Live From New York- Part I

An SNL story for the people in the back

The most powerful person in America isn’t rich, doesn’t hold public office, isn’t a CEO or celebrity. In fact, it’s someone you’ve probably seen but never noticed because they’re a background actor on Saturday Night Live. At any point in the show, they could turn to the camera and yell, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” But, instead of the saxophone trilling into the intro, a bunch of security guards would pounce on them. That person would become a hero to millions. Sure, they’d be blacklisted from SNL forever, and Lorne Michaels might have them killed. But damn, it would bring the nation together, just like Luigi and Raygun did.

I’d be lying if I said I’d never considered doing this. I had the opportunity many times. Unfortunately, I’m not that insane. Background actors have played an essential role in the history of SNL, and if you look closely, you’ll see that some of these people have been extras on the show for decades. And it would be criminal not to write about my experience on SNL as a background actor for the fiftieth anniversary of the show that shaped me and many others who thought Saturday Night Live was out of reach.

Backstage with my co-star, Pierre the Llama

I grew up on a gold mine in Fox, Alaska, and our TV only had two channels: NBC and the religious channel, because we lived on the wrong side of…