SNL Standby Experience: John Mulaney

So let’s start from the beginning. I first was interested in Saturday Night Live (SNL) after some of the moms on our Girl Scouts trip were watching the show when we all got to stay up late. I asked the girls in our room if we could put it on and they said no. Now even though most of the skits would probably go over my 10-year-old head, I just knew it was some type of cool show. 

When I turned 13 my dad showed me my second PG-13 movie, Wayne’s World (my first PG-13 was Mr. Deed). Again, a lot of these jokes went over my head but the ones I understood made me laugh. Little did I know at the time that this was a movie based on Mike Meyers’ sketch from SNL. After seeing more clips from the show, I was hooked. I started watching the show consistently in high school. I always looked forward to a new sketch and never missed seeing an episode. 

Party on Garth, Party on Wayne!

I found other friends who also like the show and we would talk about our favorite sketches. I first found out about the SNL ticket lottery after I got a Facebook senior year and saw a post through SNL’s page about entering in August. I’ve been consistently entering the lottery since then, except this year. They changed the rules to require a short exert of why you want to go to SNL. I put it off some and didn’t know how to word it and time slipped away and it was suddenly September. I missed the ticket entry. 

I was a bit sad but took my love for SNL into a weekly review that I sent my friends. Now this review wasn’t anything too elaborate. After each episode, I sort all the sketches based on the order they appeared live and rate them using an emoji scale to indicated if I liked 👍, disliked 👎, thought it was okay 👌, and marked my favorite sketch of the night ⭐️. I would also include one to two sentences on how I feel about each sketch. Click here to subscribe to my SNL Reviews email listserv. I started it because I used to show my sister my favorite sketches from the episode. Once she moved out we couldn’t do our normal routine.  

So anyway, back to the standby line story. Before the Don Cheadle episode aired on February 16, I made a prediction that the next show would be on March 2; if this was true I would go for the standby line in New York City (NYC). Well guess what. That night they announced the next episode would air on March 2 and the host would be none other than former SNL writer John Mulaney. Not only was I excited that I was right about the next air date, I was also excited about who was hosting. I asked some of my friends if they wanted to go and no one said they wanted to stand in line since the standby line does not guarantee admission. 

Since I don't watch it live I found out via SNL's Instagram.

Since I was already set on going, I worked out my schedule and booked a Megabus ticket to arrive in NYC on Friday, March 1 at noon. I was so excited and started looking up blogs and YouTube videos about other people’s experiences. Since you never know how many people will arrive for a particular show, everyone’s experience was different. Some arrived as early as Wednesday (for Tina Fey/Amy Poehler and Jimmy Fallon/Harry Styles) and others arrived on Friday morning (Steve Carrell). 

During part of my research I saw a comment from someone who went to John Mulaney’s first time hosting (S43 E18, air April 2018). They said that they arrived on Thursday and at some point on Friday they closed the line. No that couldn’t happen. I panicked. I couldn’t imagine going to NYC just to arrive behind a line of 100 people. I looked more into my schedule and changed my ticket to arrive Thursday, February 28 at 2p. But what if lots of people would get there before me? I guess I would have to take the risk. 

Packed and ready to go with my two bags for the Megabus.

Fast forward to Thursday morning. I am finished packing (see list at the bottom for tips on your SNL standby packing list) and excited to get up to NYC. I get to Union Station in Washington, DC and get on the bus. When I finally arrived to the city two hours later than expected, I quickly walked to the standby line on 48th Street across from the Five Guys. And no one was there. Wait no one? I was so confused that I went into Rockefeller Center and asked if this was the place that people waited for tickets. They said I was in the right place and I told them no one was there. “I guess you’re the first in line.”  

Now normally this would be fantastic news,but remember I’m by myself and don’t want to sit on a sidewalk answering strangers’ questions about why I’m there. I’ve already had to answer questions from my parents and friends about why I was crazy enough to want to come up to NYC on Thursday to wait for tickets that get passed out at 7a Saturday. 

So, since I was worried that no one would show up, I stopped at the Five Guys across the street and had a hamburger and peanuts. An hour and a half later, there still wasn’t anyone outside. I went into the seating area inside Rockefeller Center and read my book for an hour to waste some more time. Once that time was over I walked outside to check on the line and three others had arrived just moments before. Though I was sad I gave up my first spot on the list, now I would have other SNL enthusiasts that would also be there on Thursday night. 

Killing some time in the Five Guys on 48th St and 6th Avenue.

It was 41° when I set up my chair, tarp and sleeping bag at 7p Thursday night. Luckily, I found these items in advance and was ready for the cold. I spoke with my fellow line mates and found out everyone had been in the standby line one or more times before. I was the only new standbyer for now. 

I read some more of my book and took my last bathroom trip for the night in Rockefeller Center at 10:50p (the bathrooms at 30 Rock close at 11p) and went to bed shortly after. I tucked my sleeping bag inbetween the fold of the tarp to keep the bottom of my sleeping bag dry and protect the top from the predicted snowfall. 

Even though I had a makeshift face mask and somewhat functioning ear plugs, I had a hard time falling asleep. The ground was hard and cold as expected and I did not have any type of mat. The night went relatively quickly, while seeing the time go by in 1.5 hour blocks. At 4:48a I heard a strange sound and realized it was the predicted snow. Luckily, I had my tarp to keep me fairly dry. Soon after the snow started it turned 5:30a and I could use the bathroom in the Starbucks across the street. 

View from my tarp at 4:48a when the snow started Friday morning. 

I put on my last set of layers, including snow pants, in the Starbucks bathroom and ordered a breakfast sandwich and hot tea. After finishing my breakfast inside, I went back outside to begin the last 27-hour stretch of waiting for tickets. My sister gave me a Goretex jacket with a weather channel logo from a thrift store a few years ago which came in handy this trip. Even though this jacket was waterproof, I put a rain poncho over to help keep me extra dry and keep some of the heat trapped in by the plastic. The day went slow and quick at the same time. Every time I thought a few hours had passed, it was really only one hour.  

One of my solo line friends, Jess, and I went over to the TODAY studio outride Rockefeller Plaza around 6:30a. Right as we went through security they had just finished part of the taping outside. We walked for a little bit then went back to the line. Later that day, around 10a or so, we saw Al Roker. He was finishing his TODAY show shift and we realized it was him when he was getting into the car. I thanked him for the weather forecast (even though we didn’t see his weather forecast). 

View inside the TODAY studio from Rockefeller Plaza.

Since I don’t like to sit still, I walked up and down the line a few times and into some of the local shops to warm up and see the infamous New York shopping nearby. One of the few times when I was sitting in my Target basic chair, a man came up to me and offered a coffee that he only took two sips of. I accepted it and used it as a hand warmer as I’m not a big coffee drinker. 

As Jess and I were talking in line, Arlene offered to take me to the NBC store, in Rockefeller Center, where I would return Saturday night once I received my ticket that morning. Arlene is known as one of the line legends as she’s been coming to standby for SNL since 1995. She shared some of her stories from over the years and took me through the scenic route back to the line past FAO Schwartz and the TODAY show plaza. 

Arlene wears the same yellow jacket every standby line. 

As I mentioned before, the day went fairly slow. I waited as long as I could before eating one of my pre-made sandwiches for lunch. I went to Giant, a local Maryland grocery store, on Wednesday and bought bread and cold cuts to make four sandwiches for my time in line. These were a great idea as I’m fairly cheap and this was enough food to get me through sitting around for a couple days. 

Even though I made a beautiful sign, I still had plenty of questions about why we were sitting on the street. The weather this weekend was pretty crazy, somewhere between 1-3 inches of snow fell on Friday morning and it was a bit cold outside. One person came up and asked what we were protesting, when I told him nothing he sounded disappointed as he wanted to write some type of article about us here. There were quite a few journalists, and aspiring journalists, coming through the line asking to talk with us about why we wanted to stay out for so long. We had been told by many people that we were crazy for sitting out here, especially since we had spent over 12 hours outside. 

I put my sign in front of my 'camp site'.

One of the other people next to me in the line said that they wished they had some type of game to play since she was getting bored. I had packed a deck of cards and we played two rounds of Crazy 8s and Kings in the Corner. It helped pass the time and I always love playing card games. 

About to start playing Kings in the Corner.

We made it through most of the day and 7p finally came around. We had officially sat outside for 24 hours! Only 12 more hours until the tickets would be passed out on Saturday morning at 7a. Around 8:30p some of the pages from NBC came out with soup. This is something I heard from other blogs about the standby line and I was so excited that we were graced with this treat. They gave out turkey barley or cream of mushroom, I chose the turkey soup. 

The moment I was waiting for all day.

The day had gone on long enough and I was ready for bed even though it was only 9:30p. Since my feet were cold the night before, I changed my socks before going to bed to help my feet stay a bit warmer. Once I got into my sleeping bag I somehow fell asleep and dozed off for an hour and a half. 

And guess what happened next, more snow fell. It started around midnight and continued through the night. The Rockefeller Center security guards had to move the barricades closer to the sidewalk earlier in the day leaving less room for us to stretch out. Since my feet would hang over the edge of the sidewalk and into the street when laying perpendicular to the sidewalk, I changed my sleeping bag to be parallel to the sidewalk. Since there was a slight incline towards the street, when the snow fell and melted on my tarp it went into my tarp. 

The snow was so heavy and damp that morning. 

The snow continued to fall throughout the night and since it was a heavier snow, there was more water melting into my tarp/sleeping bag. I started to feel the end of my sleeping bag get damp so I laid on my side to avoid my socks getting wet. It was getting so cold and wet I tried as long as I could to stay outside and gave up at 3:30a. I got up and walked down the block to a 24-hour McDonald’s to use the bathroom and warm up. There were others from the line in the McDonald’s that had the same idea. I sat with a group of people who were also there from Maryland. 

After an hour passed I went back outside and stood around instead of getting back into the sleeping bag since it was 5a, only two more hours until the tickets were getting passed out. Many of the others were getting up around this time too since it was hard to stay asleep with the cold, wet night. I packed up my camp site at 6a and went to the bathroom at Rockefeller Center and got ready for the 7a ticket handout session. 

Those last two hours felt like a lifetime. Around 6:30a a camera crew came out from the TODAY show that wanted to film us sitting in the line waiting for tickets. Only 30 minutes left, the real home stretch. I took a walk down the line and there were somewhere between 100-130 people in the line and some people were still coming to the line that morning. As I mentioned before, I was #4 so I had a good chance. 

The time finally came! Pages from SNL came out at 7a with a large stack of tickets and a clipboard. They asked us for our ID before giving us the ticket. I chose the live taping as I read on a blog to go big or go home by choosing the live show for my first time at the SNL line. The other people ahead of me also chose the live show so I received ticket #4 for the live taping. Once I got my ticket I took all my things and headed towards the subway station at 6th Ave and 48th St. As I walked towards the subway the people who I talked with along the line cheered me on since I had my ticket. 

Totally worth the wait!

After 36 hours, I finally had my paper that would hopefully get me into the show. What a long two days! For more on my journey click here to see the updates on the rest of my day and experience of the show.  (Coming Soon!)

Q's Tips for SNL Standby Line Materials

ID Card/License

Jacket - water proof preferred

Phone

Winter Boots - waterproof preferred

Cash

Sandwiches 

Bus ticket

Sign for waiting 

Snack foods 

Tarp - off Amazon

Charger cord

Extra battery 

Headphones 

Book

Ponchos  

Snow pants 

Chair 

Eye pads 

Ear plugs 

Playing Cards 

Gloves 

Hat 

Neck warmer 

Sunglasses 

Sleeping bag

Multiple pairs of socks

Pony tail holder 

Chapstick

Blanket 

Leggings 

Long shirt 

Clothes for show 

Small bag 

Water bottle 

Face mask 

Mace

Do you hear what I hear? It’s Christmas time

It’s that time of year again, Christmastime. My Halloween blog was very similar to last year’s, and the Christmas blog is also going to be very similar. Just because the tips are the same doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop using them. It’s getting close to finals week here at St. Mike’s which means it is that much closer to Christmas.

On to the Tips:

• If you decide to wrap a gift in multiple layers, use newspaper in between layers of wrapping paper so you don’t waste as much wrapping paper.
• If you don't know what to get someone for a secret Santa gift exchange, get something generic that you like. Someone else in the group might like that as well.
• Sometimes the best gifts are the homemade ones, so start thinking craftily.
• Go to the thrift shop to look for some cool and unique gifts for your family. Sometimes they have better items than what is new in the store.
• Give gag gifts to those you love – when they open them they will think it is funny.
• Say “happy holidays” around this time if you want to be politically correct; there are multiple holidays right now and you don’t know what someone might be celebrating.
• Want to celebrate the tradition of a yule log but don’t have a fireplace? Get a video of a yule log and put it on your TV. Same great tradition and easy clean up – just turn it off.
• Play in the snow as much as you can because nothing is better than a white Christmas.
• Making cookies is fun; just make sure you don't eat too much raw cookie dough.
• Get a fake Christmas tree if you don't think you can handle the maintenance of a real tree; for added fun, get one that rotates.
• Here is my Christmas gift to you, a bonus tip: After Christmas is over, make sure to hit the stores to stock up in all of your Christmas essentials for next year.

Most of my family already knows what they will be getting from me this year.

 

Ice skating is one of my favorite things to do. My sister and I went in Washington, D.C.

See our Christmas tree on the left. It also spins.

The blog was already going to be very similar, and the song choices are too. I am a much bigger fan of the traditional singers from the early 50’s and 60’s when it comes to my Christmas selection. Since there are only so many songs that are in the Christmas song selection, I find it better to hear from the earlier singers with their great voices. My personal favorite song is “It’s the Most Wonderful time of the Year” by Andy Williams.

This year for Christmas I’ll be celebrating it as I always do with my family and grandparents. We have been following the same tradition since I was born of making the Polish food pierogies. This year will not be any different. In addition to going home for break, I will be heading to DC again to spend more time with just my sister in the city. When I was there for Thanksgiving we were able to take part in a wintertime tradition of skating outside in the National Sculpture garden. 

The only family picture we took while in D. C.

One last thing:

After being on the show for two semesters and writing the blogs for three semesters, this is my final goodbye — for good this time. I have been able to have some great experiences of telling you my thoughts and playing songs that went along with them on the radio, but I’ve run out of ideas. For starting as a funny idea of something to do, I have had so much fun doing this. I want to thank everyone who has listened to the show, read the blog, or looked at the tips. I’ve had a great time being DJ Q and giving you all of the tips in my head. Thank you for giving me support to have a great show.

It's been a good run and thank you all for the support.

Keep SMCing,

DJ Q

P.S. This blog wouldn’t be as big of a success if it weren’t for my amazing Editor-in-Chief, Sharon. She’s read through every blog, as misspelled and unclear as they are, and made them ready to go online. Thank you for doing all of the hard work that I’m terrible at.