Inside Late Night With Mark Malkoff Ep 21: Wally Feresten (Part 2)

Wally Feresten is a familiar face to longtime fans of Saturday Night Live and Late Night With Seth Meyers, where he’s been featured on-camera countless times. As the owner of NYC Cue Cards, he runs the cue card department for both shows, as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

In part one of his conversation with Mark Malkoff last week, he discussed how he got his start in the business and shared stories from his early days at SNL.

This week in a brand new episode of Inside Late Night, Feresten shares more behind the scenes secrets from SNL, including which hosts and cast members have memorized their lines instead of reading off the cards and how it was that he came to be one of the founders of the SNL crew after-after parties.

He also describes his working relationship with Seth Meyers at Late Night, and how he handles the cards when Meyers ad-libs a joke (which he frequently does). 

Click the embed below to listen now, or find Inside Late Night on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow Wally Feresten on Instagram or Twitter/X and read his weekly column here on LateNighter.  If you’d like your own personalized cue card written and autographed by Wally, visit cuecardsbywally.com.

Show Transcript

 Mark Malkoff: How often do the musical guests ask for cue cards for their lyrics? 

Wally Feresten: Oh my God, when I first started, like the first 10 years, we, we did it almost, we did it all the time. 

I didn’t know that. 

I remember, I remember Sting, um, when Sting hosted that famous run of, um, uh, Jagger, Sting. 

Oh, that was the best. 

That was, yeah.Who was the third one?

It was Luke Perry and Mick Jagger, and then McCartney and Alec Baldwin, and then the third was Sting and Bill Murray. 

I remember Sting, it was a new album and he just hadn’t memorized the songs yet. It was, there was, it was really new. So we had all three of his songs on cards. So we would print them on cards. I would usually be just somewhere in the middle. Um, and it wasn’t the band, the band performances weren’t like they are now, nowadays, where the cameras are moving around and the crane swooping in. So they, I’d just sit on the floor somewhere in the, toward the middle of the front and they’d light the cards and, and I’d have all the lyrics there and, and, and it helped them out. Now, they’ll throw a, some, some guys will throw a prompter down there, but once in a while, you know, they, they’re like, Oh, I don’t know that song. Can we get it on cards? And I’ll have one of my guys do it or I’ll do it. 

But back then, back in the day, there were more. 

Back then it would seem to be a lot, like they just wanted that safety is that have that safety of it, you know. 

Speaking of Bill Murray, um, when you see him, do you ever say my brother Spike says, “Hi?”

No. 

Inside joke.

No. 

Spike has talked… 

What did he talk about? What was his Bill Murray story? 

He said a couple of times, I’ve heard him say it. That, um, I guess he was right when he was writing for Letterman that, um, Spike was writing for Letterman that he wrote something for Bill that Bill didn’t do and they were, uh, Spike was at an after party and Murray was there and Murray would always sit with the crew and, you know, it just really, um, I’ve only been around him maybe once or so, but he, um, but Murray, they were in the bathroom and Spike’s like, you know, “Why didn’t you do my bit or whatever I wrote?” And Murray got very upset. 

Really? 

And um, yeah, he got very, very upset at Spike. And then I guess a couple years after, um, one of Spike’s friends said, “Do you want to hang out with Bill? Um, Bill Murray should join us.” And Spike’s like, “I do not think I’m welcome.” His friend is like, “That’s crazy. There’s no, there’s no way. He’s not going to remember this.” Then Spike’s like, okay, you can try. And then friend calls back Spike and he’s like, “You were right.” Did you not know that? 

I didn’t know that because I had a different relationship with Bill Murray. ’cause he came in and hosted and I was like such a huge fan of his. 

Oh sure. Yeah. Yeah. 

So what year, do you remember when he hosted?I love quizzing you. What year? 

Oh, well he, he’s hosted, he hosted a bunch of times, but like, um, I’m trying to think. 

So from 90 to after 90, what, when did he host? 

Oh gosh, 93. And then he came back after that one, was with Will and Molly. They did the Yahtzee piece. And then, um… 

I think it was the 93 one. I think I had probably just started taking over. And, um, that was my first year doing it. 

That was fun. That was like The Whip Master. And then they did, um, 

Yes, it was that one. Yes.  So I remember, I remember going up to him at the party and I, which like I always do with the host and saying, Hey, it was great working with you. Usually they give me a hug or something like that. He asked me to sit down at this table for a while and he introduced me to everybody at his table and it was, uh, Mike Ovitz, who’s the power frigging agent, all these famous people that he introduced me to, and he told him who I was and it was really, he was very nice to me. And then I get the thing I’ve been wanting to ask him and the courage to ask him. Uh, I said, “So, um, you know, I’m an avid golfer. You know, I’d love to, you know, play around with you, uh, sometime.” And, uh, he looked at me and he smiled. He was like, “All right.” He was like, well, but he’s like, “First of all, um, it’s February.” It was like, it was like, “There’s no, we’re not playing golf right now.” And I was  like, “No, I know. When it gets warmer out.” And he was like, all right, well, he’s like, “I’m going to call your bluff.” He was like, “Here’s my number. Um, give me a call in the Spring and we’ll see if we can set up a game together.” Gave me his number and I was like giddy. I was like, “Oh my God, Bill Murray just gave me his number.” And I, you know, I know, I, you know, I called that a couple of days later just to see if it was his number and it was him on an answering machine. I was like, “Oh boy, I got Bill Murray’s number.” 

Was it the 1-800 number? I think this was before the 1 800 number.

I think I don’t think it was. It was, I think it was a 212 number in New York apartment number. And I think at the time, yeah, He was married and then by the time the spring was he was not married and that number was no longer he moved out or it was disconnected and I never was able to, uh, call him up for a game.

Rob Schneider did an Update piece and I’m guessing they changed it for the West Coast, but he was doing a commentary as himself about cartoons and he he said something on the cards and it was, it didn’t make sense to the studio audience and he actually said. He said he took a pause and he said, “That’s what it says. Kevin Nealon, does that, is that what it says?” He’s like, “Yes, that’s actually.” Do you recall that? And how often would that happen? That, that maybe, um, the, the joke or a punchline might not be on the cards. How, how does that happen? 

So, so he, they were basically saying that we, we missed, there’s something wrong on the cards, right?

Schneider. Yes. Like that’s what, that’s what Schneider and Nealon was like. That’s what, yes. Verifying for him. 

No, we try very, very hard for that not to happen. Obviously. 

I’ve never seen it before. 

Like, like I said, you know, we’re not perfect. It’s a live show. We’re flipping a thousand cards a show. I, you know, I really strive to make everything perfect and we have all these checks and balances. So stuff like that doesn’t happen. And if it’s going to happen, please let it happen on dress where we can fix it for air. 

And that’s, yeah. Some of the funniest moments are in dress where things like that happen and no one will ever see. Other than Mike Myers, Marci Klein mentioned on Fly on the Wall that Mike Myers was sick during the show. And I believe Steve Carell was sick one time. Do you, what is that like for the host? What, what do you witness? Have you seen that a lot when a host is like, you don’t know if they’re going to be able to go out and do it? How often does that happen? 

Wasn’t Spade, David Spade, famously, he was like throwing up.  

Yeah, I think Spade was, was, yes, I think Spade was throwing up as well. It’s only, to my knowledge, it’s only happened a few times. 

Yeah, we’ll, you know, I mean, again, that’s talent department, that’s, you know, talent department deals with all that stuff. They deal with it really well. I mean, sometimes, you know, um, a host will be whispering, you know, during rehearsal because they’re saving their voice or their voice is already gone and they’re trying to get it back. So they’re whispering or they’ll do it once. And if it’s something easy, then they’ll have a stand and go in there so they can go and relax like things like that, if they’re not, if they’re not feeling well. Yeah. But, um, I think, wasn’t there a show that we had a host and they get sick and we had to get another host like on a Wednesday? Wasn’t there some, I think there was a story like that, but I don’t remember who it was and, and who filled in, but…

I think that Joe Pesci was, was announced once. And then Hanks came in, but I don’t remember anyone else who I’m trying to remember. I should have this, anybody that’s listening to the show. If you know this, let me know.  And Macaulay Culkin’s the only one that didn’t use cards because his father didn’t want him to. That was the only host that didn’t do cards?

Right that’s a funny funny because he tells the story that there weren’t any cue cards that episode. 

That’s what, you know, when I, when I heard that I was like there’s no way. They couldn’t do the show. 

Yeah, that is not true. Um we would never do that to the cast. So yeah, his dad wanted him to memorize everything, so he didn’t read any of the cards, but we had cards there we had to put them in place for him, just in case because he was a kid and just in case he didn’t memorize it perfectly. But man, I don’t think he read one of the cards because he had them all memorized, but yeah, we had cards there for the rest of the cast. 

He was great. You know, I remember Fred Savage, Drew Barrymore, they used to have kids on. You know, Macaulay Culkin, that was what, 92 and they’ve not had a kid on to host since.

Yeah. 

Do you have any, I mean, they could do, I mean, you know, they have the child laws where they’re not supposed to work past a certain time, but they can definitely, you know, If they wanted to do it, they can make it happen. Do you know any idea why in over 30 years, 32 years, they have not had another Macaulay Culkin type person.

I don’t, I think with the child labor laws, I really think that they couldn’t work around, I really don’t think you can work around that with the schedule they do with the pre tapes they do now and stuff like that. It’s really a rigorous schedule for these hosts. So I really think it would be really hard to get someone on like that.

When did this happen that the cold open, when I used to go to the show and it was really interesting with the switches because the cold open could be. Anyplace in the studio. It literally was not on home base. 

Yeah, 

Every single time. And at one point, was it that they even when it’s like, there have been times I’ve been at the show where there’s person sitting next to me is like, they’re not going to be able to get that clear this for the host, because it’s like literally 10-20 seconds before the host is supposed to come out and they’re still clear in things. When did that change? 

I don’t know when it changed, but Lorne likes to get as much stuff on home base as possible. And in that changeover, it has almost become part of the show too. Like, you’re, if you’re sitting there for the first time watching SNL in the studio, you’re seeing this big political thing on home base, and you know the monologue is coming right up after it. I mean, That’s almost as fun as watching the sketch, watching these stagehands, you know, clear it, and then, you know, build it, build another set or whatever. It’s fascinating. It’s really, really fascinating. 

I just don’t know, because the pieces would play in other parts of the studio fine. I mean, for the, if you’re playing for the studio audience, yes.

Yeah. 

Home base, and I’m sure, um, That they’ve had success with that. 

So it’s an interesting, it is an interesting question. And especially sometimes like if they cut the cold open, which is rare, and they replace it with another sketch and that other sketch was in a different position, they’ll try to change that, put that position on a home base and they’ll say, Okay, it’s going to be the cold open and it’s going to be on home base. Now it’s not going to be over where it was.  I don’t think. 

I was going to the show when they were doing, um, where the audience could barely see like all the way to the left, you could kind of see some stuff, but it’s interesting. Now, when Dana Carvey would do his Bush cold opens, it got to the point where he was so comfortable. He said that sometimes he would ad lib a little bit and play around what necessarily might not be in the cards. Number one, is that true? And how, is there anyone else in the history that’s ever kind of played around like that with, with their words that weren’t made me necessarily on the cards exactly?

Dana could do that, and Seth does it a lot on Late Night when I’m holding his cards. These guys are smart enough to know you can, you can ad-lib on the card. Just make sure you say that last sentence on the card, because then I know where to pull it. You know what I mean? You could add-lib and I know it’s not there, but if you, if you then pick up again with the bottom of the card, Then I know when to flip it. If you’re just ad libbing and then you’re going off like, I don’t know what you’re saying, then I don’t know when to flip it. I don’t know if, you know, what you’re doing. They were always really smart. Dana was really smart. Seth does that. Bill, when he was doing that Vinny Videci character, we would have that all written out in Italian, that gibberish in Italian on, on the cards. And I, man, I would just, I would just try to listen to follow along and that was, he would throw in words that were not, were not on there and you were like, “Oh man, what am I doing?” But you know, you just kind of like, you just kind of have to get a feel for it kind of thing, you know? 

At one point, did you notice that, um, the majority of the laughs, if you go to the show are all from the right side of the bleachers, the worst seats when that’s the standbys usually when Did that start? I always noticed Seth Meyers when he would leave the stage would always like kind of acknowledge them, because they, I mean, for your cast member, I mean, it was so invaluable to have that they didn’t have that for a bunch of seasons and it was really affected the show.

And they’re the worst seats too. So yeah, a lot of cast, I remember we would point at them and say, Hey, you guys, you know, you guys are the best 

Sudeikis would make fun of them. And Norm McDonald, when he was doing that would make fun of them. 

They’re the worst seats in the house, but they, yeah, they get big laughs. And whenever we do a sketch over by that section, It usually did really well, especially because they’re right on top of those, those people. Yeah. I mean, those are the, those are the true fans, but it’s hard to, you know, I, again, it’s, it’s, I, I, those are the people. It’s funny when I, when I walk out that I get, I get cheers from when I walk out. 

Oh, they recognize you. No, I know you’re famous. People ask for your autograph and they ask for photos. I mean, I mean, this is, you’re a big deal. I mean, it’s like, 

Mark, it’s crazy. I mean, I know I’ve been working here 35 years and I’ve, you know, I think I’m, I’ve, I’m considered part of a small part of this show, but when stuff like that happens, it’s, it’s crazy. It’s, I think it’s really crazy. 

Yeah, I know. It’s, it’s, it’s unbelievable. And just the fact that like you and Lorne talking about the Yankees, he’ll give you his, his Yankee seats. 

I know, right, Right before the, right before the show, yeah. 

Yeah, when did they take away the boom mic because that was always it’s not there anymore. Is it? 

Oh, no They’re there. 

It’s still there? The only reason I say that as I haven’t been to the show in a long long time and I never see it in the Shots cuz back in the day you would see it sometimes get in the shot. 

Yeah. 

I never almost never see the boom. 

There’s still two boom, booms in every, in every sketch, but they are doing, they do, it’s the things, the sketches are getting so much more complicated now that they use everything. And I think maybe the booms sometimes are just backup in case a mic goes down. 

That would make sense. I just never see it in the shots where back in the day, it would be like, Oh, yeah. What are your thoughts on that, the Chris Smith, New York Magazine, 1995 cover with Farley and the Saturday Night Live dead? It was such a strange time to go to the show. I was going to the show. There were good sketches that were getting in. You know, I’ve heard people like Al Franken and Smigel and other people, you know, it was just the cast and the writers maybe just didn’t gel. You had, you know, Janeane Garofalo, Chris Elliott, um, over there. Phil Hartman was gone. That was his first year gone. It was a very challenging time for the show. Obviously the next year, you know, you got Will Ferrell and Cheri and all these in your back, but what was that season like? And what, what stands out about that article? 

It’s a bummer when something like that comes up because everyone’s working so hard on this show. And it’s such a hard, it’s a hard show. It’s, um, it it’s, it’s a bummer, but it didn’t, I didn’t see it affecting people, you know what I mean? It was my fifth, fifth or sixth season working there. And, you know, people would come up to me and ask me specifically about that. Like, you know, “Oh, what do you feel about that? I, you know, you guys are, you guys aren’t going to be around.” And this is, I was like, “Look, I, I just do the cue cards in the show. I’m not writing any of this stuff. That doesn’t affect, you know, it doesn’t, it doesn’t affect me.” But these are still the same people that would come up and say that, like, “Oh, your show is not funny anymore. And it’s because this article points out all this great stuff.” And then the next sentence would be like, “Hey, but can you get me tickets? I’d really love it.” I swear to God. 

You know, I mean, that was the season, like the Sandler’s Hanukkah song. They did some great pieces. John Travolta, when he hosted, when he came in, they did welcome back. They did that cold open where Travolta was walking in the halls and the Saturday Night Fever. 

So great. There’s always funny things on there. And just someone is going to try to make a name for themselves by, by saying, 

Yeah, it was definitely a tough season, but they rebounded. Now, I’ve been to the show where they were supposed to have a famous person make a cameo and the dress rehearsal, they couldn’t be there. So they would, you know, try to cover with something. Does that still happen sometimes where the person won’t come on into the live show and it’ll be kind of confusing, right, for the people at dress, like what’s going on? Does that ever happen? And if so, who were some of those people? 

Yeah, it happens quite often because they try to get, you know, cast, they’ll try to get special guests last minute sometimes. And I think the last time we did it, like with Jon Hamm, it’s usually someone that’s been on the show and it’s comfortable doing, you know, we wouldn’t, they wouldn’t do it with someone that hasn’t been on the show and isn’t used to the process. So I think last year we did it with John Hamm and either he was flying in or he had something, he was on a show that he, something, he had a previous engagement, he couldn’t make it for dress. So, um, but with him, you know, he’s, he’s such so good. So he’ll show up like at 10:30, 10:45, I’ll go in there with cards. I’ll give him, I’ll have the script with him. Higgins will talk to him and I’ll show him cards. And he’s like, “Yeah, I’m good.” 

And he’s fine. But for dress that’ll, they’ll just write around it, I guess. 

Or someone will play that part. Like it’s Jon Hamm playing, uh, you know, a character. So it’s not, it’s not Jon Hamm or they’ll just make it somebody else, you know, character, you know, do it at somebody else, yeah. 

I remember being at the show. Um, I was there for both dress and live, but they were doing Superfans. It was, um, when John Goodman hosted. With Ackroyd and Tragically Hip and they did The Superfans and Brian Dennehy on-air made a cameo, but they couldn’t get him for Dress. So they, I think they just got an intern to like walk on and it was like everyone’s like what is this? That was like the payoff and everyone’s just like, no clue.

Yeah, I mean usually it would be a writer or another cast member, you know, they’ll ask them to do it, you know, say hey, it’s not gonna you’re not gonna be on for air But can you mind doing this and usually they’ll be like, yeah, it’s it’s it’s rep time, you know, getting reps and then and doing something but um, yeah If it’s somebody big and they want they sometimes and they like a surprise too They they don’t sometimes they don’t want to show it at dress because it’ll be a real big surprise for everybody If they show it just on air.

Yeah, there’s certain guests that just had trouble. Jason Patric was one. That was Blind Melon. That was January of ‘94 It was one of those things. Norm has talked about it a little bit. Um, he came in, he’s like “Jackie Gleason’s my, uh, my grandfather,” or something like that, and I do remember, um, one of the writers telling me a little bit later that it was not that he just didn’t seem like he maybe wanted to be there. What stands out about him and just that whole monologue? I mean, it just, he, it just died. I mean, what is that like being there for that? 

I don’t have any memory of this, Mark. I’m sorry, but I mean, I, I mean, I will say like, just for the, for the, like, sometimes it’s, you know, it’s not the right, it’s not the actor. It’s the writers just have trouble writing for that person. I remember you had somebody on that was talking about, like having like six white guys on in a row in a row in a row in a row. And it was like, you know, after this, you know, so you can pitch a sketch to one, but, oh, you know what, I’ll save it for this next white guy that we’re having. It’s hard to write if someone doesn’t have anything maybe specific about them or a talent or something that they’ve done that they can make fun of. It’s hard to write for that person. You know, it’s hard to put them in that position, you know? 

I would say though, that in the last 20 years or maybe a little bit less, that’s, I mean, sketches don’t bomb anymore.Ten to ones, after Update, if you scored on a sketch, it was a big deal. And now everything scores. I mean, it’s completely different. So I think that that host has a cushion where they, if they get up, they’re still going to get something. 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We try to, I mean, you don’t mean that host is giving you a week of their, of their lives for this process and you don’t want to let them down. That’s why. You know, I try not to make mistakes so I can, you know, they can focus on, on their, on their… But most of them are really excited to be there. Most of them are like, this is a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to be here. And they’re really excited and it shows and their enthusiasm shows. Yeah. Sometimes if a host is not that enthusiastic about it, yeah, it can come through. But I don’t have a specific memory of that. I’m sorry. 

Could you tell when you’re doing the Martin Lawrence monologue that It just was not maybe suitable for air. I know that they had to edit it for the West Coast, but when something like that is going on, are you just focused on your own job and you’re not really thinking about what maybe the guest is saying? And it seemed like Martin Lawrence wasn’t sticking to the cards from what I’ve been told. 

Again, I mean, I think he was doing stand up, right? 

He was, so maybe just bullet points. 

He either had bullet points or he didn’t have or he didn’t even have anything. He was just going like a lot of times. Some comics will do a monologue for dress and then for air, it’s completely different. Uh, Dave Chappelle commonly does that. 

That’s amazing that he can do that. 

What he does on dress. Not one joke is the same one he does on there. And that must be terrifying for the, for the higher ups. 

That’s unbelievable that he can do that. I’ve talked to people that worked on the show about this, but how many hours does it take you to come down from the show? Because it is so much adrenaline for the people that are doing that show. About what time, do you still go to the after parties, I’m guessing, every week or most weeks? 

I go. I go get drinks somewhere, but yeah. 

About what time can you, do you, does it, how long does it take you these days, would you say, to calm down from all that adrenaline?

If I get home, usually like between four and five, I’ll still lie in bed for me. Sometimes till seven. My ears are ringing, cause of all of all the, you know, the music, the loud music in the, um, and you’re like, if there was a, God help you. If there was a sketch with a catchy song that I’ve heard, that I’ve heard play. It’s I’m lying in bed at six o’clock in the morning and that song is still, and I’m singing that song or humming that song. And I’m like, “Oh, get it out of your head.” It’s just hard. Yeah, it’s hard to come down. It’s really, really hard. No matter, I could be the most tired I’ve ever been in my life before the air show, like at 10:30 when the dress airs. And I’m like, Oh, I’m not going to make it. I’m not going to the party. And then as soon as, as soon as the air is over, I’m, I’m up and everything’s forgotten. And I’m going out and I’m going to have a drink and a couple of drinks and wind down and talk it through and then go to bed. 

You’re one of the founders of the after-after party, which starts after four o’clock. Do you still go to that?

Once in a while. I’ll go a lot of times, I’ll go check the place out. I don’t have nothing to do with them anymore I wouldn’t be on record as saying that. 

it seemed like Professor Tom’s was your place. That was like.. 

Yeah, we had one of my buddies, Pete, who worked for me was the owner. One of the owners of Professor Tom’s. 

I remember that a bunch of times for the after-afters back in the day.

Do you know the history of the, of the after, after parties? 

All they know is that it was, was it you and Sandler and a couple people after the four o’clock after party would just go to somebody’s apartment and and just keep it all going? Is that it? 

It was never cast members. They might, they might’ve had their own little thing, but we would always do staff. We would always, me and a bunch of people would be like 10 of us and we would decide whose apartment to go to that wanted to do it. It was like I said, 10 or 11, and they would leave early. They’d leave at like 3:30, grab a couple cases of beer. Whatever, we’d go and hang out at their place. Cause, cause, you know, you’re not getting to the party until 1:30. It’s two hours later and you’re still jacked up. So, so that’s how it started. And then it started getting in from 10 and went to 20 and then it started to get to 30. And, um, Jimmy and Horatio took it over. Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sands took it over and started putting tickets and renting. It was their idea to get bars because it was getting too crowded at people’s apartments and you couldn’t do it anymore. So it was their idea to start rent, renting out bars. 

Have they always had a password? Is the password thing been since day one? 

We had passwords when Jimmy and Horatio took it over. They had, um, they had like a pass. They would write that we’re on yet and yet you use that to get it. We always had passwords. We thought it was funny and cool to do passwords. Um, the funny thing was one, so one Sunday, I’m trying to remember when this was. I was in living in Fairlawn. So it had to be early 2000s, like 2001, 2002. So we must’ve been still doing it then. And I woke up, and I always get the, I always get the Sunday Times and a couple other papers and I open up the same times in the front page of the style section. There’s this big expose about the after after parties and it talks about the passwords and it talks about this and I suppose that, and I was like, “Oh no, this is not good.” My first reaction was “This is really cool,” but this is like, “Oh, this could be really bad too,” you know, but nothing ever came of it. So… 

I remember you giving me a hotline number at one point and it would say where the after after party was and. I’m guessing it was the, the password as well. 

Yeah, it was the password. It was the address and then there was the password again. Listen, so when I started my company in 2004 and going forward and I was involved in those after parties and I wasn’t really involved. I just helped. I just helped kind of find a place and I had um, a very, very nice NBC lawyer come up to me and and say, “Hey, I just wanted to chat with you about something.” And I was like, “Yeah, what’s up?” And he was like, “You’re involved in these after after parties.” I go, “Yeah, I am a little bit.” He was like, “I just want to give you a little warning.” He’s like, “You own your own company now, right?” I go, “Yeah.” He was like, “If something were to happen to somebody at one of these parties, um, you could probably be sued and, you know, that wouldn’t be good for us, wouldn’t be good for you.” And, uh, I was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s true.” He’s like, “Just wanted to pass that on.” So that’s when I stepped aside. 

Smart man. 

It’s fun. If, you know, you still want to stay out and have some drinks. It’s, um, they try to do it at different places now, like we did one at The Stand last year. It was like in the basement and that was, they had like a DJ and. You know, they try to do fun things like they do live band karaoke at Cutting Room. Um, things like that. When it’s there, it’s kind of fun. But yeah, it’s, it’s for the younger people. You know, I’ll go when I need to go. I’m going to get in trouble if I stay out later, you know. 

I was going to ask about in, uh, the Writer’s Strike, which was 2008. They had a, a show for the writers at UCB. Were you doing cue cards for that? They had Michael Cera. That was hosting this and this was just in a basement 

This is a really, really good question. I was there as “a technical consultant” because either I couldn’t, or they didn’t want me to do cards for them. They had to print their own cards and hold the cards for their own sketches. 

The writers did for each one, or?

The writers, each writer for whatever sketch they were doing they I gave them the pens and the in the ink 

Now they know what it’s like. 

And after that week they when they all came back they were like we have so much more respect for what you did because we had to do for that one show and I was there just kind of like giving them advice and stuff like that, but for some reason I think maybe because for the union stuff they had to do everything they’re on their own. I couldn’t help out um and I was thrilled to just give them advice watch them do it and I didn’t hold the cards. I think, I think I positioned, make it easy for them. I think I got a chair and we put the cards on the chair and then they just pulled, you know, each card kind of thing like that. Try to make it as easy as I could for them. But, um, yeah, it was really fun. It was really fun. 

Yeah. I wish they had a tape of that.

I know. 

Would you go along sometimes to the Jim Signorelli commercial parody shoots to do cue cards? 

Yes. 

What stands out? Because I, I wasn’t sure if, if they, they would just kind of memorize those, because they only would do maybe like six a year at one point or seven a year. 

Yeah, it would depend on what it was. If it was a host-heavy one and they had a lot of dialogue, we would usually go to help the host out, um, and it would be, it would be me or one of my guys. And back in the day, it was, they shot it, I’m trying to think–did they shoot them on Friday mornings, maybe? 

The Singarelli commercial parodies were, like, shot even before, like, the season premiere. Sometimes they would have a couple of them shot. 

Yeah. Oh, that’s right. Yeah. They, right. So yeah, so I wasn’t working. So, and I wasn’t working on any other shows at that time. Yeah. It would be just a day at work and I’d go and you’d shoot. I didn’t love them just because they’re, you know, you’re there for, you know, sometimes eight, nine hours. There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of downtime where there’s two or something. I like the, you know, the, the, let’s get in rehearsing and get out kind of thing. But, um, I just remember, yeah, I remember doing a whole bunch of them. I don’t remember anything specific from them. It’s just like another, another work day.

And then the, uh, Digital Shorts and those sometimes you would go, too? 

Once in a while, again, if it’s, if the host has a lot of lines and to help the host out, they started having guys, uh, like PAs hold them, like we would print cards for the, for the, like the last few years, um, we would print the cards and they’d have PAs hold them if they needed them, you know, like two sets, so they’d have cards there in case someone wanted them for, for one thing, they didn’t rely on them too, too much. They have prompter there as well for some stuff. But now my guys joined the union last year, my guys are IATSE Local 1, and um, only union guys now can hold cue cards, so if they really, really want cards on a shoot, um, then I have to send one of my guys to do it. 

Tell me a story about Dave Wilson. Dave was the director from ‘75, and then they had, I believe, Paul Miller did a little bit here and there, but for the, I’m, I hope I have that name right.

Yeah, 

But mostly it was Dave Wilson. What was Dave like? What was that? 

I just learned that, about Paul Miller, in fact. Um, so I thought I’d worked with every director at SNL and I hadn’t worked. I’d never worked with him. Um, Davey was old school TV as you get smoke, chain smoking cigarettes in the control room. I remember it was a constant battle to get positions for cue cards. Um, and Bob Van Ry, like I, I had no say in any of this stuff. Like I, I was like, this is where I want to be. And there was, it’d be a camera there. And, um, Van Ry, Bob Van Ry was the stage manager, would, would get on his radio and say, “Davey,” you know, “Cards needs to be here, Wally he needs to be here.” And, uh, David was like, “I don’t give a shit. I need a camera there.” You know? And he’s like, “Come on, work, work with us here.” And we’d usually end up working it out. Or if I get into a shot, he wouldn’t yell my name. He’d yell “Cards, cards!”. Like, you know, he was like, it was just like this gruff director, but I loved him. He was just so, it was just, it was like, in my mind, it was like, that’s what a TV director is. Like, that’s what you see in a movie kind of thing. And it was thrilling. Even when he yelled at me or we were fighting for positions. I loved it because it was just that he had such passion and Van Ry had passion. So it’s usually those two yelling at each other, Van Ry sticking up for me and him saying, “No, you can’t be there. He needs to be somewhere else. Figure it out.” You know, that kind of thing. I loved it. He was great. 

Other than Michael Jordan, who was hit up, and I know that there was a sign saying “No autographs,” but some cast members got or some people got it.

Yeah, I got one. I got a, I got a famous one. 

I was going to ask you. 

It must’ve been early in the week, must’ve been on Thursday, and I knew it was going to be tough. It was my cousin, who was, I think, probably eight at the time or seven at the time. It was his birthday that week, and he was a huge Jordan fan. So I bought a birthday card, and he signed, he said, “Happy birthday, uh, Tommy,” and Mike had signed it for me, and I sent it to my eight year old cousin, who obviously flipped out. He still has it, and I was like, “Dude, that card’s probably worth a lot of money.” 

I know Smigel still has a basketball signed somewhere. Uh, yeah, that, that definitely did get him. He was so good. On that show, uh, as a host. It was, um, it was absolutely phenomenal. Is there anyone else like that, though? That, that sometimes the, the, the writers or the cast or anybody will go up to and stuff, or like, the host’s pretty good about doing photos if they’re asked, or music?

Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s just, it’s just, you know, knowing the right time to do that kind of thing, you know what I mean. They’re, they’re all super nice and I, you know, I’m working with them, you know, for three days helping them out, you know, I, I used to, I used to bring in DVDs and have people autographed DVDs. I stopped doing that because I stopped, you know, I don’t, I don’t ask for pictures unless they want a picture with me. Sometimes I… 

Isn’t that nice. I’m sure Adam Driver and Barkley want photos with you. You’re friends with like so many people. 

I know. it’s so much fun. Like that relationship that I build with these people, especially if they come back and host multiple times. Yeah. Is so is such a great thing, um, to build that bond with them and then be able to talk to them outside, outside of work. It’s one of the cool, really, really cool parts of the job that I really, really like. 

Yeah, and then they come on Seth’s show and you see them. So, um, great when that happens. When Lovitz hosted, uh, Jon Lovitz hosted, he said that, um, after the show, no, none of the cast members except Will Ferrell would come up to him. And he thinks, you know, he, that it might’ve been during the week, a writer was pitching him a sketch. And he’s like, “That’s not a sketch.” And, uh, he might have upset some people. Um, I know at Norm, when Norm hosted at one point, nobody went up to him at Goodnights. Sometimes during the week, can you kind of tell that there might be a disconnect between the cast and the host?

Yes. Yes. And, and again, I don’t blame it on anybody, the cast or the host. Sometimes it’s the cell phones. The cell phones are to blame. You know, if 

The host is on their phone all the time? 

Or the cast is on their phone all the time, yes. Either or, or both are happening, it’s hard for them because we have a lot of downtime where we’re blocking sketches, you know, Liz is figuring out shots and she’s talking to the cameramen and there’s sometimes you’re sitting waiting to pick up like 5 or 10 minutes. If everybody’s on their phone, and I’m guilty too, I’m on my phone playing friggin Candy Crush to make the time go by, uh, fast. You don’t get that chance to get to know them and ask them questions and say, “Hey, what, you know, are you having family come,” and stuff like that. So, I’ve seen more of an effort, like, like, try, people trying not to be on their phones and, and, But yeah, if a host is on their phone all the time, then it’s kind of hard to get to know them, you know.

I never thought that the host would have their phone, uh, I just, for whatever, 

I mean, there’s a lot of downtime in, in, in they’ve got text messages and this is an exciting week. People, I’m sure people are texting them. Hey, “Can I come,” or, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on and they’re, and they’re famous people. So there’s, there’s stuff they’re dealing with, with other projects, probably, I’m sure. So. 

Molly Shannon once told me that when she would go on Friday nights, she would leave, she’d go home, and these were her words, she would say she would go home to memorize her lines. Now, how many cast members try to do that, and is Molly, I never really asked her about it, um, more, but is that, some cast members actually do try to memorize lines, and why, what would that purpose be since things change?

Molly did it because she, she memorized all her sketches. And then if she had, maybe she had one or two lines in another sketch, you know, she can either memorize them or she would read them. She would read them off cards, but it, it really hurt her when she came back to host. She came up to me and she was like, “Wally, I don’t know how to read cue cards.” And I was like, “What do you mean? You’ve been, you were on the show.” She’s like, “I memorized everything. I don’t know.” So she was really nervous about reading the cards and I really had to work with her the first time wasn’t as nervous. Surprisingly the second time shows that she was even more nervous than the first time, but it really it hurt her in the long run. I mean, some cast members, if it’s their sketch and it’s really important to them, they’re going to memorize or, you know, memorize to the point of being really familiar with it. And even if they change a couple lines, they’re fine with that. You know what I mean? They can get that part and maybe they just use the cards. As like a guide to when their queue line is coming up, you know what I mean? But she, she memorized all her stuff. And then, you know, 

I couldn’t tell when she hosted, I thought she did amazing. 

She did great. It was just really, she was just really, really nervous. 

It was just during the week. It was a little harder.

I had to work with her again, helping her out and showing her where they were. And, you know, for every sketch, this is where they’re going to be. And this is where you should look. I tell them a lot, you know, it’s, it’s confusing because sometimes there’s three sets or four sets all around them and like, which one do I play? And the rule I kind of tell them is. Whoever the person you’re talking to, it’s that, the set of cards that’s over that person’s shoulder that’s, you know, closest to that person. So I try to give him that guide, you know, kind of. 

Was Mike Myers another memorizer and stuff a little bit with his wife? Robin would go in with him and just run lines?

I think so, yeah. But he did read the cards. But I mean, he, he wrote all his stuff, which was, he was amazing. 

I know. It’s, it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable that guy. And he, he was such a sketch writer. Such an amazing sketch writer. 

Yeah, I think he read the cards. He was a good card reader, but he knew it again, one of the guys that you knew it really well. He knew it really, really well. 

I got to see him a couple times backstage and like the moment the wig is on him, he starts doing the character. 

Yeah. 

He’s like going through the hall and stuff like whoever it is and stuff that process. 

He was, he was so much fun. He was so much fun to work with. He was. 

What happened if to your knowledge what happened to Jeff Richards that he disappeared mid season He did a howard dean cold open that did not do very well and then he was gone 

Yeah, I don’t know, but that stuff happened a lot more, you know in my early days like they’d bring new cast members on in january and then someone would be gone. You’d wait for christmas you come back in january and there’d be a new person and then be the person’s gone 

You’re right, early on. I remember Melanie Hutsell coming in mid season and then I think Beth Cahill and 

Yeah, again, these are questions you’re going to have to get producers from SNL and ask maybe, you know, Mike. You need to interview Mike Shoemaker. 

I know. See, he’s on my dream list, but do you think Mike would talk to me? I mean, I’m going to ask him. 

Um, well, I don’t know. I mean, maybe. He doesn’t work at SNL anymore..

He’s been very nice to me. No, he’s like the nicest guy. I mean, it’s, it’s proof that you can be an EP on one of those shows and still, you know… 

He’s the greatest. Yeah. So him, so Mike Shoemaker, Jim Pitt, and my brother, Spike, were all working around the same time. Mike Shoemaker gave my brother the nickname Spike. 

I didn’t know that. 

Cause it was Mike Shoemaker. Mike Feresten and Mike Myers, and they were like, there’s too many mics. So you’re Spike, 

You did Carson Daly’s show and was Carson, the one that was instrumental in you getting your own company. Is that how it worked?

He was one of the shows that went with me. I started the company in 2004. And at the time. I was doing cards for Carson and, uh, SNL, and had guys working on Conan as well. Late Night when it was Conan, we were not being treated very well. We were  bouncing our paychecks and things were, it was almost out of a necessity kind of thing, so. He was… Yeah, I went to all three shows and they both, they all said that they would switch over if I started a company. Um, and I ended up buying out the, the company that I worked for. I ended up doing a five year buyout plan. So, um, they got some money back, uh, for me. But yeah, it was out of necessity and all the people that were working on their shows were friends of mine at that point.

One person that I feel like there should be more out there about because she was so instrumental in the show is Marci Klein. What stands out about Marci? 

Oh, man. Marci was the talent department. I mean, she’s all these questions are asking about the inside stuff. Marci knows. 

I will say one thing from people that I’ve talked to completely fearless. I mean, oh, yeah, when I say fearless, I don’t know a lot of other people in the industry that are doing that. Just have the confidence that she would have sometimes to talk to certain people to get what she wanted. 

Yeah. She ran that talent department and she was dealing with egos in hosts and agents and stuff behind the scenes that we have no knowledge of, but you have to be, you’d have to be tough. And she was tough and she got whatever, you know, she was Lorne and she was Lorne’s right hand man. And she did the stuff that needed to be done to get that show on the air and get the stuff that Lorne wanted and stuff. It was pretty, it was pretty impressive, pretty impressive. 

I want to talk about Cue Cards by Wally. Tell me how it started. And I know that this is a big thing and you’ve been interviewed all around the US for this. 

Yeah. Um, Cue Cards by Wally came out during COVID. Um, I had the idea in 2020 and I went to my wife who is in the business world and she loves entrepreneurs and loves starting companies. She, she, she was instrumental starting my New York City Cue Cards. We just celebrated 20 years. And she helped her dad with his company and her brother with his company. And I went to her and I said, “I’ve got this idea about like doing personalized cue cards for people.” And she, she looked at me, she thought about it for a second, looked at me and she’s like, “No.” And I was like, all right. And then, um, uh, COVID came and, uh, Uh, I was sitting on the couch next to her after like three months of not working and doing nothing and she was working from home. She said to me, she’s like, “I’m kind of bored. I think I need to start another company.” And I was like, “How about this personalized cue card thing?” And she looked at me thought for a second. She goes, “Yes.” She was like, “Now’s the time to do that. People can’t go to weddings. They can’t go to birthday parties. This is the perfect time.” So I was like, “Okay, but I don’t want to do a lot of work. I don’t want to like do a big business plan, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to be, you know, just like, can we get started easy?” And she said, uh, she introduced me to “Minimal Viable Product. You know, it is an MVP. And it’s just, she’s like, she’s like, we’ll get a Instagram account for you and a Venmo account and just start and then see what you can do to publicize it. And that’s how I started it. 

That’s fantastic. What’s the website?

Uh, it’s CueCardsByWally. com and you go there and um, I will do um, uh, a personal message on the real, same cards we use on Saturday Night Live and, and, and Late Night, they’re the real cards, and I write them all out. I’ll do videos for a little bit extra money. Um, I can’t do anything, I can’t do “Live from New York on Saturday Night,” that’s what, you know, everybody wants it, but I can’t do anything copyrighted, so I had to work with NBC, and Lorne approved this, and um, I had to talk to their lawyers and say this, you can do this, you can’t do that, and this is, make sure that people know this is you, not us doing this.

You’ve been very transparent for that, and people love it, so it’s worked out so much. 

Mark, it’s been fantastic. I mean, in doing it during COVID, when I didn’t have anything to do and I was making these people were so, so happy to be getting these things to give as gifts. It’s an original gift. And, uh, you know, I don’t know anything about companies and businesses that provide a product. But I, when I tell people that I’ve, you know, maybe I’ve done like maybe 3000 cards, you know, maybe so 2,500 customers I’ve had not one person say, you know what, this isn’t what I thought. I’ve planned my money back. 

It says a lot about you and everybody. 

It’s a hundred percent guaranteed. And they, yeah, it’s just, it’s, it’s been a really great thrill for me. I just love it. 

I get a kick out of the fact when you’re over at Seth’s show that their audience members are like holding up “Hi Wally” cue cards because they’re such… 

It’s crazy. 

What was that like when you first started up late night with Seth because it’s one of those things now I mean everybody loves the show, but at first people do not like anything new. They ,it Conan took a while I don’t think people remember Colbert certainly the first year was losing to everybody and then Seth, just for I’d say maybe like maybe a year. It’s maybe 10 months.

It was just like, you know, I don’t know. It took maybe a while for people to get it. But after they got it, it was like. it’s them finding their path creatively. You know what I mean? 

It just takes a little time, but he certainly did it. But what was that like the early days when you were all kind of like experimenting this, you have Shoemaker and…

Oh, so much fun. Because They would write sketches for me, these writers. And they were like, they would be, I would be the focus of the sketch. I’d have like 30 lines, you know, and, and I was going up, you know, I love that they trusted me and I wasn’t that good of an actor back then, but it was, they, it would still was, it was like, it was getting good response and the writers, Seth loved it and the writers really liked it. I, the more and more I get on camera, the more and more I got comfortable now. It’s, 

Oh, you’re great on it. 

It’s so much fun. Like I, and I learned, you know, Mark, I’m, I’m there to do cue cards. So we’re printing closer. Look, we’d shoot the show at four. We get close to look sometimes at 2:45. And that’s when I learn if I’m in, uh, in or not. I look through it and say, Oh, I’ve got two lines. So while I’m printing the sketch, I have to look at my lines and kind of. Get a feel for him, learn them. So I really don’t have a lot of time and then we’re, then I’m holding the cards and I’m still thinking in my head, “Okay, you got lines coming up. Don’t, don’t screw this up,” you know, but it’s so much fun. It’s great. 

I have to say, Alex Baze, I got to interview him. Um, and he was an Update guy, uh, just in terms of being over there and stuff. Um, it’s a collaborative effort, but just in terms of how much he gets on and how valuable he is over there. Can you talk about Baze a little bit? 

Oh my God. Baze is. I’ll see him in the room. So we run monologue before the show. We run A Closer Look, we’ll run monologue and he’ll be sitting there. And Seth’s like, “I don’t know if that joke is going to work. What can we do instead?” And it’s like. two seconds and Baze has like the perfect joke coming out of his mouth. Like I don’t know how he does it, and it gets a huge laugh. We’re all laughing and it’s just like Seth’s like, “Yeah. Okay, great. That’s it. Perfect.” I don’t know how many times he’s done that and it’s just like that’s just that’s just a talent that I don’t know if it’s, I don’t know what it is. It’s crazy, but he, he’s so fast. I mean, Seth is fast with the improv and you see the stuff like that, but Baze with monologue jokes or a joke for a certain thing, it’s unbelievable how quick he is. 

There, there aren’t a lot of people that can necessarily do that at the late-night shows. Tom Purcell, when I worked at the Colbert Report and now he’s at, um, at Stephen Colbert’s show is like to watch somebody like that, that, that. Lightning fast is, um, 

It’s amazing. 

It’s pretty amazing. Unbelievable to see that. Um, I know that they’re very excited. LateNighter is really excited for you to be writing the columns. You’ve done three so far. Uh, the column is “Backstage with Wally.” Um, you did one with your pal, Charles Barkley, and then another one with Betty White, which was such an amazing, uh, thing to have her, um, on the show. And then another one with, um, Christopher Walken and you have some really, some, a great story, uh, about him. Um, I love that you’re, you’re doing these. Have you done writing like this in the past? Just maybe for yourself or just to write, jot down these stories as journals to maybe one day go to them to do something with them?

My, I mean, I’ve got a book in me, um, and, um…

Oh, you’ve got several. Let’s back up. Several books. 

Well, let’s not go too far, but I’ve got a, I’ve got a book in me and my wife for like, the last ten years has been like, you need to start writing these stories down. You’re gonna forget ’em. And as a writer, you know how hard it is to sit down and write something that might happen 10 years down the road or, you know, so when this opportunity came up, you know, I made sure that I retained the rights, which they were great about and saying, yeah, these stories are still yours. We’re not going to do, we’re not going to try to sell them or do anything like that. So I’m basically getting paid to write, start writing my book. And I’m, you know, telling all the stories that are perfect for this site. I think you’re interesting for people and then there’s still going to be 15 or 20 that I’m saving for the book that I can’t really release right now because I’m still working on the show, um, maybe the few controversial ones that I have in me that will be more fun to write. But so, yeah, so this is just give me that chance to write these things down, make a little bit of money. But again, it’s, I was a writer. That’s what I wanted to do. 

Oh, yeah. And I mean, you were writing for Nickelodeon. You wrote for Mark Weiner, who almost was a Saturday Night Live cast member, but he was observant and couldn’t do the Fridays.

Yeah, so it’s, it’s really, um, um, bringing me back to my younger days when I would write jokes and, and I mean, when I was in high school, I wanted to be a columnist. So it’s kind of like coming around full circle to, to writing stuff and I’m really enjoying it. I’m really having a great time over there. 

LateNighter is amazing. I really love what they’re doing. I’m honored to, uh, to be a part of it for sure. 

Me too.

Wally, you’ve, you’ve been interviewed a bunch and I was just like, I want to try to talk about stuff Wally may not have been asked before. How did this go? How was this? 

Oh, this was fantastic. Mark. I was, I was nervous about not knowing the answers to some of your questions because you know so frigging much.

Oh, you’re very nice. 

No, I mean, you know, so much. And it drives me like, it’s like, like, you’re like, you’re going to dress and air some weeks. And I was like, I hear this like, Oh, how is he doing that? How is he going to address and air? 

When I was talking to Streeter, it was the funniest thing, because he mentioned the Jim Carrey, and I think that was the last time I was there, like 10 years ago, and he was talking about the dress, and I was like, that was the last time I was at the show, and that’s why I was like, “Oh, it was the Pete Davidson sketch,” and um, the timing was just on that, but it’s an illusion.

Come to a show, come to a cast party this, this season. 

Oh, I’d really love to, it’s been forever since I’ve, I’ve done that. 

Yeah, it’d be like old days. 

Wally Feresten, thank you so much for doing this. This was so much fun. 

Mark, this was fantastic. It was very good. And it’s leading, leading me into the 50th season coming up. So it’s getting, you’re getting me in the mood. I’m really happy about the 50th season. I’m really excited. 

Oh my, I can’t believe it. It’s going to be, I think it’s going to be one of the greatest years of a lot of people over there’s lives. One of the greatest. I mean, just everything that’s going to go down and stuff and its history and then the movie coming out and And Lorne’s book coming out about Lorne’s in February, so. 

Oh, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know that. 

Yeah, it’s, it’s finally coming out. 

Oh, wow. 

So there’s a lot of fun stuff that’s happening, but I’m so honored. I’d love for you to come back and 

Anytime.

This was a, a good time. Thank you, sir. 

Anytime. you need to gimme, I have your number now, so I, if I hear, um, something I can add to, uh, I hear a story, you’re talking to somebody.

Oh yeah, please.

I’ll text you and give you my impression or my, uh, my side of that story if I 

Oh, I really appreciate that. Thank you sir. 

No, no problem at all. Thanks for having me.