
Not many people can say they were officemates with Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan, but not many people are T. Sean Shannon.
In part two of his two-part conversation with Mark Malkoff, Shannon goes deep into his time at Saturday Night Live, where he was a staff writer from 1998-2006.
Click the embed below to listen now, or find Inside Late Night on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Show Transcript
Mark Malkoff: May of 2003, people on the West Coast and Central saw Adrien Brody present music wearing dreadlocks, uh, a wig, which was not approved by the show and doing, it was like 30 seconds of him doing this Jamaican accent and introducing, um, a gentleman, the musical guest, a Jamaican singer. This was not approved. Tell me, I don’t know where, if you were in the writer’s room, which I’ve, I’ve been there on nine. Where were you when this happened? And what stands out? Because I can’t even imagine what Lorne, who’s, you know, this reputation being very cool and collected. I mean, 30 seconds off is so much, cause it’s time to the second for every sketch that he does this. And it could be portrayed as, um, some people would be offended by what stands out about this.
T. Sean Shannon: Dude. I, I, I’m not. Easily offended. So that didn’t offend me at all, but I just thought it was, that guy was kind of goofy.
That’s what Tina said. That’s what Tina Fey said that, um, working with him was not the most fun, wasn’t pleasant.
He didn’t, you know what he, he wasn’t mean. He’s kind of a harmless idiot, is, is, uh, or, or a harmless goof who thinks he’s funnier than he is, or whatever. And, you know what cracked me up? He went on, I think, uh, maybe Peaky Blinders?
Yes.
And dude, he just straight up does Marlon Brando’s godfather character, which is like, what? But, made perfect sense when I saw who it was. And then that said, he was genius as Pat Riley.
Oh, I love that series. That was very, very good. It wasn’t the logical choice that I would have thought, but he, um, I loved that entire series. Um, I really wish that would have come back. Kenan Thompson wrote a book. He mentioned that in 2003, there was a sketch that you wrote called Randy the Bellhop, and it went to dress rehearsal. It was Alec Baldwin, Rachel Dratch, and Kenan. This is right when he got there. And Kenan said he messed the sketch up and it just completely bombed. Kenan said it was his fault. And he didn’t say your name, but he said the writers in general, then, following that show just were kind of like avoiding him a little bit because he was not established at all. Do you remember that particular sketch and what happened? And is that your memory?
I remember the sketch. I don’t remember it bombing. I don’t remember him ruining it. I don’t remember any type of blacklist after that. I don’t.
He didn’t say blacklist, but he just said people it took a while to get back…
Well, no, no, but I don’t doubt it. And that is a lonely, lonely place. When you are not doing well. I do remember people, my first year, stopped putting Fallon in stuff because he laughed every sketch they said, and that pissed people off.
That didn’t last long, though, because, like, they just, he started to get in everything, but that’s interesting.
Yeah, but I remember early on, they were, and I went out of my way to put him in sketches. And I even made Nick Burns for him. But, no, I… Yeah, any injustice. I always try. I didn’t feel I did. I don’t remember. I felt bad because I’ve always like Kenan never had a problem with him. But I also forget how lonely it is after you’ve been there for five years. You forget. Just how scary it is, your first year.
He’s younger than I think anybody at the show at that point as well. Um, and it takes, sometimes it takes people a while. Yeah, you, Nick Burns, that was November of 1999. Fallon, big breakthrough character, the computer IT.
I did that and I put him in a Jack Black sketch. I remember, uh, the princess and the monster. I forget what it was. They were sacrificing a virgin to the monster. Jack Black was a monster and he was Sir Galahad or whatever. But I remember, I remember that, but also, you know why I probably remember that? Because we were roommates or office mates and. It was my first year too, or second, you know, and you’re still fresh, but no, I felt horrible when I heard that, when I heard that about Kenan, because I didn’t, yeah…
It’s people’s memories.And it is one of those things where people are so busy and occupied when you’re a new person. When Al Sharpton hosted the show, you wrote that sketch of the three wise men getting pulled over for racial profiling. And then you have Jimmy Fallon, who’s on a camel and he’s playing a police officer and he pulls over the wise men… you know, Al Sharpton and Kenan Thompson and Tracy Morgan. Now, tell me if I have this right. This actually, you wrote this, but it was inspired by your brother, right?
My brother Charlie had that idea. And then he passed away the next week.
Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.
No, that is a bummer. Yeah, no, it’s 20 years ago. Still rocks my world every time I think of it. But my brother, that was my hero who watched SNL and we wrote together and he did standup too. We wrote together, but he goes, Hey, how about an idea where they’re writing that three wise men get pulled over by Roman soldiers because they’re black guys. And so that’s where that came from. And that was, uh, so that was very cool. That was, And I love it even more now. But me and my brother did a Christmas show every year. And we would always do, uh, Christmas related schedules. Like we did one, it was the little drummer boy and his brother Shecky. And the little drummer boy just did rim shots for his brother, the comedian who came to perform for Jesus. And it’s like, Hey, I’m still putting BC on my checks. Anyone else? How about a, and then it’s, uh. Hey, how am I doing on time? I should ask the ox and lamb, the ox and lamb, keep up folks. Come on. And so it was something like that. And then we did, uh, Joseph checking into the motel VI trying to get a room, but they didn’t have one. So we had to go to the manger. And, uh, so we would do these sketches and then we would always talk about Christmas ideas. And he was like, Hey, how about this where they get pulled over? I went, oh, that’s a good idea. And so, yeah, that was one of my faves.
It got on early on the show. No, it did. It really did well, I’m looking at some of your
Dude, that show I had five sketches go to dress.
I have never heard that. That’s like Robert Smigel, like Mikey Day, Streeter.
Koren would be like that too, I heard.
That’s amazing.
But I had five, I think two made it, two made it to air, but I had five. I wrote one where he became, this was cool. So I wrote one where he was elected president, in whatever world. So it’s his first day as president. And then Al Franken had a similar idea. And so Lorne goes, do you mind, why don’t y’all just work together and do it? So how cool is that? Are you going to write a sketch with Al Franken or get to work with him? So that was super cool for me. Cause again,
That’s interesting that Al Franken was guest writing that week with Al Sharpton. So I don’t know if they knew each other.
Yes. Cause I think cause he just had that one idea about him being president and we combined our thing. And that didn’t make it, because there was a chunk in the middle that didn’t work, but Bill Clinton coming in killed because it’s Darrell. That’s like surefire magic.
Yeah, I mean, it took him, he’s another person the first season, it took a little bit of time. Yeah. And he, um, but then, like, I mean, yeah, he just got him in front of the audience. So how did Brian Fellows go from an update piece by Hugh Fink, then to Tim Herlihy who went to Hugh Fink and said, can I do this as a sketch? And then Herlihy leaves, how does that go then to you?
So Herlihy’s leaving, also the guy I learned most from when I was at SNL as a writer. He taught me so much.
What? What did he teach you?
Less swing and miss. That was a big thing. He goes, yeah, man, you go for too many laughs. Wait for them. Don’t swing at every pitch. Everything doesn’t have to be a joke. That was a big thing. He taught me some pacing. So he goes, Hey, I’ve got this idea. I’m leaving the show and I’ve got this idea. And he explains to me, it’s like this really dumb guy who has an animal show, but he knows nothing about animals and doesn’t even really like animals that much. At the end I think it’s a dream where he imagined something in his head. And so he goes, you write the last, you write the dream part. And he wrote the first two beats or whatever. And I wrote the last beat. He was leaving and then I just took it over from then and then Tracy was my office mate.
What was that like?
Wonderful, dude. He’s rollercoaster crazy like You’re scared, but at no point will you get hurt. It’s like oh That was oh, that was interesting. He’s a such a sweet dude. He would, and then also I’d write, I wrote a lot of sketches for him. I wrote his whole backstage with Lorne thing.
That was you! Okay, that really got him over in terms of “Get me a Sprite,” and that was you?
Yeah, that was me, and then also when I would write him other sketches, I would give them to him every week. This was, it would go Tuesday night and it’s like 8:30 and he’s going to go do standup spots, but he would go, T I had a good week last week. I think I’m going to take it easy this week. You got me covered? I go, yeah, I got you covered Tracy. And then he would leave every Tuesday night. That was a conversation. But whenever I would get a sketch, I would write it for him and then I would give it to him and he would turn it into, he would change lines to make them Tracy. And it was like, at one point, the one I, the one that’s really distinct that I remember loving going, Okay, I couldn’t have come up with that in one million years. But he goes, uh, yeah, have him say, I bet your bedroom smells like pink cookies. I went, okay, I’m not even completely sure what that means, but okay. And of course it destroyed. Yeah, me and Tracy were buds.
You were at the 25th anniversary, what stands out?
People eyeballing my wife, that was kind of nice.
It happens.Bill Murray does the cold open with Garrett Morris and Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newman. And I think the party was in the Rainbow Room.
I remember saving Lorne from Gary Busey. I remember that.
Tell me about that.
So, it’s before the show. Uh, Lorne is walking through and Gary gets him, Gary grabs him and then keeps going. “Look at my eye, Lorne, man, I’m back. I’m here. I’m here, Lorne. I’m ready whenever you need me, I’m here.” And crazy Gary Busey. And I remember going, uh, “Hey Lorne, they’re looking for you in the booth. They need you right now.” “Well, I have to go, Gary,” and Lorne turns around. “Thank you.”
So you saved him.
And so I remember, that’s what I remember from the 25th. It’s just cool seeing every person.
You mentioned in an interview that Colin Quinn and Mike Shoemaker really were looking out for you your first year. How so?
Yeah. Okay, so I shared an office with Colin Quinn at In Living Color. So we had an office there, and he was out in California for that time, and we became great friends. And dude, I, I don’t think there’s a better standup than Quinn. I do that guy. He’s so smart. So funny. Just, yeah, to me, any, he can do no wrong. I think he’s brilliant. So when I first got there, it took me probably four or five weeks to get something on, but I was doing Update jokes and I think I got a couple Update jokes on and I was, you know, I was holding my own, they, I think they just helped Lorne go, no, he’s doing good or whatever.
That’s great to have somebody like Colin and someone like Mike Shoemaker on your side.
Yeah, no, no. Yeah, no, no, definitely.
You’re a standup. What was it like when Kevin Brennan was there for a year? At the show, you know, I had an internship and then I worked at Spin City and Kevin was the warm up. You know, he’s one of those guys that is just really really funny, but can be I you know, sometimes he People rubs people the wrong way and I think he might think that’s funny that way. I don’t know if he if it’s…
Comedians comedians are the biggest weirdest self involved people and me included, I’m including myself. Comedians are socially awkward, for the most part, just lone wolves, and it’s hard to get along with people, and it’s, uh
Kevin was really funny, he did an Update piece, I remember, but, um
No, no, definitely a funny guy, and I, I remember, cause he was mainly Update, I think he just wrote Update jokes, so he wasn’t doing sketches.that, that I remember.
No, he was just doing Update. Yeah.
But so I always got along with him and I would go on Update when I first got there, my favorite, one of my favorite things is they would have these packets. Do you know the packets for Updates where it’s all the setups?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So Scott Weinstein would put those together.
Yeah. He’s still there.
Is he? Dude, what a cool dude. So he would do those and me and Adam McKay would fill out every one. And then we would Xerox copies and we would turn one copy in, and then we would give the other one our copy. Like I would give mine to Adam and he would, he would give me his, and dude, it was the funnest to read those. And I think because we’re doing every joke, half of them are for us.
That’s what I kind of figured that was an, it was just to amuse you guys,
But then there would be ones for us that got through just because they were, uh, Like a Fox helicopter crashed into the river in New York, a traffic helicopter, and it was, I think, uh, the WB rowboat was there to come to cover the story.
I do remember that one. I do remember that.
That was McKay’s. That was McKay’s, and I could not stop laughing at that one.
That was for Colin. Yeah, Quinn. That did very well. I do remember that one. It was really funny. If you had to pick maybe one, two or three of the most surreal moments of SNL, like if you had a snapshot and you just with people that you were with in the situations and just maybe the circumstances, what are maybe one or two of those most surreal from your time there?
Dude, being in a room with Monica Lewinsky was really weird at that time. And nothing, nothing that she did, or
It was just, at the time she was in the news, she was just everywhere and, yeah.
Yeah. And, and she had this, there was something bizarre about the guy who was with her, and…
It wasn’t her, it was him. This, this gentleman.
It was this guy.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. And I remember, here’s another weird fact that I remember 25 years later, dude, he destroyed the, the. Individual bathroom, just with a smell, not with a night. He didn’t rip it up like a rock star. He just flunked the place out. I remember that. And this weird grant on his face as he came out, and then.. yeah, just, he was weird and pushy. And then there’s this girl that the FBI had in a hotel room, tried to pressure her to crack. And so it was just, that to me is one of the most surreal. Just. And it really hitting you when she goes, yeah, no, when she, just her talking and mentioning how they had her and they were like yelling at her and it’s a little, and you, and then you’re looking at her and it’s a little kid, you know?
Younger people sometimes listen to this back then there was no little, I would say public empathy for her at that point. It did come later, much, much, much later. But, um, every late night show pretty much was doing, um, jokes about her.
No, it was relentless. It was brutal. It kind of hit too, because I’m looking at this young kid and we’re in a room together and it’s not someone else talking to me about it, or it’s not. And it’s her, and then also I feel horrible that that guy is her liaison, or whatever he was, handler, supposed to help, and this guy, I’m looking at him, going, this guy’s a weasel, man.
So that was surreal moment number one. Is there a number two, or is that just basically?
Nah, I have a story, but it’s not surreal.
I was gonna say, I’ll give you one, and then I wanna hear your story. I was gonna say, how about hanging out with John McCain in his dressing room while he sings Streisand?
Dude, here’s so. That’s kind of surreal. I don’t know if it’s surreal. It’s just wonderful.
I think it’s just different. I mean, you could, there were a lot of things, but
He comes to my office. So they bring the host around and he comes to my office Tuesday night and he walks in, dude, the most relatable human being, immediate like him. And it’s like, you can say. It’s political or whatever, but it’s, it’s honest. Cause he walks in my room and he goes, uh, and so I have a poster on my wall. I have a bunch of posters on my wall and I have a Waylon Jennings poster that my friend Meredith got for me. It says, “Hey T. Sean, love SNL, Waylon Jennings”. So having right there. And then I also have a Johnny Cash poster, which is very famous of him, shooting the rod. So now it’s, now it’s in my office here. But this is a famous, so I have this very famous, and this is like, he put in billboard magazine going, thanks for all the radio play for my song, for my album, which they gave him none. So I have these posters in my, in my office. And McCain walks in and goes, uh, “You know, Waylon was one of my constituents.” He was such a nice guy, gives me a Waylon story. Then I tell him my idea about him singing Streisand. He really like, Oh, that’s funny. I’m not a singer. I go, I think that makes it better. Don’t worry about that. And then he goes, you know, Johnny Cash, I was on Larry King with him. It was the last time he was on Larry King, and we were both guests. And then he passed away a short time after that. I was always a big fan of, uh, Johnny Cash. Then he signed my book, and then he also, we had one other thing we talked about and I don’t remember right off the bat.
Was that a common thing that the hosts would come around and you would have them sign something?
No, I was really shy about that. I, I didn’t like doing that. Like when I was at The Tonight Show, I would take pictures with people this long before phone camerasI had a disposable thing and I like all the comedy legends that came by Phyllis Diller, The Smothers Brothers. Anybody like that, I would take a picture with.
You were friends with Jack Douglas.
Dude, no, I wanted to be friends. I was friends with his wife.
Oh, okay, you were with Reiko.
That’s why I asked you about Bob Smith, is with Reiko. So me and Rako and I met his kid, uh, Bobby and So I love that book “My Crother Was an Only Child.” I found it. And then, as I was getting up my thing, and this is 1980?
Can we just give context a little bit? Jack Douglas and Reiko were on Carson all the time. And Parr.
And Jack Parr. So him and Jack Parr were buddies.
They went on all these shows, and Carter was known for being a little cantankerous, I would say. Yeah. But definitely a legend for sure. So you knew Reiko, that’s amazing.
So I knew Reiko and Bobby. But I love Jack Douglas. And when I met Bob, Bob Smith had come to The Tonight Show. I was the new guy there and everyone knew Bob Smith. I didn’t know Bob Smith and we were talking and then somehow Jack Douglas came up and he goes, Oh my God, you know, Jack Douglas. I go, “Yeah, I love Jack Douglas. Are you kidding me?” And he told me about this one bit. And it was just ping pong balls, not just every where you open ping pong balls would come out. And then one, he opened a safe and he opens this big safe and then you hear this giant ball rolling. And then one tiny ping pong ball comes out at the end. And that’s how the sketch ended. And that just cracked me up. And that guy was so funny. So Bob Smith goes, you know, “I’m friends with his wife, Reiko.” I go, “Oh, I would love to meet Reiko.” So I went to lunch with Rako a couple of times. I, she would come see my show. She gave me a script, she wanted to, that he wrote, that I tried to rewrite, but never happened, but no, I loved it, dude, I loved him, I wish I would have met Jack Douglas.
That’s very cool that you got to meet so many, um, old school comics, and one of the, since this is about late night, you were a writer over at Vibe when Sinbad was the host, right?
Yeah, when Sinbad took over, yeah.
That was syndicated, what was that experience like?
Well, you know, Quincy Jones, I got to meet Quincy Jones. I went to Quincy Jones’s house. How cool is that?
Yeah, no, for sure.
Also call me Q. I’m not calling you Q, but okay. Yes, sir. That was Bob DeNiro too. Call me Bobby. Yes, sir. I’m not comfortable enough to call you Bobby, but okay. But no, that was okay. I think, I think it was, uh, yeah, it didn’t work out, but it was okay.
And then Magic Hour, I know that they, they let you go like three days before the premiere, like a week before?
Yeah, so I had a bad manager who got me a deal for, um, pre-production, I only got paid half my salary. And then once the show started, I would get my salary. And then they, they had already given up on that show by the time. And they, Oh, we got to make cuts. We know I had a bit on the premiere, but also there was a guy dude. There’s so many people that ruin everything. There was Magic’s handler, Lon Rosen. Idiot. He was like, yeah, he’s going to come out and do a monologue every night. And I’m like, yeah, no, it’s hard to do comedy. How about you? We embrace that and go, uh, you know what? I got two jokes I’m telling tonight, get ready. And like you embrace that this isn’t what he does. And the thing of what this guy is, is he’s incredibly charming. Why don’t we focus on that, and let him just tell two jokes, and that way there’s no pressure on the writers, we can come up with two good jokes. No, no, Ma uh, Magic can do anything. No he can’t. It’s comedy’s really hard, sorry. He can’t.
That Job behind the desk to carry something like that, I mean, every night of the week is
I I think he could, I think he’s interested in people, I think he could interview people, I think if you set it up where he is the ringmaster more than, uh, you know, but even they bring a guy, I think they had Craig Shoemaker.
That’s true. He was the sidekick.
Okay. So, and then even the way they introduce him, this is your stupid uncle who, and it was like a put down to him before he even gets out there at some weird, I forget what, if you could find the intro, it was. Uh, what an idiot thinks a compliment is, when it’s actually a very passive, aggressive, crappy statement to make about a human being, you know?
What was the story you were going to tell before when I mentioned McCain/Streisand, you said, Oh, sorry, listeners. I know that whenever I listen to podcasts and they said that they had a, somebody had a story we’re going to get back to and they don’t, I’m always like, come on. No, that’s all right. I know JB. Smooth is giving credit for the funniest fake pitches over at SNL. Was there anyone else, um, that even touched him in terms of funny pitches or was it basically I wasn’t there But I heard norm used to do great ones. Oh, I heard that norm as well But when you were there, it was pretty much his show.
You know who had the best fake pitches? Steven Cragg. Do you know about Steven Cragg?
No, tell me
Okay, so steven craig Me and Jerry… Jerry Collins was there for like eight episodes. Jerry Collins. So we all start today. We all start the same day. So we’re all new writers. So Jerry comes out of the box hot. He gets stuff on like the first three shows. I think I hit show four. I got a show that went to dress, second show, a sketch, and then I think I get a sketch on, five in. Stephen Cragg. I think after Christmas break, and then he has a breakthrough and starts getting stuff on very unusual, funny guy. I don’t know how many years in the run. I remember Julianna Margulies was one of the hosts. He would do bits. He would come in, and he would have a bit every week, 20 weeks. He has a bit. One week he gets someone from the tour group to wear his, he had a, uh, corduroy brown jacket, a green hat. He always wore. And so this kid comes in, and sits in a crowded room, and pitches his ideas. Lorne keeps looking at me. And he’s in on it, and so Lorne’s happy at that point. But this guy would do that stuff.He dressed like Mark Twain once.
Did the writers think this was funny? Did it work well for the writers?
Dude, it worked.
That’s, uh, I love hearing that.
It worked. So then, Julianna Margulies, I remember this, you, uh, He’s like, I don’t really have it in me today. Here, here’s my ideas. He hands them to Julianna Margulies and she goes. “I don’t have any ideas this week. Please just laugh like something I wrote was super funny. I have a kid at home. She’s only one years old and she’s sick. And that’s what I’ve been dealing with. So please just help me. I can’t lose this job. I need the insurance for my sick kid. Just, you know, just laugh and go, Oh, that’s a good one.I want to do that. And that would help me. Please, please do that.” I’m not going to do that, and she hands him the note back. So he did that. And then the final one, I think it’s the Jackie Chan show and they won’t let him. He’s got, uh, is he dressed like death or death is going to come in and get him. I don’t know what it was, but Steven Cragg always had something going that were, dude, hilarious.
How long was he there?
He was there at least three years, I think?
I need to, I’ve never heard this.
You should track him down.
Did it help you when you would have a stand up who was a host, like Ellen DeGeneres, for example? I mean, obviously you have to have a funny sketch that you’re pitching, but I know that you wrote, uh, the Kitty Singleton, Federal Agent Undercover sketch for her. Was it one of those things like, did you know her from standup? Do you have a bond sometimes?
No, I didn’t know her. I knew, who did I know coming in? I knew Lucy Liu through a friend. Who else? I didn’t know that many. Uh, I don’t think I didn’t really know Dane Cook. I didn’t know
Ray Romano, maybe from standup?
Knew him in passing, but never hung out with the guy, ever. I knew Norm. Yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t know many stand ups that came in. I mean, I knew of them, obviously, and we had crossed paths in some very vague way, but never, like, never knew anybody, like, kind of knew Lucy Liu, but just through a friend. Our mutual friend was like, yeah, hook up with T. Sean, he’ll take care of you. He’ll protect you or whatever.
Could you tell a different vibe in terms of the material that was getting on when Adam McKay was head writer versus when Tina Fey came in? Because the head writers, they definitely have Lorne’s ear, and they definitely can influence what gets in, and a lot, sometimes they just have different styles.Could you notice a difference between the two of them?
That’s a good question. I don’t, I would have to think about it more. Dude, McKay, dude, that guy’s brilliant.
Yeah.
I don’t throw the word around a lot. Dude, that guy’s genius, man. That guy, that guy’s next level. When they read my packet, I told Fred Wolf, I told Colin Quinn, and maybe one other person. I go, yeah, they’re just waiting for Adam McKay to read it. And all three go, he’s super funny. Like, that’s not something comedians cough out. Like, you know, word association. What they did with him, Adam McKay, super funny.
They were not hiring a lot of stand ups back then too, so, as writers, so I mean that, that just shows you how good your packet was. If you get a host that really champions a sketch, I’ve talked to some of the writers, it’s one of those things where sometimes if they don’t fully champion it can be gone just for different circumstances. Now when you did Christmas Kangaroo for Hugh Jackman, it was one of those pieces. Where did they go to him and said, we might not have time. And he’s like, that’s not going to happen. This, this is getting in.
Okay. So here’s me, this is me knowing the system and gaming it at that point. I want like, he loved that sketch and we hit it off. He also didn’t know my wife was in the crowd, but he kind of eyeballed her when he was waiting to come out to do the musical guest or whatever. He looked at it and was like, Hey, that’s nice. But his wife showed up and was like, Oh, he told me about your sketch, your T shirt. Okay. He told me about your sketch. So he was a big champion of it. And then I told him, I go now, once you gotta be careful. Cause he can always. It’s going to be the last sketch, I guarantee you that, and if they want to get rid of it, they’re going to tell you, ah, we don’t have time. So be aware of that when you go in after, during Update or the Music Act. If you make sure, and so he went out of his way to keep going, no, but we’re doing Christmas Kangaroo. I’m, I’m doing that, right? There’s no way. Oh, no, we’re doing it. Okay. I don’t want to hear anything else about it. That’s the one we’re ending the show with. So, he knew that they sometimes, Mmm, it’s not me, it’s time, we only need, and then we have to, so, I wish, wouldn’t it be great if we could do that? But we saw, I gave my heads up to that, to where, He was like, Oh, okay, I’ll be aware of that.
You were smart to tell him that, because I mean, sometimes that you, the host really have to, is Gwyneth Paltrow another example where they were going to cut due to time?
I was going to have to cut a half, a half a minute out of it. And she just goes, I’ll read it fast. Don’t worry. One joke I was going to cut. She goes, I really liked that joke. Let’s, uh, dude, I’ll just read it fast. And that was hardcore rock. And she was able to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was just, she. Yeah, I mean she’s a pro. That’s the thing. Most of these people are pros. They come in and nail it.
There was a sketch though that they were going to cut for time though and she spoke up.
No, I had to lose, I had to lose. Time out of the sketch. Oh, we’re doing that sketch that sketch was committed, but he goes dude. It’s 30 seconds too long.. I need you to lose a chunk. I need you to lose at least one beat. I was gonna lose the Carrier lotion with the hand cream or whatever it was. She goes, no look.I’ll just read it real fast I’ll just read it real fast, don’t worry about that. And she knew going in that it had to be, she had to zip through it. And so she did that.
When you went to In Living Color, what was a highlight or two? The Wayans were gone by then, correct? When you got there?
Yes, they were gone. Jim Carrey was there. Uh, Colin Quinn was there. Nick Bakay was there. And Greg Fields, who is. Uh, he was one of the head writers. That was cool. You know, what was it was so completely different to where they would assign you characters and stuff. And it would be like like I wrote a Fire Marshal Bill just because he goes, “Hey, we need a Fire Marshal Bill in a operating room.” Okay. And then at SNL It’s like, no one can write your characters except you. And then they’re always yours and you write them. And that was super different there. And then also we, it was all pre taped. So that was fun. And then it was, uh, yeah, no, it was a, it was a great learning experience. Greg Fields taught me a ton. I mean, that’s the thing. Every place you go, you’re going to learn, you’re going to get better. You’re going to learn stuff. You’re going to learn stuff that you can repeat and go, here’s something else. Then you learn stuff that you don’t know you’ve learned, and it just becomes ingrained, right? Just from doing it. And so the one thing I learned there about talking heads, talking heads will kill you in a sketch show. And I brought that to SNL and I was showing someone an example. I’ve shown my daughter an example about this. To where the Owen Wilson is the voice of the Cars guy and they’re doing a Cars 3 or something, did you see the sketch?
It sounds familiar.
Okay. So Owen Wilson’s doing a voiceover of McQueen or I don’t, I’ve never seen, seen Cars, but so it’s him just doing voiceover and his character’s now a dirt bag. And it’s like, I’m gonna get that teenage girl pregnant. Like what the hell is going on? And he, before he can even object, they go, Oh wait, we got another thing. We got Larry the Cable Guy. He’s going to come in and you can do it back and forth. So it was really nice that it wasn’t just him in a booth. They had video, they had a video thing of his character. And then they had another guy come in, Larry the Cable Guy. So it was like, what would have been a talking head sketch is now you’ve got video, you’ve got the board up there with the cartoon character in it. You’ve got the guy on the soundboard chiming in a little, you have another guy entering, you have him going, Hey, am I sure walking around? So it’s more than like, that could have easily just been talking heads. And it wouldn’t have been as good as it is. That’s talking heads was a big one I learned at, uh, In Living Color.
And then I wanted to mention that you, when you were working at Leno, which, I mean, you’re working on a network television show, The Tonight Show, you were still practicing writing Saturday Night Live sketches. It wasn’t one of those things where I’m just gonna coast. I mean, you were still
Yeah, no, that’s what, that was the ultimate goal is, uh, Saturday Night Live.That’s what I always wanted to do. I mean, how could I not?
I love hearing that. What was your favorite day of the show and what was your least favorite day, if you could look back, the highest and the lowest? People I’ve talked to will tell me it’s the highest highs, the lowest lows.
The high? Dude, I, I, after my Parnell sketch was probably the lowest low that night because I, I, dude, I had committed. I’ve, I’ve felt like, uh, like a defensive back who knocked out a wide receiver, but. Boy, he got his bell rung, too, doing it.
But I bet you the writers respected it. I mean, don’t you think that everybody respected you for having the guts to do something like that? I mean, that is the most rebellious Norm Macdonald thing if there ever was something like that.
Yeah, but are people, do people like comedy and that type of…
I don’t know.
…thing as much as me and you? I don’t think they do. I don’t know, but maybe it’s part It’s not a good business move, and I think a lot of those people are business oriented.
You want to get stuff on, so that was the low.
Yeah, so the high, dude, I don’t, I don’t remember what the high was. There were so many. There were, there were so many. I mean, you know what, you know what the high was? Here, this is an easy one. Why didn’t I think of it earlier? My mom and dad coming to the show. It’s Kelly Ripa. Dude, I remember that weekend so great, and my oldest brother, Jimbo. My oldest brother. He was, he’s like 15 years older than me. So I don’t even really remember him being in my house when I was a kid, really. Cause he left when he was 18. He came that weekend too. So my dad comes to the show. I go into Lorne’s office. I go, Hey, uh, do you have a minute to meet my folks? Oh, T Sean. I’m so busy, but fine. So he’s super cool about it. Dude, Lorne’s the most charming human being ever. Charms my mom and dad. So my parents go to dress. They go home. The next morning we have brunch. My dad at brunch is going, Hol d on, how did that sketch make the show? And this one got cut? How? And not even my sketches. But broke the show down just like I did the first time I went to dress at Paul Reiser and Annie Lennox.Yeah, everyone’s been studying, but even my dad, an engineer from NASA, it’s like, yeah, we get it. Kelly Ripa has a bunch of jobs. That’s the first four sketches? You’re kidding me. How do you, yeah. What happened to this sketch? That sketch was funny and then they didn’t do that, but they did four sketches about she works a lot… I don’t understand how, and I’m like. Welcome to my Sunday morning brunch every week, my friend. So that was, that was my highlight just cause my parents had such a good time. And my dad was like, right? I’m not crazy. So that was, that was my highlight. Dude, anything with my parents is my highlight.
I love that, that they would, that they could be there and see their son and his dream come true. What were the after parties like? Do you have any after party stories?
Not really. I would only go to after parties when I had guests in town.
I thought politically you would have to go almost every week just to get seen.
Not writers. People don’t like writers like that. Uh, cast members. Yeah. It’s always, I think cast members, they want you to.
Darrell stopped, Darrell Hammond stopped doing it. And then Norm stopped doing it. Um, but pretty much everybody else.
But I think if you drink, if you, if you’ve stopped drinking, that’s not a good place to be true. Also, I, I don’t want to pay $12 for a beer, $15 for a beer.
People think it’s free when people are at like, Saturday Night Live party. And it’s less, it’s at the wrap party at the end of the season at the, at the rink. No, it’s, it’s everything.
Dude, it’s jacked up and I. But if like people were in town, I could live vicariously through people being excited going, oh, look who that is or whatever. Like my sister came and I brought her. And my older sister, she only was, she doesn’t watch much TV. She only watched Law and Order. And so anyone who came into the bar, Hey, there’s James Gandolfini. Was he on Law and Order? No, he wasn’t on Law and Order. And then eventually someone came who was from law and order. It was a guy I go, wait, that guy played a lawyer in this episode. She goes, yeah, I know him! But like people from out of town loved it. And dude, I would vicariously love it through them. That I, that it was so fun for them and I dude, I completely get it. I think it’s cool. I was excited seeing James Gandolfini or whatever.
Yeah. I mean, to go to something like that. And if people that really loved the show, I mean, everyone stays at their table for the most part with the cast and the writers, and then eventually it just, everybody starts mingling and stuff. And at 4am they leave and then there’s an after after party. Did you ever go to the after after party?
I went to one with Justin Timberlake because I had guests in town who loved Justin Timberlake.
Those were tough to stay up. I went to a bunch of them. Not a bunch, but I went to a few at least.
I mean, and dude, they were cool.
They were, but it was 4am and I can’t do that anymore.
Bro bro productions. Bro bro production, baby. But, uh, no, you know how bad it was? There was one in the lobby in the basement of the hotel I lived in. And I didn’t go to that one. Dude, I just enjoyed going home. I’d had a long week.
That’s a brutal week. I mean
…and, uh, you know, and nothing against these people, but I’ve spent 16 hours a day with most of these people. And, and I like them, but I don’t, I have nothing more to say there. What are we going to recap what happened? It’s such an adrenaline rush, the whole show. And then it’s, there’s that, you know, not let down, but it’s just a, uh, you know, you, it’s over. the rollercoaster rides over and also I’m not a big party guy, I’m a, I’m very awkward socially if I don’t have someone there with me, you know, and I feel like I went the first couple weeks I was there, yeah, it just felt weird, I didn’t get anything on the show. I mean, that’s another factor, if you don’t get anything on the show, it’s not a great week.
Are you just trying to get stuff on then, at that point, on Update? I’m just trying to…
I mean, yeah, I would always Well, you rewrite stuff, so you get jokes I would get jokes on it in sketches or stuff, but yeah, I mean, you want your own sketch. There was the old lighting guy, Phil Hymes.
Yeah, he passed away like maybe two or three years ago.
So, Phil Hymes, he used to light radio. That’s how old he was. That’s what they said about him. So, he was in the booth. The director’s booth. And anytime you got a sketch on for blocking, when you would rehearse it Thursday or Friday, you would go in the booth. And like, if it had been three weeks without getting a sketch on, you know, you’re walking in, you’re trying to be low key and try to just act like, yeah, nah, everything’s cool. And you’re tying to just put in all and did Phil Hymes at the top of his lungs. You still work here. When was the last time we saw this guy? Wow! I didn’t know you still, oh, that’s great! I thought, I didn’t know, I hadn’t seen you in months. I thought something happened. Oh man, let me sneak in. Keep my dignity, please.
Hymes.
Phil Hymes. Oh my god, that guy made me laugh so much. So smart.
Yeah.
Oh! So.
It’s amazing the history of some of the people that have been there for so long.It’s an amazing.
Stacey?
Oh, Stacey Foster, who passed away like a few years ago. Yeah.
Dude, South Africa. He grew up in Africa.
I didn’t know that.
Dude, no. McKay told me. He goes, no, he used to have to, like, hunt lions when they would take over a village near him and they would have to go hunt lions or elephants that were killing people in towns and little villages. And then he told me a story about a monkey. He had a pet monkey, it was on a leash or whatever. And the village kids would come just out of reach of the monkey and mess with it. And the monkey finally went nuts and they had to shoot the monkey. Dude, who has a story like that from their childhood? Stacey Foster. That’s the only guy. Dude, there were so many cool people there that had so many great stories. And it was. Lenny from the band, he,
Lenny Pickett. Do you know who I really want on that I, I’m gonna, I just, I need to just send a letter or call in, which is Speedy Rosenthal, the music technician. Do you, did you know Speedy?
Speedy? I know Speedy.
Just because Speedy’s been there since the seventies and I don’t know if Speedy’s ever done an interview and was there for everyone.
Speedy used to smoke cigars with, uh, Alec Baldwin when he could.
Oh really?
If I’m not mistaken,
I just remember going to the show and you would see him, this guy with the long hair and you’re just, um, who is this guy? And, um, so hopefully
I think he’s buddies with Paul Rogers, who was the lead singer of Free and
Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised. He knows everybody. I would see him when I go to the Conan tapings. He’d be there and stuff. He was he, um, I mean,
Yeah, he was a cool dude.
Yes. There’s some definitely some really great personalities I hope to get on, but T. Sean, I really wanted you on. So thank you for doing this.
Thank you for wanting me on. This was fun.
I’m glad we got to do this. Amazing career you’ve had and just to have your dreams come true. And I’m just amazing everybody that you worked with in that have your material. I mean the thing that you did the yoga class with Will Ferrell. I mean the stuff is just like I mean, it’s on it’s going to be on people’s minds forever in terms of like what you’ve contributed to that show in 50 years and stuff.
That’s cool. Thanks, man. No, I like it Yeah, that’s cool