What It Was Like Seeing Saturday Night Live, Live: Part II: John Mulaney / David Byrne (2/29/20)

"Lin-Manuel Miranda was my first choice!"

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I apologize for taking you to a secondary location.

I realize that this is an amazingly late recount of an SNL line-going experience. It's almost a month past when the episode actually took place, and I went back and forth on if it was something I should even write about at that point... but then all of the COVID-19 stuff happened. SNL got shut down, probably for the season. And that made the experience of seeing the show so close to its unexpected closure all the more special as a moment in time to reflect—I was a lucky audience member for an intimate, one-night only comedy show led off by John Mulaney and David Byrne.

For some reason, the prospects of a leap day episode of SNL immediately piqued my interest; it would be a first for the show's history (and very potentially this could be the only episode to land on such a date), and I'm all for that incredibly niche but ultimately meaningless specificity. Then I found out that episode would be hosted by none other than Mulaney with musical guest David Byrne—because truly, what combo of individuals would be more suited for such a strange date—and I knew that I had to go.

This wasn't my first time seeing the show; the season prior, I got into the Awkwafina episode (and, likewise, wrote a little piece on it). But the stakes for this go-around were far different on account of the host being John effin' Mulaney, a guy who's proven himself to be one of SNL's most reliable hosts in recent history, scoring two out of two instant classic hosting gigs in the span of less than a year. Add in the fun new factor of this trip taking place during the winter as opposed to on a cool, autumn evening and you've got a lot of strange and frightening variables floating around in the air that I had to make sense of quick.

Luckily, I did. I found a friend willing to do the line with me (as opposed to the person who flaked on me last time), did my research so I knew what to expect, and got a plane ticket to New York for Wednesday—more than enough time to get settled in, but a nice safety net in case the line started to form earlier than I suspected.

After a nice day of catching up, I got word from Reddit and the Standby Line podcast that the line officially kicked off on Thursday at midnight, so the two of us got as much sleep as we could (a measly four hours) before getting up and joining the line around 5 AM. We made ourselves good company with the line-goer who arrived a little before us, Kevin, a comedy fan and cinephile who was doing the line for the first time, having made the decision to pursue it in less than 24 hours. The next person in line behind us, Holly, joined twenty or so minutes later, having successfully done the standby line for the Will Ferrell episode and proudly showcasing a cap signed by a bulk of the cast.

Despite both my friend and I having gotten into the show on separate occasions—I assisted him in getting a ticket to the JJ Watt/Luke Combs episode earlier that month—this was a wildly different experience for both of us. Namely, this was our first time waiting in line for 27 hours, and it was daunting to think about at every step of the way just how long we'd be sitting in line in painfully uncomfortable, cheap fold-out chairs. Let this be a lesson to any future line-goers: please don't skimp on good gear unless you want to undo a significant deal of physical therapy by throwing out your back.

Some stuff has changed since the last time I went in terms of how the line operates; starting with the Will Ferrell/King Princess episode from this season, they've taken to moving the line in chunks at 7 PM on Friday to a set of barricades along 30 Rock, and beyond there... I'm not really sure. We just barely made it into the main section, which was protected from all angles, and it was a great position to be in if not for the fact that it made us the go-to folks for questioning about what the line was for. (I did my best to create signage, but the amount of times that passersby leaned over the barricade and directly over my sign to inquire was almost comical.) As the night went on, too, it became my job to crush the hopes of people who attempted to join the line Friday night thinking that we were at the end.

There were also, as always, some fantastic encounters with whatever strange figures roam Rockefeller late at night—a very unique and hyperspecific breed of New Yorkers. Yes, there were many tourists who tried taking photos of us without capturing our attention like we were some human zoo (they generally failed), but the best interactions were with the local population. Case in point, the best exchange of the evening:

"Is this some sort of political protest?"
"Oh God no, this is for Saturday Night Live."
"Oh, well it would be great if it could be both, because we do live in fascism."
"Mmhmm."
"I hope you enjoy the show, have a nice night." (completely sincere)
"Thank you."

A similarly great encounter was with an a man in perhaps his late-fifties, roaming the streets with a glass of whiskey he stole from Fashion Week (the glass, not the whiskey) poured from a flask he also stole from Fashion Week (the flask, not the contents of said flask). We told him what we were in line for, as per protocol, and he immediately told us that the show was bad. Under any other circumstance I would be somewhat frustrated to be lured into such a conversation, and indeed, my friend turned to me expecting a rebuttal, but something about this guy had me entranced. He had the rugged, somewhat-buzzed charisma of Timothy Olyphant on Conan. I simply enjoyed his ramblings and rejected his offer for a swig of whiskey, and he went on his way after circling back around to tell us about a website where we could find listings to be an extra on the show.

Perhaps against my greater judgement, I barely attempted sleep that night, but it honestly went off without a hitch; I was either talking or listening to conversation the entire time, and it made the hours fly by astonishingly quickly. News of celebrity sightings also kept my interest stirring: David Byrne exited the front entrance, wishing everyone luck on getting in before vanishing into the New York traffic on a bike, Michael Moore talked to people in the front of the line for about five minutes, and Nicolas Cage was spotted with his wife entering the building. I'm not the biggest fanatic about celebrity sightings, but hearing that they were walking around 60 feet away from me was certainly something to think about...

A few more hours passed and it was 7 AM, and we got our tickets; I was #33 for live, and would've been around #19 for dress rehearsal. It was a hard decision to make because that's basically a lock for dress even if #33 is a solid place to be at... but when you've been in line for that long, you freak out over not being able to make it in no matter what number you have. I knew what I wanted, though.

I ran into the NBC store and snagged one of those SNL concert tees as soon as I was out, followed by a quick bathroom break and a moment to collect myself—my friend and I had survived. We made it back to his dorm room posthaste and slept for as long as we could.

As per the ticket, we arrived in the queue at the NBC Store at 10 PM, and was reminded of the fact that there is nothing more anxiety-inducing than the line to get into the show. After passing down the world's narrowest hallway past security gates, you're lined up along a staircase in pairs of two while the ball-busting security guard who should honestly be a part of the cast explains how everything's going down. Hilariously enough, he told us that 60 people on average get in, before bringing even more people through security, which I can only assume is a strategic move so that the wrong people don't hear that their efforts were in vain from the start.

After a few tense minutes, though, we were moving again. We went across a room lined with massive LED screens displaying a mix of photo bumpers and photographs from sketches: Seth Rogen in the Vinny Vedecci sketch, Will Ferrell in a patch of daisies... Louis C.K.?! Man, I would've thought they'd remove that one. But we received wristbands shortly afterwards, were ushered into elevators, and went down a hallway before being directed to our seats. Me and my friend actually got pretty lucky, as we were the last people to be brought in officially as a group; a few other single seats were filled afterwards, but we got in by the skin of our teeth, which is a stupid and nonsense phrase but appropriate for the situation.

As always, the show began with Michael Che doing a little bit of fun crowd work, ensuring us that the whole cast was there tonight and asking if the audience was excited to be on live television; after the expected cheers, he deadpanned how that wasn't going to happen. Well, joke's on him:

...Sort of.

He then called out our side of the audience and the fact that we couldn't see shit, which... fair. I felt seen. Shortly after, he introduced Kenan (this time in his Ben Carson costume for the cold open) and three ladies from the cast—I believe it was Ego, Melissa, and Heidi this time—giving their traditional, rousing performance of "Gimme Some Lovin'," followed by the SNL house band, and then the minute countdown to air.

Here's a map of how the studio was laid out, showing where every sketch was shot and where I was sitting:

And now, since the last time I did an article like this I just made super a nasty bullet point section, I thought I'd just address every sketch individually and talk about some of the observations I made from within the studio!

Coronavirus Cold Open:
Before the show officially began, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, and I assume Fred Armisen (he was obstructed from my viewing area) came out early, receiving excited applause. Considering that the first episode I saw didn't have any celebrity cameos, I was surprised by the nonchalance with which they made their entrance; they weren't hidden at all or waiting to appear to get a truly surprised response. In fact, about two minutes before the show began, Larry David said something along the lines of (in classic Larry cadence), "It's, uhh, gonna be a good show," which of course was met with a mix of laughter and cheers.

There were two sets: the White House set was on the monologue stage, and the Q&A set featuring Bloomberg, Sanders, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar was a little to the right, so I got to see everyone sneak over there and pop out which was really fun. If there was one surprise cameo that was more properly hidden, it was Mulaney's Biden, who seemingly just conjured himself up onstage. (I wasn't really sold on Mulaney's impression, but I do very much enjoy the idea that Biden is so unworthy of a proper portrayal on the show that he's just being passed around.)

John Mulaney Monologue:
What you saw on TV is what you got, and with a John Mulaney monologue, that's exactly what you want. The prospect of entirely new Mulaney material was one of the things that compelled me into going to the live show, considering his previous two monologues were either from Kid Gorgeous or used scraps that were cut from special; needless to say, my wishes were granted.

Also, you won't believe this, but they shot it from the exact same location as Awkwafina's monologue from last season! Crazy, I know; my insight is invaluable.

Sound of Music: Rolf and Liesl:
This was one of my favorite sketches of the night; such a simple idea that miraculously hasn't been tapped before, and it pushed its premise from creepy to gleefully absurd. Being the first sketch after the monologue, too, it was Mulaney's first big costume change, and the whole audience chuckled when he stepped out of the shadows in his Aryan Nazi Rolf makeover.

The set was the second most elaborate and, because of that, remained in its spot the entire night instead of ever being torn down. (This was the case, too, for the "Cleopatra" sketch from Awkwafina's episode, so that might just be the corner of the studio where such sets are relegated.) The windows were also rigged with a sprinkler system built along plywood so it looked like it was raining. Curiously, on both ends of the set were discarded cue cards hanging off, I assume to catch the water from dripping off of where the actors entered. Here's the shot of that between commercial breaks, wherein I also circled the ghastly silhouette that is myself in the studio audience (one of three people in that part of the studio that wasn't remotely lit up):

Also, if you recall that quick window shot at the start of the sketch: that was a window set-piece on wheels rigged with the rain sprinkler system, and once that opening shot was cut away from, they just slid it away!

Uncle Meme:
Because of the two big, unmovable sets (the second being "Airport Sushi" a little bit later), this one was shot in a little corner that I've never seen be used before, practically a treat to a very small corner of the audience that had an iffy view of the rest of the show. There's not a ton to say about the sketch, but as with the last sketch, I had a view of the cue cards and indulged in seeing the punchlines before they actually happened, which is always fun.  For what it's worth, though, I really enjoyed it! Not the best ending admittedly, but Mulaney really sold the material and made it a delight. Plus, that deep-fried "When Green Book on HBO" meme was so beautifully unexpected; as another commenter somewhere said, I'd like to think it was a bone thrown at the less mainstream audience watching the show to help the Impact font memes go down.

Kyle's Transformation:
It's a pretape, so no new comments from me, but I was beyond thrilled to see a rare Kyle pretape and a showcase for the show's amazing make-up department because those fake abs were truly horrifying. Plus, insofar as I have your attention, Kyle deserves far more screentime and SNL is squandering his unique voice when it should be capitalizing on it.

The Admiral:
I couldn't see any of this sketch because of where it was positioned in the studio and took to watching it on the monitor. I was very surprised to see it brought back, even though I enjoyed it quite a bit from J Lo's episode. Mulaney did a fun job as the sailor twink, but I don't know how much more mileage they can get out of the premise so I hope it gets left here.

David Byrne:
Despite the fact that I lined up explicitly for Mulaney, against all odds, David Byrne was my absolute favorite part of the entire night. I'll admit that I had no familiarity with Byrne's work at all despite knowing that it would be exactly my kind of shit, so hearing his music for the first time live was really enchanting. Immediately after his first number, too, I was anxious for the second, which I can't say is a feeling I have very often about a musical guest on SNL if ever.

Despite my iffy seating, I actually had a pretty great angle for Byrne because of how upstage he was, being joined by the other performers who would go back and forth during the chorus. It's also worth noting that during "Once in a Lifetime," dozens of crew members crowded around the main floor exit just to watch Byrne, and it was a very sweet moment; this guy was their childhood and now, at the age of 67, he's absolutely killing it right in front of them. It felt very special and intimate to be in the studio—Byrne was absolutely magnetic, and I loved how he was willing to shed the spotlight and showcase all of the talented performers around him.

Weekend Update:
As is customary, Colin and Che flipped each other off during the intro to Weekend Update before the camera was on them.

This was a really fun Update, and I loved the new angle of having Che completely unwind out of exhaustion with delivering the news. Chris Redd also got a great commentary piece, and considering he's rarely been a correspondent on Update, I was really excited when I saw him getting ready before being pushed out (the guest spots are covered by black barricades from the front view of the stage, but you can see the correspondents before they get wheeled out from the right side of the studio), drinking a bottle of beer to prepare himself. Sufficed to say, he crushed it.

Airport Sushi:
The completion of the Mulaney musical trilogy loomed over me this entire trip because I knew it was gonna happen, but I had no idea how the previous two iterations would be matched. "Diner Lobster" was a revelation in how unexpected it was, while "Bodega Bathroom" was perhaps the more elaborate, refined version of the idea. So what was the next step-up? Apparently, a sprawling, laser-focused portrait of the hellhole that is LaGuardia airport. The fact that the set for this sketch was sitting in the open during the entire show had me on the edge of my seat with a mixture of both excitement and fear that it might not live up to the previous two entries, but goddammit, Mulaney delivered.

A lot of commenters said that the audience seemed a little on the quiet side for this sketch, and I can testify for that. A part of it is simply the fact that no sketch is anywhere near as loud as it sounds on television, so we were very much listening in on the dialogue. The fact that everything ended, too, with the cast of the sketch walking off-set meant there was a weird applause dip because the "Applause" sign that lights up during cameos and sketches lit up a few seconds after everyone walked off.

Also: Jake Gyllenhaal!!! His entrance was entirely unexpected because he came onto stage from an area that was entirely obscured, and he caught the entire audience by surprise; I don't think there was louder cheering during the entire show, and the high note he managed to hit was truly stunning. Also: after he flew off, he just had to hang out on the wires for a bit in the air before they trotted him back out for the finale. I appreciate that level of commitment.

Jackie Robinson:
Probably among my least favorite sketches of the night, and somewhat of a strange, low-energy note to end the show on, but it was fun enough. The bleachers set was quite large and built directly in front of the Airport Sushi set in between the commercial breaks surrounding David Byrne's second musical number, which is pretty insane to think about. Ego's set was built in the same area that the Q&A in the cold open took place.

Mulaney being the host meant that the writers really capitalized on casting him in old-timey roles, which... I'll give them that, I suppose, even if two black-and-white sketches and two movie spoofs is a bit much. I'm sad that this sketch buried him since he was playing a role that any host could've played despite being a very capable performer... but at least Kenan got a solid showcase.

Goodnights:
One thing I loved before the goodnights was that Kenan approached the stage in his costume from the previous sketch and said "C'mon, everybody!" while gesturing for the other cast members to join him, which was really cute.

Everyone in the studio gets the audience to clap along to the goodnights theme as well; I recall it being quite audible years back at the start of the goodnights, but it's since been phased out of what's shown on television which makes me a bit sad. Either way, it was fun to think that me, John Mulaney, David Byrne, Jake Gyllenhaal, Fred Armisen, Larry David, Rachel Dratch, and the entire cast of the show were clapping along. The meat of the night, sadly, had come to an end.

After the Show:
The top floor of the audience all exits through the hallways of the show, past display cases featuring certain, iconic pieces from the show's costume departments and long rows of framed photographs from every episode. I've also noticed that this is where a lot of the writers congregate after the show, most likely to meet up with their friends and depart to the after-party. I spotted a handful of writers which I was too shy to engage with against my better judgement; I remember seeing Sudi Green talking to some folks, and Andrew Dismukes was walking past a line of exiting audience members who certainly had no idea that he'd written some ace material from the past few years of the show. Surprisingly humbling.

However, I did immediately recognize Dan Licata, a new hire for this season who also works on one of my absolute favorite shows, Joe Pera Talks With You. At the same time, my friend exclaimed, "Dude, that's Connor O'Malley" (Aidy Bryant's husband and an actor on Talks With You), and sure enough, he was there, too. I excitedly greeted Dan, told him how much I loved all of the episodes he had written, and wished him luck getting more material onto the show since I knew he'd been struggling; not only was he incredibly sweet and flattered by the recognition, but indeed, he'd gotten his first sketch on that night ("Uncle Meme")! Likewise, I shook Connor's hand and told him I loved his work, but by that point I was too flabbergasted to say anything more personal. (John Early was also in the hallway, and I later saw him at the cast exit in an amazing green coat, but I didn't engage with him at all because I sadly don't really know his work that well... but the coat is worth highlighting.)

Me and my friend then made our way to the cast exit as quickly as we could so we'd have a good spot in the crowd. Last time I saw the show, I stood at the wrong exit and saw a few special guests and the SNL band leave, but this time, I had my eyes set for the cast. While there weren't any profound interactions because everyone had places to go, I got some nice pics with Heidi, who sweetly told me we could take another photo after I hesitated and thought the first might be blurry, and Aidy; I told her that I'm going to the same college that she did and wanted a picture to show to my teachers, and she happily obliged. I also exchanged a few words with Alex and Chris, and we saw Kyle briefly walk out, thank everyone for coming with finger guns, and then walk back into 30 Rock—he's exactly as you'd envision him, and I love that.

So yeah, that was that weekend. I departed to LaGuardia, past an Auntie Anne's stand, and laughed harder than anyone in LaGuardia has ever laughed—de Blasio, indeed.

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For my write-up on the last time I saw the show, the Season 44 episode hosted by Awkwafina, CLICK HERE!

Since I wrote about Joe Pera Talks With You a little bit, if that's interesting you at all, check out some stuff I wrote about it HERE!

If you like my stuff, be sure to follow me on Twitter @Matt_a_la_mode.