay in your
comfort zone and only perform for your friends are like
this one bar, yeah, You're not going to grow. And
I kind of had to tell her, like you have
to go, like stop going to your normal well you
(25:01):
know your peeps are, and go to other spots to
see if it works there as well. And it was
kind of hard hitted about it. And then it really
got a life lesson. So she went to Second City
and her experimental spot. You know, she left and went
(25:21):
to Second City. And I guess under the hopes of
I'm ready, so I know I'm gonna go to Second
City and then in three years, I too can be
Tina faith Like that's what you think or and maybe
she's like, oh, you can stay like that, you can
just chill, and yeah people do because I mean after while,
(25:45):
you get paid for shows. So yeah, I guess that's
your life now. Yeah, And what I want to know
is that when people come, first of all, what is
the process of Second City? Is it a school? Is it?
Just like most people they say they're they've done Second City,
it's not that they've been on a stage. It's that
they've taken as there or done their own shows. There
(26:08):
there's a there's two main theaters. I mean it could
be totally different now. Uh. And I was on a
touring company for a while and I did a cruise
ship for four months but no region. Um so a
Second City cruise ship. That was my first job with this.
It was very exciting. But then well then it's like
(26:28):
you're on this ship for four months, you're just like
I was never on land at nighttime, which sounds crazy
to say, but I really was like I just want
to have a night on ground. Um. But it was
so it's like by two months and it I was like,
I can't tell if it's a prisoner vacation. Uh. And
(26:50):
you're doing like very wantered down sketch comedy for it
was well, we ported in New York. Was billed as
the Second City players or yeah yeah, yeah, I don't
think they have the contract anymore, but um it was
like the first job most people do at that Second City.
(27:11):
So that's the entry level. Yeah yeah. Were there any
other notable So I was on the ship with Alex Moffatt,
who's yeah his uh Trump's son. Yeah, yeah, Eric, that's
my all time favorite, like even when like I'll rewatch
his facial expressions. Well, everyone, it's some of the best
(27:35):
should have ever seen. Yeah, okay, and so, uh how
long was it until I'm assuming either Higgins or someone
discovers you and I got hired through I Oh. So
there's a couple of theaters, uh in prov Olympic, but
(27:58):
they have to be called it was like lawsuitor, you
have to say, I oh yeah, but it was I
oh where I got my I did my showcase for
Lauren and some of the writers. M Oh, so you
didn't have to go through the audition process that no, no,
I did, but it just was there, like they go
(28:18):
to different theaters, not because it's Second City. It's only
the people that are on the stages that will be
seen by uh SNL. So wait, this is I'm sorry,
I'm actually like a five year old. So this is
a special show that y'all will do because you know
that they're coming. Yeah, and they do it, uh in
every in l A. I think at different theaters they'll
(28:39):
just be showcases pretty much, and I'll be showcases for
SNL or just people or yeah, yeah for SNL. But
is it with other people in the audience? Are just
the seven of them in the audience? Oh? No? Other people? Okay? Yeah.
My family was there and I thought I bombed because
they were so they were so nervous because they were
(29:00):
sitting near and Lauren and there, so their faces were
just like they were like ghosts. Was like, wow, that bad?
Huh did you remember what you did? You remember your Uh?
I did like a lady from the cruise ship. I
did her trying to bring a pineapple on the boat
or something. I think I did Sophia Vergara. Nothing great,
(29:24):
I don't know it was and I had never done
like I wasn't an impressionist really, but it was a
gain like, oh, I'm going to do something that scares
me and just kind of try this out, and I
took a workshop on solo characters. I would imagine that
probably the best way to get on the show is
(29:46):
to be moldible to be anything, you know what I mean.
Like it's instead of like, okay, I do a very
specific uh Donald Trump, and then like what happens four
years if that's out? Like, but you can be mouldible
to be anything. So I almost feel as though some
(30:06):
people go into the process, like I know people that
have tried to go through the process that um, we're
kind of stuck in a category in a corner, and
they weren't mouldible. Yeah, you because I believe it's malleable.
I left this first two times. The third time, I'm like,
it's malleable. Bro, I just didn't know what he was saying. No, no, no,
(30:28):
I didn't even I wasn't even reaching for malla just
playing around. That's malleable, right, I wasn't reaching for malleable.
Actually it's not a word, okay, sort of like imagine
it's not a word, right, Okay, it's like seventy eight
other words. I hear you say every day that the
spirit of Bill is always here. Here we go malleable.
(30:49):
Thank you. I wasn't even reaching for that, but yes, malleable,
and y'all just go I thought it was a word. Yeah, well,
I appreciate this. This reminds me of the time when
the Roots let me go all day wearing a shirt
backwards and inside out. So when I got home and
(31:10):
went in the mirror, I was like, wait a minute,
oh ship. And then next day I was like, yo,
why the fun you don't tell me my shirt was
backwards and the inside out, And they were like, oh,
we thought multiple is cool. I'll start saying that if
you want me to know, but I will not. I
now know that multible is not a word. Good to
(31:32):
know that the same meaning the multiple and mullible that
the same meaning it's not one is not a word.
So that okay, let's go back to Chicago pizza. So anyways, No, well,
what I'm asking is, uh, I believe correct me if
I'm wrong. Wasn't your first show that Mick Jagger Season Closer?
(31:52):
I remember your entry? Remember No, that was Kate who
did like five episodes of that season, And I think, yeah,
but you did, you did? I could have sworn I
saw you on a season closer, Like I thought it
was weird that I tweeted out, wait, who's this person?
I don't know this person? And then someone said you, uh, well,
(32:17):
you're not a cast member. What is it called a
fat player? But when did you come in into the show?
Was the detail and of a previous show? Was the
start of season thirty two twelve many seasons? Lords, this
is beautiful so in a long time. So okay, so
(32:39):
you didn't have to go through the process of just
being in the room with seven people, and no, I
still had so I we had that showcase and then
we did like a weird speed dating thing in Chicago
where a couple of us from that showcase went to
go sit with the producers and and pretended that was normal.
And then uh then we got flown out a D
(33:01):
and I I sort of got to go through everything
with a D though, which was really nice because I
was going to ask you because Lauren is a very
I don't know him at all. I've been in a
room where he is, and he seems like someone who
is he could be intimidating. Yeah, so when you first met,
because you just said, like, you know what I'm saying,
I did speed dating. Lauren was there, but really, you
(33:22):
weren't intimidating and how No, I definitely was. I couldn't
tell you what I said at that table. I remember
talking about Trader Joe's. That's where I go. Yeah, I'm
not going right now, I mean, are you allowed to Okay?
This is the tester. This is how I know if
a person is cool or not. Now I'm gonna fail.
(33:44):
Are you allowed to have popcorn? His popcorn? Yes? Everyone is? Yeah? Okay,
Well then I'm not everyone. Well, in between the meeting,
in between dress and air, there's a big basket of popcorn, right, yeah, okay,
but that's showtime. But I'm talking about off show hours
(34:07):
in his office or something. He keeps it in off Yes, yeah,
that's important. I mean I'm sure he'd let me just
so he wouldn't have to say no. But I don't
know that i'd go knock on his store and asked
for his popcorn. Okay, I was the type of person.
That's where you went wrong. No, Actually I brought well,
I I purchased three big as bags of popcorn and
(34:31):
brought him in Lawrence. That was my first meeting with Lauren.
You purchased uh, would there was once on Street House
of Popcorn. He didn't charge you for his popcorn, though,
checking just in case he's I brought my own pop No,
I brought it for him because I knew that the
(34:51):
popcorn a big thing. But yeah, I didn't you better
you say it. But that was great. It's a good movie,
a great move. He's the ask to kish Ship, right,
I mean agree in eight years, do you feel comfortable now?
Is there's still tense if he's if you know he's
(35:11):
in proximity watching, uh, and I mean eight years you're
very established. No, yeah, I think you feel established, I get,
I mean yes? And no, who can never you always
feel like a hand on the guilty and button like,
oh no, I don't feel like hell. I guess it's
more about the audience where I'm like, I still don't
know what they find funny if it it's sort of
(35:34):
like it's still I don't know what's gonna work at dress.
So some things work that dress that didn't work on
the show in the opposite yeah yeah, yeah, or things
that like I find very funny that it turns out
it's only me. So how does this? So how does
this work? Because you're you're a writer, So how often
do you do your the things that you right get
(35:55):
to be a part of the show, Like, what's the
percentage of that? Um? If it's usually like if there's
something on update, then it's something I've written. And then
I've gotten a lot to dress this year and not
a lot to air es. Okay, so we get things
cut for time, Okay, okay, okay. I have a question
(36:16):
about the schedule because actually, like he and I sort
of quasi sort of follow the schedule. I'll schedule my
life during SNL season the sort of coincide with what
you guys are doing. So like Steve and I will
like work Saturday afternoons in my studio downstairs in my
dressing room, and usually I'll be done in time to
(36:37):
go watch the tapic. Yeah, so usually our schedule is
pretty multible, but multi that's nice anyway. So, um, I
know that from striking up a friendship with Tim Robinson.
(36:59):
Yeah uh when he was writing on the show, Um,
he explained to us that you guys do what eight
dress or a thirty dress? Eight eight a dress which
is a longer show. Um, y'all are so cute dress
short for dress rehearsal, dress rehearsal. Thank you just for me,
just for you know, yeah, dress rehearsal. You forget. This
(37:26):
is not a normal not your fault with more sketches
in it. And I guess who is the deciding committee
or on who makes it or doesn't make it to
the final show. It's there's a there's a room that
I've only been in once. Uh, and it's the people
in that room, but it's mainly it's Lauren Higgins and crew.
(37:47):
Yeah okay, so is there like the high school? All right?
So what word am I looking for? Where they placed
the zegazar know the high the the high school? Uh?
Will you put the board or there is a bulletin
for it? That's what I was looking for. So or
(38:08):
is it? Now? With technology, you guys just get alerts
of what your schedule is. No, and I wouldn't know
how to get that anyway. There is people have like
an app where they can watch their sketches, and I'm
blown away by that. I'll never get it, Okay, I
just won't know how. I have the burner number and
that's it. So when they put up when the person
puts up the bulletin board notice. Then you all run
(38:33):
like it's high school to see what made it, what
didn't make it? Well, you we all go into it's
called the meeting and we'll get notes and you just
kind of look at it and you try not to
show too much how heartbroken you are when your now
again with failure being the f word or an education process,
(38:58):
how should one and the most non diplomatic way you
can do it without jeopardizing yourself, But like, how should
one take failure as a writer or as as a
person on the show if their sketch doesn't make it
to I mean it always it's funny. Some hurt more
(39:20):
than others. And it's so like embarrassing how much sketch
comedy can be so emotional and Tim and I used
to joke because some things get cut during the show,
you know, there's that we always we usually go in
a little long so you may be dressed just like
a complete asshole, waiting to go your like dressed as
(39:40):
a pumpkin or something, ready to do your sketch about farts,
and then they say over the thing like that's been cut,
and you're just standing there like crying, dressed like a
pumpkin is that because of overdges, okay, over just case
and point. I was think that's a word, by the way,
(40:01):
thank you. I was watching all right, I was watching
a Debbie Downer sketch that obviously went way over. Then
it's a lot of time, but because of the after
and all that stuff to get to the end, somebody
has to get sacrificed. Are sketches based on a specific
(40:22):
time hoping that it doesn't run over or yeah? I mean, um,
usually if you're like in the last or second to
last spot, you're sort of just waiting to hear the
whole night and there won't be time. Like during the
Chance show, Um, there was an issue with the wires
(40:42):
and I just remember I was dangling there for so
long and I was like, something's getting cut for this.
I'm dangling here. I know something's getting cut for this,
which leads me to the Tuesday night pitch. Now, the one,
the thing, the thing that I always and let me
explain for our Listenersyiggins on our show, jimmy sidekick on
our show is one of the main producers of SNL,
(41:06):
So him doing the tonight show sort of like me
doing a DJ gig from the roots, like that's his
side hustle. He doesn't have to do it, but you know,
it's something to do and it keeps the sharp comedy
wise or whatever. Um. However, the thing I always ask about, Higgins,
the thing that I'm most curious about are how sketches
are pitched on Tuesday night to whoever the designated host is.
(41:30):
How do you do it and in such a quickly
executed time? How do you explain a sketch that really
depends on physicality Because that chance sketch that you speak
of is it was really I mean, what made it
hilarious was the fact that you guys were trapped in
(41:50):
mid air and these wires crashing all over the place.
So how is that conveyed at a table well that
they say yes, that to work? They I've never had
to do that. Uh, we have pitched Monday, but usually
that's like you're just meeting the host sort of and
seeing what they find funny or just hearing them speak
(42:14):
or seeing them for the first time in person, and
then we write on Tuesday. And I don't normally talk
to the host on Tuesday because I think then they
may say like, oh, that sounds fun, and what if
I do this and you're kind of like, oh, are
there every day? Yeah, from Monday till yeah, Saturday. Now
(42:35):
we can bring in the time lamps thing. Wait, but
before we will, before we do that, does that mean
that comedian hosts are harder, way harder? Yeah, so then
this weekend would be really hard coming up. Okay, well,
thank you. I don't know. I mean, the thing is
is that Eddie Okay, we're obviously speaking before the you know,
(42:59):
the the Eddie Murphy, the grand return of Eddie Murphy
to SNL, of which I think that because he's such
because he's such a maverick at his job, that he
would know to sort of go along with the climate
(43:22):
of the room as opposed to now. I was there.
I was there during the whole Chappelle hosting situation, and
once I saw Neil Brennan in the hallway, I was like,
oh boy, the media's bring their own Oh my writers,
that's the clusterfuck, you know, it's s I don't sometimes, Yeah,
I think like this week is actually I feel like
(43:44):
I can kind of sit back, um because it'll be
very much about and like, I think that's exciting and
what he wants to do and I'll probably are you
well only okay. What makes in my opinion, what makes
his Dolomite film work is he's actually kind of a
(44:07):
straight guy. It's it's his real it's it's like the
planets that the stars that surround and the moons that
surround his planet is what really makes that feel funny like,
and he's reacting to you're right like other people, and
(44:28):
you know, I think that you guys are on such
a role like I I now consider as an SNL expert,
that your era SNL will be considered like a high
Mark cast season. The way that we looked at the
cast with with with Fallon and Tita Fee and the
(44:49):
way that people look at the class of nine one
or seventy five like people have specific eras of right,
that was the Chicago bulls of you guys. Now, you
guys now have your own rhythm with each other. So
I think it would just be who any host two
(45:10):
joined the gang as opposed to disrupt them. No, Eddie
might be what do you think that's? Because I mean,
I have I don't know what will happen, but I assume,
I mean, because it's his first time coming back and
he was just he never hosted was the last time
he hosted when Beverly Hills Cop came out, and the
(45:30):
first time he hosted was inadvertently when Nick Nolty. Nick
Nolty was the only person to drop out of this
show like the Friday before, like time, I'm not doing this,
and so they were like yeah when he was on
the cast. Yeah, so they're like, well a year in
the movie too, so you hosted and that became a
game changer for him, Like so you really are an experts. Um.
(45:54):
I only know because Soul Train came on at one
am and Soldering came on right after SNL, So it's
like you watch SNL atven thirty and then one am
finally Soldering comes on. But if they were VCR back
then I would have probably just recorded Soldering and not
cared about SNL as much. We so on that note,
(46:15):
just question to you are you were you a fan
where you are Jane Curtain Guilder like you were all in? Yeah,
we had I definitely want My mom had me watch
like Gilda's show, her Broadway show on tape. I had
vhs of like SNLS commercials that I wore out pretty
(46:37):
pretty much. I liked Tracy. I mean I watched a
bunch of different Did you have a favorite grown up class? Like? Um,
I really enjoyed every iteration I think up until like
you're eighteen or whatever and you're too cool for SNL
for a while. You know, I'm never busif you're busy,
(47:00):
very busy, cool popular. So okay, I gotta bring up
uh two specific and did say Pacific specific um sketches
that you did that I felt like we're really mind
blowing one for the physical comedy when you do Fox
(47:22):
News is uh yeah, Piero, I don't care if I
mispronounce me um in dress rehearsal. Did you go that
hard with the spit takes and the falling on the floor?
Definitely you, all right? I was in the audience. And
(47:43):
so to see you it's one thing watching on television.
If you're at home watching the Angle of It, that's
one thing. But to see you actually put yourself in
physical danger, just like that second fall out the chair.
There's two moments where she you know, well, it's not
a double take, but you threw yourself out the chair, right.
(48:05):
I mean I had a giant matt and I made
sort of practice said a lot beforehand, and I was
very like serious about it, like you promised me time
to practice and throwing myself out of a chair, and
I need this time to do that. You did it
on the floor, like elsewhere on the floor, because you
only have that. I just needed to see like the space,
(48:28):
you know, seeing what you can do at that desk.
You nailed it because my shoe flew off on accident,
and then I was like, oh, I gotta keep that.
So then I had to try to flick my shoe
off air. Okay, I was it was spotaling perfect. But
the other thing is, um, you're Barbara Streisan jingle Bells
(48:52):
raddition as as a as a person who's whose band
member is known for his breath control. The first thing
I noticed was that you hardly all these words. How
do you how long do you prepare a sketch or
how long do you prepare bits? Well that one um
(49:14):
Brian Tucker. I got a text from him at like
two am with that song and he said, I just
heard this in a cab and I think this would
be really funny if you want to do it, And
so then I just I was like, number one, that's
very funny that Brian Tucker is sending me a Barber
Streissan's song, and then uh if I just started practicing.
(49:34):
I mean it was just like my neighbors probably think
I'm insane because I'll just be singing things like that
over and over and repeat on loop. Yeah. Yeah at
nighttime in my primary Yeah and sleep yeah, Malcolm Gladwell
hours Like there's no way, Like I put the I
put it on Spotify myself, and I was like, there's
(49:55):
no way that she learned this in less than a
month or year, Like I thought that was something in
your repertoire forever. No, it's just when you're a lunatic, um,
I think, and you don't sleep, You've got all those
hours in the night. You are a lunatic. Cecily, you
never took singing like serious series. Um. I mean I sang,
(50:18):
but it was never like a singer singer. No, And
there's a lot of singing I can't do well, So
I'm more like I can do sketch comedy singing. Speaking
of which, what's the determining factor of when you guys
warm up the crowd? Um? Is it that? In my mind?
(50:39):
I thought that was like, oh, this is when you're
new to the n b A and the freshman on
the new team had to carry all the bags. So
when they warm up the crowd, um Keenan does his
old soul review routine and usually three of the s
and l ladies will be his pips will be like
(50:59):
his version of Glass Night and the Pips, and they
dress up for it and all this other that same s.
They never never changed and well no, no, it's just
a warmup thing. Okay, so that's what I mean for
the warmup. They always do the same warm up. Yeah,
but I mean the audience isn't crazy like me and
be there every week. So it's new to everybody, right,
it's new to everyone. But what is the process of that.
(51:20):
It's like if you're new, you have to sing? Or
is it like how do you guys negotiate it? Are
they told like, well, it's my week to sing? Or no, no,
I uh. I did it for four five years or
something and then it was but you sing, uh, give
me some lovin And there was like I Now the
(51:43):
newer girls do it, especially because if the cold open
is coming, to do that warm up and then to
go right into the cold open can be kind of tough,
and a lot of times Kate will be wearing crazy
prosthetics or something. So then, yeah, I was wondering, how
do you guys run with just three seconds left to right?
So it's uh, but I was definitely like I am
(52:05):
done too. I broke my foot one year right before
the show started, so I got out of warm ups
and then it was kind of like can I stay
speaking of out? Uh? You were in the coveted anchor
chair of weekend Updates? Yeah, exactly, and then you well,
(52:32):
because of you, I guess we now have Michael Jay,
but why would you give up such a coveted spot? Well,
I think it was doing It was Seth, who was
so established made it feel like I could just go
in and it was already a thing that I just
could sort of slide into. And then when he left,
(52:53):
it was Colin I and it was like, clearly this
needs to now we have to figure this whole new
uh thing out, and and it was just like that
the what that would have taken if that was really
exhausting and sort of like, I don't know that I
want to spend my time now just figuring out what
(53:13):
updates going to be. So so there were a lot
of talks with Lauren and you know, and it was
it wasn't an easy decision necessarily, but it was I
think absolutely the right one. So what would doing this?
Doing update required that you really have to have a
chemistry with whoever your partner is on the show, And well,
(53:37):
I think it was because he was so new too,
so it was like two new people trying and it
was just like I just would rather I missed. I
just want to do more fun to do. You can't
do both. You can't do update and characters. I think
if if Seth had stayed longer, I would have I
could have stayed longer because it was I didn't we
(53:59):
didn't have makes something new. Yeah, but is it rare
though when we think about it, like it feels like
the folks who always do we can update, do the
least other stuff, right because Amy did a lot right? Well, yeah,
Amy did do a lot, but I think like once
you had but just to try to figure out what
that new dynamic was going to be just felt like
(54:20):
pretty daunting and and exciting, but not what I was
wanted to do on the show the most. Um, he's
so curious about SNL man like I'm gonna get past
the best. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying, that's
a very adorable child, very good to go see a message.
(54:44):
Now he sees like it, and it's like there's nothing
I truly am like. It's very flattering and exciting. You
can hear him laughing in the audience sometimes on bad No,
I told him, like, don't sit me the mica. They
put me under, but the mic is as close to
(55:07):
my seat as the microphone right now that I'm sitting in,
and so occasionally Jimmy will hit me. Really you thought that,
you thought that you thought that Harry Potter joke was
really funny? Really? Really? Yeah, I always get out of
with with my laughter, so I tried to, Um, here's
(55:28):
the weird thing. And speaking of when things get cut, um,
we were weird enough. Yeah, always brides me never bride.
We were we were busters band, weird enough hosted by
Donald Trump. We were Yeah, we were busting rhymes. Has
(55:51):
been uh on his on the ninety on his show,
I think hosted by Why to fold on this Rabbit
or um no, no, that was just give me some
more period. Uh, Okay, do I really want to try
to figure out this. No, no, no, don't. He's in
(56:12):
George of the Jungle. Um one wait, the Last Live?
What's he your voice? Come on, I don't do this
to me. He was also in the movie in which
the woman was the Devil. She's real sexy, she has
an English accent. Elizabeth Hurly, Yes you're right, yeah, yes,
Brandon Fraser, Yes we can play. We got Elizabeth Hurley. Yeah,
(56:41):
I hope you. I hope you burn in hell anyway.
So yeah, with the Brandon Fraser Show, um, and then
the Donald Trump Show and which we did an album
with two to the Maytaels, gwent Stefani. So does he
know you want to be in a skit? Because I
know that's probably no. No. I My my love of
(57:05):
the show is actually watching two things I love. I
love watching the panic. Whoever your wardrobe lady, is that
or not? The wardrobe the one that wrangles. That's my
favorite thing to watch, Like to watch her grab after
monologue is done. She will grab you by the collar
and yeah, that to me. Watching the Machine run is
(57:30):
my favorite ever still on some v I P ship
because I'm like other shows and the kind of show
where you can be like um, yes, can I get
on list for next month show? However, my second favorite
thing is, um, I love I love throwing off the
audience clap when it's time for the end. So the
(57:52):
band will try to teach them all the time. If
they're ever off watching the band, you know, that's so
disappointed in the dance. It's not the audience. It's not
the audience, it's me. They go so fast. I'm the
(58:12):
one in the audience that's speeding up the clap, knowing
that the nine people next Oh what are you doing.
I'm sitting in the audience and I'm speeding up the
clap knowing that thirteen and fourteen people next to me
are going to speed the clap with me, and then
so on and so on, and then I mess it up.
Every time it's messed up, you know, you know to
(58:36):
look up in the balcony be like, I gotta tell
the van no, don't do that, Please, please don't do that.
All right? My last question is that most people use
s analysis springboard two other careers. We're actually now be
(59:00):
on a sid Now is actually a cool end game?
I mean, Keenan's on his twentieth year. I believe, Yeah, yeah,
so wow, I've been Yeah, but it works for him
straight from Goodburger just be yeah, I mean he's a genius. Yeah,
but that's amazing. He's made for it. It works for him,
like and so, but I mean I'm certain that people
(59:22):
had like woe you know, Eddie Murphy did it, Sandler
did it. You know, Tina Fey didn't like for you.
Do you have a vision board? And I'm not asking
for like your last year, but but do you have
a vision board that you might consider like, Okay, the
end of this particular sentence will happen this particular year
(59:45):
and then I'm going to develop this show or direct
this movie or Yeah. I mean I think there's a
there's a lot of things I'd like to be doing.
Some things you can do at the same time. So
it's of it'll just depend on, uh, when it feels
right to go. But there's a lot of things I'd
(01:00:07):
like to be doing, like a lot of different things.
I think I brought up a project to you once
that I wanted you to do that I'm still hoping. Oh,
we're propatising each other now, yeah, yes, I'm I'm the
king of yes. And then Steve laughs at me, like,
when you want to fit the senior schedule, can you
be the gin of follow up? The schedule is always tough, Yeah,
(01:00:31):
and it's the worst. So do you plan your summers early?
Like are you a because so many things fall apart.
I mean in this just in this industry, you think
you're doing one thing, so then you don't plan for
something else and then that falls apart. So it's really
just like it's it's very frustrating. And then to know
(01:00:51):
that I'm taken from September to May, that's really tough.
So that'll sort of be the decide factor if there
is an important enough uh offer, are you given leeway
to take this week off? And then I think now
(01:01:14):
they've been more lenient. I mean maybe I shouldn't say
that out loud, but it seems like it's um that
they're that they're letting us sort of do that a
little bit more. That's something you already kind of yeah,
and I think it's I think, um, he likes having
an established cast and having people that know each other,
(01:01:36):
and it's sort of like, if that's how to keep people,
that maybe is the way to go. It's like Lawrence
Scorsese is like, I gotta have you as de Niro's
daughter and the irishman. Can you do it these reasons?
I think then Lauren would make me. Okay, that's yeah,
that's what I'm saying. Okay, cool. Oh one last thing, Um,
(01:01:58):
I was there when you did the last uh, I say,
the last White House Correspondence dinner. What was that like
for you? Um? It was so it was terrifying because
they asked me in August or something and it's not
till April, so I had like months to doubt myself
(01:02:18):
and think about failing. But it was like again, I'm
a big Obama head, and it was like I just
and and everyone was like, don't do it. Nobody like
you never win. You don't win in that room. The
best you can do is break even. But I was like,
but it's Obama, so I have to do it. Or
(01:02:39):
industry people, Yeah, yeah, we're definitely trying to talk me
out of it. People remember that. People just remember that
you did it unless you really want to make a mark,
like Michelle wolf In like really laving down. But I
thought it was great. It was a few in the pass.
I really killed it. But now did you say it?
I'm like, I can't even remember who was I killed it,
so yeah, yeah, well I think Colbert had a big one. Yeah,
(01:03:04):
which one was that Obama wrapped? I don't know if
the Kegan was there when I was there, that was like,
oh great, that was right before I go on, Oh
that was the same one. Yeah, that was a good
night then it was Yeah, I thought I thought it was.
It was tasteful, it was very it was cool, and
it was the first it was I brought like fifteen people,
(01:03:24):
my entire family and my grandfather and grandmother and Arlington
National Cemetery Colonel Cecil Struck, and it was the first
time I went with my dad to his parents graves,
so that it was a very emotional trip as well.
That's awesome. Well, I'm glad you may be decision and
not to listen to anyone that helped you talk to
(01:03:47):
yourself out of it. A great opportunity. Yeah, yeah, I mean,
I'm always going to take the chance to sit next
to Michelle Obama. That's a small group of people who
have been asked to do that. So that's a big honor.
That's it. Well, Cecily, I thank you for coming to
the show. Thank you and molding. We looked it up
(01:04:09):
multiples an actual word. Sorry, thanks again, Derek Man, you
come through in the clutch Man you Todd Rendren would
be very mad. Oh, thank you. I appreciate you coming
to the show. You're definitely one of my favorite players
(01:04:33):
and I appreciate you enlightening our our audience. Alright, kids, Uh,
that's another episode of course Love Supreme on BF of
Layah Sugar Steve the spelling Steve your new name. I'm
paid Bill. I guess one of these days, Uh Manuel
Miranda will let you come back to work and uh
(01:04:55):
Fontigelo you'll get you know, the throat cancer with the cigarettes.
Hopefully you'll come back. Uh this Quest Love and oh
my fault. How are you doing? Boss Bill? I hope
we did you proud. We will see you. We will
see you next week on the next round of Quest Love.
So free. Al Right. I Heart Radio m For more
(01:05:29):
podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
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Questlove
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.