
In his weekly column for LateNighter, Chris “Wally” Feresten, (a.k.a. the guy who holds the cue cards on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and beyond) shares stories from his remarkable career. Got a question you’d like Wally to answer in a future column? Send it to [email protected].
I haven’t had the chance to watch the Netflix documentary Will & Harper yet, but I hear wonderful things about it. And having worked with both Will Ferrell and Harper Steele at SNL for many years, I’m excited to see it and to reconnect with my old friends.
Speaking of, did you know that I performed with Will Ferrell at Carnegie Hall? Stop laughing—I’m not joking! I really did participate in a comedy routine with the very funny Will Ferrell at New York City’s very prestigious Carnegie Hall.
OK, I can tell you’re still a bit skeptical. Allow me to start from the beginning…
Shortly after the horrific events of 9/11, a benefit comedy show called Stand Up For New York was set to take place at Carnegie Hall to benefit The Twin Towers Fund and the New York Police and Fire Widow and Children Benefit Fund. Will was hosting the event, which included a lineup of big-name comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Colin Quinn.
Because the benefit was for a great cause, tickets were very expensive, and I did not have the funds to attend. My brother Spike came to the rescue.
Jerry Seinfeld was helping push some of the high-priced tickets and politely suggested that Spike buy two, even though he was living in Los Angeles at the time. My brother, wanting to support the cause, bought the tickets and asked me if I wanted to take my wife to the show. I gladly accepted and was excited to see all those great comedians perform—and to also see Carnegie Hall for the first time.
The Thursday before the benefit, we were rehearsing Saturday Night Live and I asked Will if he would be performing. He told me he was hosting the event. When I asked if he knew what he was going to say and do as host, he told me that he’d been so busy working on sketches for the week’s show that he really had no ideas. I told him I was going to be there and jokingly suggested that if he wanted to do a cue card bit with me, I’d be game. He told me to ask him about it again on Saturday.
Saturday came quickly, as it always does at SNL, and Will told me he still had no idea what he was going to say or do and asked if I was still going. I told him I was, and he asked what my cue card idea was. Luckily, I’d been thinking about it and I told him to come out and tell the audience that he’s not used to performing without help. Tell them that he uses cue cards on SNL and that he was in luck because Wally, who does the cue cards there, is in the building tonight.
“Call my name out,” I told him. “I’m sure my seats are going to be far away and high up, so you won’t be able to see any of the cards I hold up. Have a pair of binoculars in your coat and pull them out to help you see the cards.”
Will thought it was funny and said, “OK, if I’m desperate for a bit, we’ll do it.” I asked him what I should write on the cards, and he told me to write whatever I thought was funny… no pressure at all!
After that conversation on Saturday, Will and I did not speak at all about the benefit as we were both busy performing our SNL duties. Even if he had wanted to check in with me on Sunday or Monday, he wouldn’t have been able to because he didn’t have my contact info and I didn’t have his.
On Monday, I wrote up some cue cards that I hoped would be funny and headed to Carnegie Hall with my wife. She was skeptical that Will would call out to me, as was I. But I told her that if he did, and if I didn’t have any cards for him to read, it would ruin the whole joke.
I was extremely nervous as we took our seats in the fourth balcony, about 10 rows back from the front. As I had suspected, we were very far away from the stage.
The show started and Will came out, told a funny story, and introduced the first comedian. He came back out after the first comedian was done, joked around a bit and then brought out the next comedian. I started to relax a little, figuring he wasn’t going to do our bit.
As the second comedian left the stage, Will entered and basically said word-for-word what I had suggested to him: “I apologize if I seem a little nervous tonight, I’m a bit out of my element. You see, at SNL we use cue cards, and they really help you out. But I’m just remembering that the guy who does the cue cards is here tonight… I hope.” Then he yelled, “Hey, Wally, are you out there?” That was my cue.
I grabbed the cards and ran down to the front of the balcony and yelled, “Up here, Will!”
Two huge spotlights, one on the left of the house and one on the right side of the house, swung toward me and I was instantly and professionally lit up. Will asked if I had brought any cards to help him out and I responded that indeed I had and held them up. Will commented that he couldn’t see the cards, reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out the binoculars. It got a big laugh.
He read the first card I was holding which said, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Will yelled out, “Wrong show, Wally,” which got another big laugh.
I showed him the next card, which read, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” It’s the setup to that old joke where the punchline is “Practice, practice, practice.” But I thought it would be funny to write just the word “Practice” on its own card—three times. So he had to wait until I pulled each card to get the punchline out.
I remember pausing just a little longer on the last card, which caused him to pause a little longer before he read it. But when he did, it brought the house down with an eruption of laughter and applause.
He asked me if I had any more cards to read and I told him that I did not. He thanked me, I went back to my seat, and our bit was over. I was all smiles at the success of an idea that was mine, as was my wife. It was an unbelievably cool moment and has become one of my frequent party stories.
When I saw Will at SNL the following Thursday, he gave me a big hug and told me he was so happy that I had been there at the benefit. He told me he would trust me for the rest of our lives. I was happy to have come through for him. My job as a cue card guy is all about gaining the trust of the host and cast and I work very hard at doing just that.
I may not have been on stage at Carnegie Hall, but a comedy bit that I thought of, wrote, and got to perform with Will Ferrell was a small part of that wonderful fundraiser. Now you all know the full story. So if I see you at a party, stop me from telling it to you again—or don’t (I really love telling it).
If you would like your very own personalized cue card written and autographed by Wally, please go to cuecardsbywally.com and get all the information you will need. It’s the perfect gift for that late night comedy fan in your life.
What a great story! Wally not only has great handwriting, he is clever and funny! And adorable!