-Before I got hired as a writer, I was doing stand-up
in New York. I had just headlined
my first club, ever. I was only able to headline 'cause I was on that show
"Best Week Ever." You remember that?
We'd be in front of colored pieces of paper. I remember this girl didn't
wanna talk to me at a bar and I was on the eL train home
and I was like, "Well, at least I'm on TV tonight."
[ Laughter ] I don't know if that's a good
attitude in life to have. [ Laughing ] It was the summer of 2008. I got a call from what was then
called Endeavor, now called WME. "Saturday Night Live is having
their studio tests on Thursday. They would like you
to audition." This was August 5th, Tuesday. August 7th was Thursday. I said, "Yes, okay." I remember thinking,
"I'm not going to get it, but, I'll go and I'll do my favorite
like four minutes of stand-up." So we audition downstairs in what was
Conan's studio, on 6. And I saw Lorne Michaels
right away. He was in the hallway
and he was on the phone. I went into the waiting room
of everyone waiting to audition. It was Nick Kroll,
T.J. Miller, Ellie Kemper,
Donald Glover, Bobby Morning.
-This smells like peppa up in here. -Guess who got it. Everyone had been saying like, "They don't laugh." So I went out
and I did like four minutes and I heard laughing. Here are some
of my favorite people that appear on "Law & Order." [ New York accent ]
Upset? Nah. She was smilin'. Guy she was with didn't look too happy, though.
[ Laughter ] Thank you very much. [ Applause ] I went home that weekend
to Chicago and I was at a restaurant
and a 212 number called and I told my mom to shut up! And -- [ Laughs ] And I picked it up
and it was Seth Meyers and he said, "We wanna offer you a writing job on the show."
I said, "Yes." He goes, "I wanna be clear. Like this is not the cast." And I was like,
"I wanna be clear. I would never think
I'd be in the cast." Sometimes you're hired here and you won't meet Lorne
for months, sometimes a year. Bobby Moynihan was hired
as the cast. -I was the only writer hired and I was
in Steve Higgins' office. So Steve said,
"Hey, Lorne's here. He wants to talk to you." I remember I was
in an orange T-shirt and I said, "Am I underdressed?" And Steve said, "No." [ Laughing ] I walked
down the hall and I went in. I said, "Hi," you know,
and he said, "Hi." He said, "You're from Chicago?" And I said, "Yeah,"
and he goes, "Now, you're here."
And he said, "And your family's in Chicago?" And I said, "Yeah.
I'm the third of four. I have two older siblings." And he said,
"I know everything about you." I think he meant,
"I have met your kind [ Laughing ] many times." The first show week was
the first time that Tina Fey played Sarah Palin.
-Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! -That show was hosted
by Michael Phelps. And I was walking out of pitch
and Andy Samberg was like, "I wanna do that
Mark Spitz thing." And I was like, "Yeah." There was a Mark Spitz
talk show. I said, "I thought
maybe his bandleader could be Eliot Spitzer
and the Spitzerfrenics," and Bill Hader walked up and was
like, "I do Eliot Spitzer." This sounds like a movie
where people meet too easily. I was really scared
that writing night, but I'd never laughed so hard
in my life, writing with them. Then I went back
to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, at like 5:00 in the morning and I woke up at 1:00 and the
read-through was at 3:00. I took a taxi 'cause I was like,
"I gotta get there on time," and then the bridge
between Greenpoint and Long Island City went up. I was like, "Oh, my God.
I'm gonna be late." I got into Midtown. It was like 2:50. Read-through starts at 3:00. I got out
[ Laughing ] of the taxi and I sprinted
down Fifth Avenue. I got there and I said,
"Am I late?" And they said, "Lorne's not here
and read-through [ Laughing ] probably won't
start for another two hours." That was the beginning of a new relationship with time. -Activia Testimonial take 1.
[ Clack ] -My first season was really
fun because Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, and I
worked together a lot. I was lucky to have
a lot of stuff in the show, so I was around Lorne
a good deal. And then I went to Chicago
that summer to scout for people
to be on the show. This trip, by the way, was very
flattering to be asked to be on. We did not fly regular airline. [ Laughs ] That was like being
in a car in the sky and everyone was acting
like it is normal. We're flying into Chicago and I was looking
at the skyline. Steve Higgins started narrating what I was thinking, which was, [ Changes accent ]
"You mother[bleep] You said I wouldn't be nothin'. Now, I'm landin'
in a private plane. You [bleep] ass[bleep],
look at me now. I'm with Lorne Michaels." Going to Chicago,
where I am from, where I lived, in the city,
not far from Wrigley Field, with Lorne,
it was like I was going to Chicago for the first time. We went to a Cubs game. We get into Wrigley Field
and Lorne goes, "Let's get hats"
[ Laughing ] and we go and we've all buy Cubs hats. He bought me a Cubs hat,
which I still have. Then, the second season
was exciting. It was still just exciting
to be a writer and then Lorne came
up to me and he said, "I want you to do something
on 'Update.'" Right before I went out there,
Lorne walked up to me. He went, "Look in the lens and let your face relax."
[ Laughs ] -Here, now, with a special
editorial on the subject, is one of our writers,
John Mulaney. [ Cheering and applause ] -Thank you, Seth. Thank you. I always felt he enjoyed the work I was doing and there was a point
where I had been here like three and a half,
four years and I was getting
a little cranky. I remember we had this sketch
called the "Kissing Family" and we had one set
at an airport. I was mad about something
that week. We're in the meeting on Tuesday
and I said, We're working on a 'Kissing Family'
with Bill and Fred," and he goes, "Where is it set?"
I was like, "They're saying goodbye
at an airport." And he said, "You can't
have it at the airport. They have the ropes,
the velvet ropes," and I don't think he was
describing a commercial airport. And I said, "Where do you
want me to set it? I'll set it
wherever you want it." And he was like,
"It can be an airport." I go, "Just tell me
where you want it set and I'll put it in there. Anywhere.
It's the Kissing Family. It can go anywhere." And -- [ Laughing ] I was a young man.
I was a -- I didn't know how
to deal with anger. So what he would do is
he would tell me a story. In the story was the lesson
you were supposed to know. There was a Christmas
tree lighting. So he walks up to Simon and I. We were like, "Johnny Carson
used to be on the sixth floor?" And he said, "Yeah. And then he moved to L.A. and Ed McMahon, of course, suddenly wants a new deal. So he signs with the
William Morris Agency. Ed's agents call Johnny Carson. They go,
'He wants a higher salary and to have a higher title
on the show.' Johnny Carson says, 'Fine. We'll find
a different announcer.' Ed McMahon freaked out. He had to call Johnny Carson
and apologize. Because it's that thing of when you have a personal
relationship with someone and then representatives
get involved and then that person doesn't
really wanna deal with you." And he walked away.
And Simon went, "That story was not
about Johnny Carson." [ Laughter ] I had some like opportunities
outside the show. I don't know. I was getting really exhausted. I left after four full years. My last episode was
Kristen Wiig's last episode and it was Andy's last episode and it was my last episode,
but no one knew that 'cause I didn't tell anyone. The last sketch,
she's like a rainbow and "Ruby Tuesday" played
and everyone danced with Wiig. I was standing right there.
I was with my now-wife. I remember just like crying, like really like
[ Laughing ] emotional. But not crying like cathartic. Crying like a maniac
who's been awake for four years. I was scared. I was scared
of what I was doing. I met with Lorne in July
and said I wasn't going to return, but that I wanted
to develop a show with him. And he said, "That's great. I just need you
for these weeks." [ Laughing ] And he pointed
to all the weeks of the show. I think I needed to draw
some line in the sand. Not that I was unhappy,
but, "I've done a lot of work and it is time
for me to move on and, therefore,
I do not work here." At the beginning
of the relationship, when it's going well, so you decide to meet
each other's parents. [ Laughter ] -"Mulaney." Coming this fall. -I had a TV show
that Lorne produced, but he won't tell you that. It had my name on it. Should've said "Michaels." No, but it was called "Mulaney" and it was canceled. "Mulaney" was canceled. The last episode of that show aired on Fox against the "SNL" 40th anniversary. I was at the "SNL" 40th,
not watching my own show. Lorne asked me to come back
and write the Q&A that Jerry Seinfeld did
with the audience. There's a really nice thing
about coming back and being like a writer who is really excited
to be in the studio. Sometimes people were like,
"I don't wanna come back!" And then those people would be
there on Friday and Saturday. And then, I was here to do
a walk-on part in a "Stefon." -He's an attorney named Shy.
Shy. [ Boisterous cheering
and applause ] -Hi. Hi, Shy. -Hello, gentlemen.
How are ya? I was wearing a latex shirt and Lorne called me up
to his office. Perfect timing.
[ Both chuckle ] He and I were sitting there
and he said, "I'd like you to host April." And I turned I looked
at the board and I went,
"What about Timothée Chalamet?" And then I digested
what he was saying and so I was really terrified. -Ladies and gentlemen, John Mulaney! -Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. It is great to be here,
hosting "Saturday Night Live." I was a writer here
for five years, some of the best years
of my life, and to be hosting here
is just surreal. [ Cheering, whistling,
and applause ] Stick around.
We'll be right back. [ Cheering and applause
continue ] -The thing is,
once you work here, you always work here.
[ Chuckle ] There's great comfort
in being here and there's great comfort
in working for someone who you respect. This has been an extraordinary
thing to be a part of and I got to do
a lot of stuff here with a lotta people I really
loved and still am close to. Like it took about a year
after leaving to be like, "Oh, 25 to 29? That was a wonderful period." I would say, to those of you who work here,
who are watching this -- which, I don't know
how many people would -- [ Laughter ] stay one year longer than you think you should. Was all that unusable?
That’s an insane audition group
John, Nick Kroll, TJ Miller, Ellie Kemper, Donald Glover, and Bobby Monihayn(sp?)
That’s the craziest group. And I didn’t know Ellie auditioned... if she got SNL she would’ve never been on the office cause I think she joined the office around 2007, 2008 and her SNL audition was 2007
Easily the best one of these they've done, but maybe that's just 'cause I'm a sucker for backstage info.
John is just so damn likeable. He's smart and funny, but knows when to be genuine and less jokey. I almost teared up just from his stories, and that's because he's able to be so vulnerable
You can tell that Lorne likes him from the start. One of the best.
Mirror for my Canadian friends.
Waking up to another day of quarantine in NYC, I can’t even explain how happy it made me to watch this video this morning.
I'm so glad he mentioned VH1's Best Week Ever. That show had an insane amount of talent and it's where I saw Mulaney for the first time. John Mulaney, Nick Kroll, Paul F. Tompkins, Doug Benson, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Jessica St. Clair, etc. and in the reboot season Michael Che as well.
For some reason the flying the private jet seemed run of the mill, but the going to a Cubs game and buying at hat AT THE GAME seemed like such an extreme show of insane wealth haha
Does this mean Timothee Chalamet could’ve hosted?