Lorne Michaels outside 30 Rockefeller Center after Saturday Night Live
March 13, 2016

Steve Higgins outside 30 Rockefeller Center after Saturday Night Live
March 13, 2016

Kyle Mooney at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 13, 2016

Leslie Jones at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 13, 2016

Jon Rudnitsky at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 13, 2016

Kenan Thompson at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Sasheer Zamata at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Bobby Moynihan as Riblet St. James at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Colin Jost and Michael Che during Weekend Update at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Colin Jost at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Man working at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Ariana Grande at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Cue Card Holder at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Kate McKinnon as a half Blobfish at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Cecily Strong at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Ariana Grande at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Taran Killam at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Beck Bennett at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Bobby Moynihan at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Bobby Moynihan at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Vanessa Bayer at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Taran Killam at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Microphone Man at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Pete Davidson at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Cecily Strong at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Ariana Grande at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

The Saturday Night Live Band at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Larry David at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Larry David at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Beck Bennett at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Jay Pharoah at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Darrell Hammond at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Vanessa Bayer at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Kate McKinnon at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Kenan Thompson at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016

Michael Che at Saturday Night Live at 30 Rockefeller Center
March 12/13, 2016



I got to go to Saturday Night Live last night.

(written Sunday Morning March 13, 2016)

I had been emailing with a friend about random stuff and the show Saturday Night Live came up. I made a comment like, “oh my goodness I have wanted to go to the show for like 30 years,” and she said kind of a “oh, we can totally get that to happen,” to which I thought, “egad, no way,” but also hoped it was true. She has some close ties to the show. She emailed a couple days later with a person I was to contact. This was about a month ago. The date that seemed doable was March 12 and the person I emailed with at the show replied that he’d let me know if it was going to work out. In related news, the host of last week’s show was Jonah Hill and during introducing one of the musical performances of the show he was wearing a t-shirt with one of my drawings on it (which was very exciting, and also confusing because I hadn’t made the shirt and it hadn’t been produced anywhere). I got an email from the contact there this week that my seat had been confirmed. I was really excited. The host was going to be Ariana Grande, who I kind of didn’t care too much about (not in a bad way, I just don’t know too much about her), but as I was looking at the cast to make sure I knew how to spell everyone’s names, I got really into it because I wanted to draw all of them.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a little weird. The instructions were to arrive at 30 Rockefeller Center by 10:30pm (for the live show at 11:30pm). I meandered around a bit, went to the Whitney Museum, got snacks and was working on random stuff during the day. I headed over to my friend’s house to drop off a print and on the way I saw Jonah Hill. I saw him across the street and went over and said hey and immediately went into the fact that I was psyched that he was wearing the shirt with my drawing on it the weekend before on the show. As I was saying it out loud, in my head I was thinking, “How could he not think I was an insane person?” I think I got enough information out quick enough for him to realize what was happening. He was totally nice. He didn’t know who had put it together (I think just that one shirt must have been made (when my friend initially sent the screenshot of him wearing it to me I thought it had been photoshopped)) but was totally nice and surprised I had made it. I headed to the friend’s and we went to the hardware store to buy light bulbs. While walking, I bought a raspberry smoothie (and felt healthy for a couple minutes) and then we got soup, perogis and a grilled cheese sandwich at B&H. I headed back home to be nervous alone before taking a shower and heading out. I wanted to get to the Rockefeller Center area before ten so I got on a train about nine (I was nervous) and got there about 9:20. I wandered all over. I looked in the windows at the Museum of Modern Art and Uniqlo. I walked past the Magnolia Bakery up there and looked at cupcakes and the people in line and looked in the windows at the Today Show (where a man was sitting on a couch and eating something out of a take out container). I looked at the flags around the ice skaters below 30 Rock. I walked past the Lego store. At about 10:14pm I went in to where I was supposed to go. I was told to just hang out right at the bottom of the steps and someone would come grab me. There was a small batch of people starting to congregate in the area (other people were being told to just go right up (to a different line I realized)). I could hear people talking around me and was surprised that nobody seemed to be as excited as I was. And by “excited” I sort of mean nervous/anxious. People kept asking the NBC Page at the bottom of the steps if there was enough time to go grab a drink or if there was a close Starbucks before they had to go up. Finally (pretty much right on time) the guy came down to grab us (I was first in our group) and he was totally nice and I thanked him and he told me directions on how to get up there as he handed me a little envelope with my name on it (and ticket inside it (which I never even looked at)) and I immediately forgot the directions but luckily there were another several NBC Pages along the way to point me up. I went through a metal detector and then got on the elevator by myself. I took a picture of the repeating NBC peacock pattern carpet on the elevator floor. I saw two lines on the way up and I didn’t have to wait on either and I tried to not make eye contact with anybody in either of those groups because I didn’t want to look like a jerk. I got up there and showed the man my ticket and there was a brief pause before he pointed me to a woman right inside the door. I was on the second floor of the studio (I think the stage is on the eighth floor and I got out of the elevator on the ninth). I had thought about the seating before because I had taken an NBC tour about fifteen years ago and had seen the space. You can tell on tv too (that there are two floors) but I hadn’t realized just how small the space was until I was on that tour with my family. Another page pointed me to a yellow seat and I sat. There were probably twenty-five people in there already when I walked in (My guess is about two hundred people watch the show live? (this guess might be terrible (and could be a hundred people off))). I also knew things moved around a bit depending on the sketch downstairs and the people had to maybe move around a little. I wanted to draw and I didn’t want to move around so I was excited to be where I was. The security guys were milling about and telling people to put their cell phones away (not just don’t take pictures, but don’t even have your cell phone out (I looked once at the time on my phone because I was nervous)). At about 11:10 the band started to play and about 11:20 Michael Che, featured player on the show and one of the Weekend Update anchors, came out to do standup to get the audience into it (I drew him) and just get the ball rolling. He was funny and then Kenan Thompson came out with Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer and Sasheer Zamata to do a little more elaborate (singing and dancing) sketch. It was exciting to see something that wouldn’t be on tv—like a special for the audience song. I drew all of them except Sasheer Zamata because things ended too quick for me and the show was about to begin. I was trying to draw all of the cast members. I saw Lorne Michaels walk out and mill around a little in between camera guys and microphone people. I was very excited to see him. I don’t think he said anything to anyone as stage people moved around, moved things, and fixed American flags behind a TRUMP campaign placard that was affixed to a podium. Darrell Hammond came out as Trump and Jay Pharoah as Ben Carson. They were standing still as someone yelled out 40 seconds. . .30 seconds. . . Lorne walked back in front of them calmly and gave Hammond a thumbs up (kind of a “let’s go!”) which I liked a lot. I didn’t see Lorne talking to anybody. The show started. I drew Hammond, Pharoah, and Beck Bennett who was on the other side of things in a different backdrop (he was a news anchor on CNN I think). They then turned to Bernie Sanders (played by Larry David!) and people in the audience cheered. He was right in front of where I was sitting. I drew him twice in front of his bright green screen. There were monitors above us to watch as it appeared on tv but I was focusing on everything else. It was all weird to see. The people that worked there knew exactly what they were doing. Watching the people perform was also weird because it was like watching them on tv—which I have been doing for a long time—but in this case they were all at different angles. I also liked seeing the other people as they were standing next to things about to go on. Larry David announced the show and the monitors played the opening. The band was playing and I drew them. Ariana Grande came out and I drew her. I drew Cecily Strong (one of my favorites) who was to the right and then I drew a microphone man sitting in an elevated chair. Bobby Moynihan popped out to appear in a sketch with Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer and Ariana Grande. I have been a fan of Moynihan’s for a while (I just think he is so ridiculous and funny). There was a break and then a skit with beautiful mermaids (Strong and Grande) and one really gross blobfish mermaid that I think was Kate McKinnon (another one of my favorites, she is so smart and funny) that had saved guys (Bennett and Killam (and a third I think? that I can’t remember because I couldn’t see his face, I do not think, from where they were shooting it (a little aside: I haven’t watched the show yet (on tv/computer) since being there because I wanted to write this before that for some reason—so I am sorry if my order of things is off in spots))). I drew all of them (except that one) and one of the cue card guys. Larry David came out to introduce Grande’s first musical performance and he screwed up her name a little. There was a woman whose job I think it was to get Ariana Grande places and she literally carried her from one stage to change and up and down and back again. It was kind of funny. Grande would yell up to her friends between skits. They were sitting in the middle about ten seats away (I was to their left). They would yell back and it seemed a little odd, like, “we are all here listening” and then I realized she was 22 and this must have been even insaner because of how young she is. They started to set up the Weekend Update set and I was psyched (again, it was just so weird to see all of this happening) and a man sat in the chair as they got things spaced correctly (or heightened/lighting/I am not quite sure, but he was sitting there as they set up) and then the Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che came out. I didn’t know how much interaction they had with the audience until seeing it in person. They are really working on the jokes landing with the people watching near them. Cecily Strong came out to do a bit and then Moynihan came out as his character Riblet who again I think is so funny. I drew him twice. Weekend Update ended and I drew the pencil that Jost had been holding that was on the floor in front of their desk. They set up the next sketch and I got to draw Sasheer Zamata. She was on the other side of things between people and cameras and other equipment but I could see her. I also drew Kenan and then a security guard tapped me on the shoulder which was weirdly startling and told me I had to put my pen and pad away. I paused and said “ok”. I think he then tapped his foot behind my seat as another security guard looked at him—kind of a “I just gave this person a warning.” I was so excited to be there and I was in such a drawing mode, I almost had a guttural response to this. I was drawing in my lap (not in the way I hoped) and carefully and when he told me I couldn’t draw anymore I didn’t know what to do. I think a lot about experiencing things and the “can I fully experience things if I am drawing?” idea. The conclusion I come to most now is drawing usually helps me experience things. It is a way for me to slow the event down a little to be in it more, especially in this case when it is such a particularly crazy thing to be going through for me. I even had the thought earlier as I was walking around Rockefeller for the third time before going in that I was narrating what I was doing in my head. I wasn’t acting or feeling like myself because it was such a weird thing to be doing. Not to sound all fancy schmancy arty about it but when the man told me that I couldn’t draw I had the thought, “well, what am I supposed to do now?”

The next skit had Kyle Mooney in it and I was bummed I couldn’t draw him because I think he is so weird and funny. It also had Kate McKinnon and I was bummed I couldn’t draw her again and Kenan Thompson was wearing a Steve Harvey mustache which I so wanted to draw. I kind of got over it because I said to myself, “get over it,” and things were really fine. There were six dancer guys on the stage where another musical performance was about to happen and they were getting ready and it was insane to see how good they were. Sometimes (rarely) when I get to see dancers warming up I am in such awe. These guys were in such control of there bodies (after the performance, the middle aged guy sitting in the row below me turned to his friend (and both of their wives) and quietly (and maybe even slightly confused) said “those dancers were amazing.”). Larry David and Grande were both out right before he was going to introduce her again and she said to him jokingly (and also I think about 50% truthfully) “Larry, do you know my name?” and he laughed a little and apologized. She said, “I have to introduce you at the end!” and he said, “You can screw up my name if you want I don’t care,” in such a Larry David way. He was being nice and funny and I thought about how his “Larry David character” on tv in interviews or things, I thought, is close to his real character but not quite exactly (I felt as though he was aware of it, and in control, which I liked). He introduced her for this second time with a slight eyebrow lift, sort of apologizing with his eyes I thought and she did the second performance. After, there was a skit with singing and I saw Aidy Bryant and she was just really good in it. Things moved along a bit and Lorne come out sort of near the bottom center (off screen I think) and cast members came out and walked past him to get on stage for the final thank yous. I pulled my pad out again after about ten seconds (I waited as long as I could and I didn’t think (hoped) anybody cared anymore) and drew Kyle Mooney really quicky, and Leslie Jones, and Jon Rudnitsky (I am sorry that drawing is soo bad). I wanted to draw everyone and thought I had, but then realized I had missed Aidy Bryant as we were ushered down the hall. I got into the elevator, and walked through the NBC store (or a portion of it with SNL stuff that was still open) and looked at my drawings trying to figure out how to draw Aidy Bryant. I thought I had drawn her a couple weeks before on tenth avenue but wasn’t certain it was her so I didn’t post it on my site. I walked outside and saw Pete Davidson on the corner and said hey and he was nice. People were waiting outside of an exit with a bunch of cars so I thought I would wait there to try and draw Bryant. Lorne Michaels came out and I drew him again, and after a bit I realized none of the other cast people were coming out. I walked down 6th avenue and saw the other entrance had people coming out too and saw Colin Jost taking pictures with people. Steve Higgins popped out and I drew him. Then Bobby Moynihan came out and he took some pictures with people and I asked if he would sign the “Riblet St. James” page of drawings in my pad. He laughed and signed it and asked if he could take a picture of it. He made a comment about the name and I said “the St. James is so funny” and he cracked up and said “it’s so stupid” and we both laughed and I liked that he seemed like a nice fairly normal person. I then walked back over to 6th Avenue and down through Times Square where it was very weird (because of Daylight Savings it was now after 3am) have you ever been in Times Square at 3am? I hadn’t. I got a cab and went back to my apartment.