We’ll Do It LIVE! — Victoria Jackson

Summary

Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis

Episode: We’ll Do It LIVE! — Victoria Jackson

Date: May 28, 2026

Guest: Victoria Jackson
Host: Bill O’Reilly

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Episode Overview

This episode features comedian, actress, and SNL alum Victoria Jackson in a candid, humorous, and reflective conversation with Bill O’Reilly. Diving deep into her career, faith, health struggles, and her experiences being politically out of step with much of Hollywood, the episode oscillates between heartfelt moments, laughs, and pointed cultural critiques. Victoria shares stories about her SNL years, her ongoing battle with cancer, navigating show business as a Christian conservative, and why she believes her beliefs led to being blacklisted. Her new book, Not Dead Yet: A Lifetime of Handstands, Art and Poetry, is discussed as both recap and revelation of a unique life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Victoria's Health and Faith

• Candid Humor About Illness: Victoria quips about her health with trademark absurdity.

  • "There's worse things than cancer and death. Marriage." (01:56, 27:10)
  • "I'm not dead yet." (02:46)

• Cancer Journey:

  • Original diagnosis in 2015, mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation. Cancer recurred as Stage IV, with tumors causing severe pain (05:37–08:30).
  • Attributes her endurance and peace to her faith in Jesus Christ.
    • “Thanks to my faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Yay, Jesus. This life is a vapor and it's going to be over like that." (07:22)
  • Uses faith as daily sustenance:
    • “I've read it, memorized it, sang about it… I do have peace.” (08:34–08:40)

• Pain Management:

  • Physical suffering persists, treated with painkillers, maintains comic perspective:
    • “Pain pills are great.” (09:00)

Early Life and the Road to Showbiz

• Unique Upbringing:

  • Grew up in a tough neighborhood in Florida, with a gymnast coach father, church three times a week, no TV, home gym.
    • “Our backyard was a ghetto because Carol City, you know, is a ghetto.” (04:17)
    • “We didn't have a tv…My dad loved show business, and he thought he would be more entertaining.” (04:49–05:02)

• Aspiration to Perform:

  • Holds handstands, quotes poetry, plays ukulele—her quirky skill set becomes her comedic brand.
    • “I could hold a handstand for a minute. No one else can do that... then I'll say a poem.” (14:09–15:03)
    • “A poet who does handstands.” (01:54, 17:28)

Showbiz Breakthroughs

• Carson and SNL:

  • Multiple Tonight Show appearances springboarded her career (12:12–13:44)
  • Lorne Michaels discovers her from Carson; her SNL audition is unconventional—she brings handstands and ukulele, not impressions.
    • “I didn't have any because I never watched SNL and I didn't have a tv.” (20:13)
  • Gets SNL after a bold move using her Carson appearance as a second audition.
    • “I realized I was gonna be on Johnny Carson in two weeks.…I go, Johnny, see if you can guess who I'm doing.…” (25:26–26:26)

• Showbiz Rejection and Resilience:

  • Multiple pilots never picked up, sometimes with future big names like George Clooney (31:42–32:26)
  • "You've got to be able to take rejection." (32:29)

• SNL Culture:

  • Stressful, competitive, but transformative career experience.
    • “It was very competitive, very stressful. But I would just pray and say, ‘Lord help me.’” (22:33)
    • “All of the cast members love him [Lorne] like a daddy...he doles out compliments very sparsely.” (23:23)
    • “You remind me of Goldie Hawn during the laughing days.” - Bill O'Reilly (32:55)

Religion and the Hollywood Experience

• Living Faith on SNL:

  • Chose not to say God’s name in vain in sketches; gifted cast members Bible cassettes.
    • “One cast member returned it with a note that said, ‘I already have one.’ But nobody else said anything.” (36:32)
    • “I didn't proselytize anyone.” (31:11)

• Being Blacklisted:

  • Faith alone didn’t blacklist her; political conservatism did.
    • “When I joined the Tea Party in 2010 and I went on your show...that’s where I started getting hate.” (37:03)
    • “My agent said...I can’t represent you. All the club owners are liberals and you’re too outspoken as a conservative.” (40:33)
  • Notable controversy: expressing conservative views about TV content and homosexuality led to further exclusion from the industry.
    • “You cannot say gay is a sin or you’re blacklisted…Everyone in show business is gay. I cannot get you any auditions.” (44:56)

Reflections on Fame, Aging, and Legacy

• Looking Back at SNL and After:

  • SNL’s youth rotation is “sad but true,” but embeds her legacy; Christians sometimes hire her now for faith-based content.
    • “It was such a great experience. It changed my life…It was hard to be a Christian there. I was the only Christian in the cast.” (27:55)
  • Now a grandmother, happy in her personal life and finances, without needing much from the industry anymore.
    • “I don’t really want to work that much. I’m a grandmother of five.” (47:05)

• On Death and Faith:

  • No fear of death due to her beliefs, though she admits apprehension at the process.
    • “I prayed and I asked God, could it please die with no fear, no pain and no sadness?...the best day of your life if you’re going to meet the Lord face to face.” (47:51–48:20)
  • Takes comfort in her children’s happiness and health.
    • “My kids are doing great. They're happy, they're happily married, they love Jesus, they have healthy children.” (48:28–48:45)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Suffering and Faith:
  "There's a lot of people I'm seeing in hospitals now, and suffering is hard. But thanks to my faith in Jesus Christ...this life is a vapor and it's going to be over like that."
  — Victoria Jackson (07:10)

• On her Showbiz Approach:
  "If I could do something at the Comedy Store and open...I could hold a handstand for a minute. No one else can do that. That’ll keep their attention."
  — Victoria Jackson (14:09)

• On SNL and Lorne Michaels:
  “All of the cast members love him like a daddy. And we are like desperate for him to say we did good. And he doles out compliments very sparsely.”
  — Victoria Jackson (23:23)

• On Blacklisting:
  "Christianity didn't make anyone mad. What made me blacklisted was...when I joined the tea party in 2010 and I went on your show...that’s where I started getting hate."
  — Victoria Jackson (37:03)

• On Death:
  "I prayed and I asked God, could it please die with no fear, no pain and no sadness?...it’s the best day of your life if you’re going to meet the Lord face to face."
  — Victoria Jackson (47:51–48:20)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Victoria’s Health and Approach to Illness: 02:45–09:15
• Faith as Sustenance and Worldview: 07:22–09:37, 47:49–48:28
• Early Life and Showbiz Origins: 04:03–05:13
• First Carson/Comedy Breakthroughs: 12:02–15:03
• SNL Audition and Culture: 19:11–28:30
• Reflections on Showbiz Rejection: 31:42–34:07
• Being a Christian Conservative in Hollywood: 35:30–41:02
• Political Activism Leading to Blacklisting: 37:03–41:11, 44:56–46:42
• Philosophy on Death and Legacy: 47:49–48:45

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Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is frank, heartfelt, and frequently laced with Jackson’s self-deprecating humor. O’Reilly is respectful but probing, occasionally challenging Victoria’s politics while mostly offering the floor. The dialogue walks a line between nostalgia, comedy, and serious reflection, illuminating Jackson’s resilience and unique path through fame and adversity.

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Summary for New Listeners:
This episode is a robust, entertaining look at the ups and downs of a public life lived with faith, contrarian convictions, and comedy. Whether discussing SNL, cancer, showbiz politics, or what she hopes her legacy is, Victoria Jackson is open, unfiltered, and always herself.

Transcript

[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Victoria Jackson]

A lot of people just think I talk in a fake voice. They don't know my depth. I'm not dead yet. I could hold a handstand for a minute.

[Bill O'Reilly]

A poet who does handstands.

[Victoria Jackson]

There's worse things than cancer and death. Marriage. He's not laughing at my jokes. You're very serious, Bill.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Hey, Bill O'Reilly here and welcome to another long form podcast. We'll do it live. And we have a very special guest here for you tonight. Victoria Jackson was one of the mainstays of Saturday Night Live when it was, you know, in its heyday, A lot of big stars came out of there and she's flown up from Tennessee to talk with us. It's good to see you. Let's get the serious stuff out of the way first. So how's your health?

[Victoria Jackson]

I'm not dead yet.

[Bill O'Reilly]

That's the title of your new book and it's a very interesting book. Not dead Yet. A lifetime of handstands, art and poetry. And Ms. Jackson is doing a handstand pretty much everywhere. I thought Joe Biden's shoulders was a bit much, but yeah, that was a

[Victoria Jackson]

difficult one since he could hardly stand up.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But the book is just out, so you might want to check it out. So how are you feeling, Bill?

[Victoria Jackson]

I'm so honored to be here. And I told my friend I was coming and she said, he's a very smart man. And I was like, smart? Yeah. So then I was looking up recent things you've done and I gotta tell you, I love how you explained what communism and capitalism is to Howie Mandel's daughter.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Victoria Jackson]

I was like, you're such a good teacher, and nobody's being taught, you know,

[Bill O'Reilly]

the kids are not on that subject. And we'll get back to your health in a minute. A teacher. You don't know this, but when you were living in Carroll City, Florida, I do know this.

[Victoria Jackson]

That's one of the things I wanted to do.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I was just down the street at Pace High School.

[Victoria Jackson]

I know. Here's all my notes to tell Bill.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right.

[Victoria Jackson]

I was a date, Christian. You were at Pace. We played each other in every sport.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And I didn't know you were up there in Carroll City. But you had just a normal upbringing. Just a regular yes and no.

[Victoria Jackson]

I mean, my dad was a gymnastics coach, which is unusual, and he was doing handstands all the time. And we had a gym in our backyard. Our backyard was a ghetto because Carol City, you know, is a ghetto.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Carroll City was a tough neighborhood. So was Opa Loca where we were.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes. That's where I was born. So my childhood. Yeah. I was in church three times a week and in the gym every day. And that's not so normal. I don't think so.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Not anymore.

[Victoria Jackson]

No.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No.

[Victoria Jackson]

But we didn't have a tv.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No tv.

[Victoria Jackson]

My dad loved show business, and he thought he would be more entertaining. He would be addicted to it, and we would be. And he wanted us to be in the backyard doing sit ups and flips and handstand and.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And you did. So you were a nice daughter.

[Victoria Jackson]

So I didn't get brainwashed like my generation.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And now, going back, though, you have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Stage four.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You wouldn't know it just by looking at you.

[Victoria Jackson]

Can I tell you some jokes about

[Bill O'Reilly]

it in a minute, though? Because I think people who know you, and that's a lot of people, want to know where you are on the health scale, Gail.

[Victoria Jackson]

Okay. Well, I could talk for an hour. A friend of mine just told me every detail of his bloody thing, and I was like, I'm never gonna talk about my health again, but I will. Okay. So I got cancer. Diagnosed in 2015. Breast cancer. I let a stranger with an accent from Chile and a good bedside manner cut my boobs off. I don't know who she is. I signed a paper. I was in the hospital. It's kind of a joke, but it's true. She cut my boobs off, and I got radiation and chemotherapy. He's not laughing at my jokes. And then 10 years went by and I forgot about it. And then it came back. Two years ago, I was doing stand up in Vegas in a small venue, because I'm not Dana Carvey, you know, in the stand up thing, but people laugh. But I was doing stand up in Vegas and I couldn't stop coughing. And the audience was kind of like. Like they thought I had Covid and I was going to give it to them. And I went to the doctor, finally, urgent care, and they found my breast cancer had come back and was pushing on my windpipe so I couldn't breathe and I was coughing all the time. It is a horrible thing to not be able to breathe. And I have so much compassion for all suffering people. I've always been healthy, took it for granted, of course, but there's a lot of people I'm seeing in hospitals now, and suffering is hard. But thanks to my faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Yay, Jesus. This life is a vapor and it's going to be over like that. And I'll have eternal life with him in a place where there's no pain and no tears because he died on the cross for my sins. Can I give you a little example of what I learned at Florida Bible College at Hollywood, Florida? Okay. Dr. A. Ray Stanford, who actually ran away with one of the students. But we're all sinners. He used to do it like this. Romans 3:23. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God is perfect and holy, and here we are. He created us perfect, and then we sinned, and our sin separates us from Him. So he came, died on the cross for our sins, which is what your book is about, factual historical angle of it. He died for our sins, paid for them so we can be reunited with Him. He redeemed us. He paid for our sins. Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, so we can be reunited with Him. So that is why I'm not sad.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So that sustains you through this whole process?

[Victoria Jackson]

My whole life. I've read it, memorized it, sang about it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You've been consistent your whole life?

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah. It's like, do I really believe it? So now I'm putting it into action, and I do have peace and. Yeah. So anyway, physically, they got radiated by tumor right here, so I can breathe so happy. And I got cancer, bone cancer, as a side effect of radiation or something. So I have cancer on five of my vertebrae and my pelvic Bone. So I have like this achy pain. They're not sure here. They're not sure if it's from gymnastics or cancer related. But I have great pain pills. Pain pills are great.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay. Especially when you need them like you do.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But whatever happens, and I don't want to put words in your mouth.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You're okay with it because of your deep faith.

[Victoria Jackson]

Oh, my faith in Jesus? Not just my faith in nothing. No, no, no. I mean Jesus Christians who you wrote about. And you are a great journalist. And you know what? You are neutral. I kept thinking you were a conservative like me, but you try to be like the way a journalist should be and be neutral.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, I'm fact finder.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah. This is all facts and it's all, it's just facts. And the reason why I just stumbled on it, my mom gave this to my husband in 2014. She wrote in it and I was like, hey Paul, I'm going to see Bill O'Reilly. So I, I started reading it because I hadn't read it yet. I'm this far and it's super good. Then I skipped to the end.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, look, if we can do anything for you, you know, Mel Gibson just finished shooting, wrapping his movie on the resurrection after the Passion and we're talking to Mel. I know him a little bit. So I'm a big believer in if you believe something, you being anybody. Okay. And it helps other people, then you go.

[Victoria Jackson]

Doesn't mean it's right though.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But the help doesn't mean it's truth.

[Victoria Jackson]

If you believe in something really hard,

[Bill O'Reilly]

there are people believe what they want to believe in.

[Victoria Jackson]

A lot of it's fiction and it might be stupid.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay. But if they believe what's fiction and at the same time they're helping other people, I'm okay with it.

[Victoria Jackson]

It's good to help people.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Victoria Jackson]

You know, both of our books are about Jesus and they're from different angles. Yours is from a journalist fact finding, accurate truth seeking journalist. And mine's from a truth seeking, accurate gymnast. Ex gymnast. They're both about Jesus.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, what I found interesting about your book, not only the proximity that I was teaching high school to where you were living, I'm much earlier. You're younger than I am. But how normal it appears that you were. And then you burst into the Johnny Carson show. That's an amazing story.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So Carson and icon, of course. And you got on his show a number of times by doing handstands, Correct?

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, I went to Hollywood to try to be an airhead. On a sitcom because I thought that's the only way I could make a lot of money in this lifetime. Well, in heaven you don't need to make money. But no, I just, I could never be a doctor. I hate math. I don't hate science, I hate math. So I thought, I don't want to be poor because I grew up in a ghetto. My parents used to argue over whether we could afford the vacuum cleaner or an air conditioner. And I thought, I never want to be like that when I grow up. I want both and not have to worry. So I thought, hey, if I could be an airhead on a sitcom. And I've been performing on equipment on a 4 inch board doing a back handspring. So I was used to being in front of people, not talking. But anyway, my first play was at Furman in South Carolina. I got the bug. I met Johnny Crawford from the Rifleman. He was the lead, flown in to be the star of the play in Birmingham. And he sent me a one way ticket to Hollywood, blah blah, blah, blah, blah. And when I was in Hollywood, I thought, how can I get an agent? How can I get a show? I don't know how. And Johnny didn't have connections anymore. And so I thought stand up comedy was the new thing in 1980 and there was very few women doing it. And I thought if I could do something at the Comedy Store and open my.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did you have confidence that you could make people laugh? Eh,

[Victoria Jackson]

yes. Because in high school I copied Lily Tomlin's Edith Edward, you're a mimic. My name is Edith. I had five and a half years old. I never asked to be bored. If I did, Baba would have said no. You know that routine. So I got laughs with that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I can do this.

[Victoria Jackson]

So I went to the Comedy Store on open mic night and I did Edithan because I got three minutes, one in the morning. And I was a secretary during the day at the American Cancer Society. And I served food to old people at the retirement hotel for room and board After I did my eat the than thing. Mitzi who boss of the Comedy Store, said, you never do someone else's material, especially if they're alive. And I was like, oh, I don't know the rules, I didn't know anything, right? So I thought, I gotta come up with some of my own jokes. And so then I thought, well, I could hold a handstand for a minute. No one else can do that. That'll keep their attention. And then I'll say a poem because I was writing poems all the time. So this has all my poems from when I was 10.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You're a poet?

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Victoria Jackson]

Even though

[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Victoria Jackson]

Well, yeah, he couldn't do a handstand probably. And then when I was on the Tonight show, the talent scout Jim McCauley told me, if you put a poem to music, even if you only know three chords, you know, like the Rolling Stones. I can't get no satisfaction I can't get no satisfaction. You know, that would have gone nowhere as a poem. You'll make a lot more money if you put your poems.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You got music into your act.

[Victoria Jackson]

And I was like, well, I'm a ukulele. I know three chords. I'll put all my poems to music. So then I got to sing ukulele songs on Carson and Saturday Night Live. But anyway, the way I got on Carson was I was doing this ukulele handstand poetry thing every night for two years at the Variety Arts center and the Comedy Store and the Improv all around town in LA. I was 21. And the Johnny Carson guy, Jim McCauley saw me and let me go on. Johnny.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Very nice. Was Carson nice to you?

[Victoria Jackson]

He was super nice to me. He got me, you know, Letterman never got me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right.

[Victoria Jackson]

You were on Letterman 30 times, I heard. And he didn't like me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Dave doesn't, you know, he's a little creepy.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah, a lot of people just think I talk in a fake voice. They don't know my depth. But no, Johnny got me. Johnny got me. Had me back on 20 times. That's probably where Lorne Michaels saw me and offered me an audition for snm.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did you have to, did you have to audition for Saturday Night Live? Did you have to play?

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Who'd you read with?

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, it was 86 and I had just been in a movie with Robert Downey Jr. My first movie, first real movie called the Pickup Artist. I was in three scenes. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, But Robert Downey Jr. Got fired that summer of 86.

[Bill O'Reilly]

From SNL.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah. And I was kissing him in somewhere in New York in this movie. And oh, my book's on audio tape too. People can hear a lot of showbiz gossipy stories and the audio version because I added them in. So what happened was I had a baby, three month old baby. And I was married to a fire eater musician, and he was out of work most of the time. There's not much call for fire eating.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So you had to make the. You had to make the money.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes. And so I got a call on my Kermit the Frog phone one day and they said, would you like to audition for Saturday Night Live tomorrow? And I was like, sure. And they said, a ticket will be waiting for you at LAX. Be there at 8am yeah, fly to New York. Flew to New York. I don't know how they got my number. They didn't go through my agent. It was like magical. It was like Mission Impossible. The tape will just be destroyed now and go and smoke. And so I flew to New York. They said, bring your characters and your impressions. And I didn't have any because I never watched SNL and I didn't have a tv and I. So I brought my six minutes of standup from Johnny and I brought my ukulele and my handstand and they put me in a hotel with 12 other girls from all around the country and they marched us past the Atlas statue to 30 Rock and they put us in the Phil Donahue studio. And one by one we went in there and did our little six minutes

[Bill O'Reilly]

and Laura Michaels was there with his posse.

[Victoria Jackson]

It was just Lauren, a video camera and a beautiful 20 year old operating the video camera and a bowl of popcorn.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Now, he liked you right away.

[Victoria Jackson]

You're very serious, Bill.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Not really, but I'm he.

[Victoria Jackson]

Lauren liked me? Yes. Lorne liked me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And you know, I was on Saturday Night Live.

[Victoria Jackson]

I saw you at the 40th reunion

[Bill O'Reilly]

and I was on there making fun of the what up guy, which was.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah, but what up with that?

[Bill O'Reilly]

I noticed while I was there because I helped write that skit. Very intense. That's not a carnival, it's a war. Yeah. So you guys got to compete for airtime and you got to prove yourself almost every week.

[Victoria Jackson]

Right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

How did that weigh on you? Were you able to accept it?

[Victoria Jackson]

I think I drank too much chardonnay and I heard alcohol leads to breast cancer, so maybe that's why. I don't know.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So your religion came into good effect there as well. In what way you were guided through it?

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, when I was there, no one was doing drugs that I saw because Belushi had just died and Lorenz was friends with him and so drugs weren't cool anymore in 86. And I had a baby at home. So I didn't go out. I just went to work, went home. Didn't want to miss her first step or her first word or anything. It was very competitive, very stressful. But I would just pray and say, lord help me. One time I went to Lauren's office. I said, lauren, we have to wait an hour to see Lauren because he's very important. So you wait outside.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I heard that. I've got along with him, but I understand.

[Victoria Jackson]

I love him.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right.

[Victoria Jackson]

But you do have to wait.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Do you have a good relationship to this day with him?

[Victoria Jackson]

He doesn't call me to chat.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No. Busy guy.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah. I think all of the cast members love him like a daddy. And we are like desperate for him to say we did good. And he doles out compliments very sparsely. So we're always like, please do.

[Bill O'Reilly]

He's in charge, that's for sure.

[Victoria Jackson]

You know Machiavelli, the book the Prince by Machiavelli?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yes, I do.

[Victoria Jackson]

You know how it's about. Should you rule by fear or by love? I think he rules by fear.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Very possible.

[Victoria Jackson]

He liked my audition. Very quick interview the next day and he said, I'm not. He said, very funny audition. I'm not sure you're strong in characters or impressions. And I. And he started walking me to his door to leave. I said, I'm married. I Have a fire eater husband. I have a baby. And then I go, well, I could talk like this. And he's like. And I said, I could be a character like this, you know? And he's like. And he goes, what if I wanted you to be like a Midwestern housewife? And I go, well, I would. I am a housewife and my parents are from the Midwest. And he goes. And then he goes, or Diane Keaton. I go, well, I would just wear men's clothes and look at the ground a lot. And then he's like, okay, thank you. So I'm flying back to la and I'm like, I'm so close, but I don't think I'm gonna get it. Then I realized I was gonna be on Johnny Carson in two weeks. And I thought, well, why don't I extend my audition on Johnny Carson? That's gotta impress him. So I said to Jim McCauley, that was smart. Yeah. I go, jim, could I do some impressions and see if Johnny can guess who I'm doing to extent? He goes, yeah, okay, but just don't say what the show is that you're auditioning for. We don't want to get sued. So I said, okay. So I went on Johnny in a pink dress, smaller than this one. I think I'm like a tree trunk. And the rings, you know, every year I get a ring. Have people said that before?

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, I've never heard that, though.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah, I've never heard anyone say it, but it's true. Like when you cut open a tree and there's rings. I have 66 rings if you gain £1 a year. So I go on Johnny Carson. And I go, johnny, see if you can guess who I'm doing. I'm auditioning for this show. And I go, oh, watchy, I'm sorry. Boy, the way Glenn Miller played songs and made the Hit Parade. And he goes, edith Bunker. And I go, yeah. And then I go, oh, I don't know why I'm here. Just go to a commercial. I don't have anything to say. And he goes, terry Garr. And I go, yeah. And then I go, watch Love. Got to do. Got to do with it. And he goes, tina Turner? I go, yeah. And so I go,

[Bill O'Reilly]

john, why would you like to work for my company?

[Victoria Jackson]

And he goes, I don't know. Bette Davis. And I go, no. And he goes, who is it? And I go, I made her up, because you're supposed to make up characters, too. And everybody laughed so hard. And I knew in that moment that I got it. And then.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So Michael saw the audition on Carson. He saw the bit.

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, I sent him my manager, Dolores Robinson, at the time. I said, what if he doesn't see us?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Victoria Jackson]

And then she put his. The VHS in his mailbox.

[Bill O'Reilly]

All the pros and cons. That a good thing for you? Saturday Night Live was a good.

[Victoria Jackson]

Are you kidding? Fantastic.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Because a lot of people, a lot of the players, they come off. They're a little embittered.

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, it probably gave me cancer, but. Yeah. No, I think my marriage gave me cancer, actually. Marriage. There's worse things than cancer and death. Marriage.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Fire involved.

[Victoria Jackson]

Oh, it's. Well, I'm on the second husband now. There's not fire involved. He's a policeman.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Oh, well, that's better.

[Victoria Jackson]

So, yeah, I do support Cops. I love Cops.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Now, you had Miller, Dennis Miller on with you and when you were on there.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yep, I was with him and I

[Bill O'Reilly]

worked with Norman Miller. Nice to you.

[Victoria Jackson]

Miller is not soft and cuddly, but on the air we had good chemistry.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right. He's Weekend Update.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right.

[Victoria Jackson]

It was such a great experience. It changed my life. Everybody remembers me from it. Everywhere I walk down the street, people are so nice to me. It. I'm so grateful. And it was hard to be a Christian there. I was the only Christian in the cast.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Victoria Jackson]

So, you know, I didn't talk about it or anything.

[Bill O'Reilly]

People asked me, like, well, the church lady was Christian. Right. Dana Carvey.

[Victoria Jackson]

Dana. I don't think he's. In his personal life. I don't think he's.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, he's just the character.

[Victoria Jackson]

He might be leaning that way.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, he's. He's endured. See the guy named Phil Hartman who you work with, who self destructed.

[Victoria Jackson]

No, his wife. His wife shot him.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I know. Shot him.

[Victoria Jackson]

And I was in that house, like, a little while before that, visiting them. That was weird.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah. Was he a good guy, Hartman?

[Victoria Jackson]

Phil to me, was very. Kept to me. He kept to himself. Like, I didn't know who the real Phil was, but, like, Jan Hooks and Phil Hartman were so brilliant at being everyone. But who were they? Like, my personality is so strong. It's very hard for me to be other people, but they are like a blank slate. And they can do it well. They have huge talent. I'm not saying it right. They personally, I don't know who they were exactly, but they're geniuses at playing characters.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Sure. They're very good performers.

[Victoria Jackson]

They're fantastic.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I was surprised when Hartman went down like that. And then, of course, the Most notorious of all is Chris Farley.

[Victoria Jackson]

I worked with him. He was so shy and sweet. He was very shy around girls. When I was a girl, every major

[TikTok Narrator]

story has a version the news gives you and then a version that's actually true. If you're a critical thinker, if you're somebody who's not tribal, if you're somebody who just wants the facts so you can make your own decisions, Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels is the show for you. Subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Hosts (Various)]

Hey, this is Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. I would love for you to listen. We take the news of the day and we run it through the Bible. What does the Bible have to say about this? Because there's nothing new under the sun. Read the headlines. Everything's all crazy. World's coming to an end. It's all in the Bible. And after every episode, hopefully you leave with a proper perspective and a biblical piece. Please join us wherever you listen to podcasts and we also have a YouTube page as well. YouTube.com politicsbyfaith

[Victoria Jackson]

I was there when, like the Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Farley were. I was the old timer when they were the new timers. And it's sad that the cast has to keep changing, but Loren stays there and then he just keeps getting young people.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, he shuttles people in and out

[Victoria Jackson]

and then he gets more young people and then, you know, because after the sixth year, I couldn't think of any more ideas.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I, you know, that's about the average though, right? Five, six years.

[Victoria Jackson]

My contract was five and I stayed six. And people. I read an article that said I got fired because I was proselytizing my religion. That's ridiculous. Ridiculous. That's a lie. Lauren said I could stay as long as I want. I didn't proselytize anyone. He said, stay as long as you want. But I was going through a divorce from the fire eater and I had a four year old and I didn't want her to be home alone with a strange nanny.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So you still live down the west coast at this point?

[Victoria Jackson]

I. When, When I left snl. Yeah, when I left snl, I had a house in Connecticut, a house in la. And I had a show being written for me where George Clooney played my boyfriend.

[Bill O'Reilly]

George Clooney?

[Victoria Jackson]

Uh huh. Whatever happened to him?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, he loves me. Did that, you ever get a pilot out of that or did George show up?

[Victoria Jackson]

We read the pilot. They were saving money so they never made it. We read it out Loud to NBC, ABC and cbs. And everyone passed on it. It was called Victoria and I was playing a Las Vegas showgirl who's naive from the Midwest. Anyway, it never happened. So I've been in a lot of pilots that never happened.

[Bill O'Reilly]

A lot of things that the guy who wrote that's a business, though.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah, you got to be able to take rejection. Like the guy who wrote I Love Lucy. Schiller and Weiskopf, those two guys, they were assigned to write me my own pilot when I was right after Carson was like 24 and it was called Twinkie and I was playing the vice President's wife who causes trouble in Washington D.C. and that never happened.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But you remind me a little bit of Goldie Hawn during the laughing days.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes, I can see that. One day, 20 years after I left SNL, it's been 40 now. I've been not on SNL for 40 years. That's so weird. We didn't have a TV, but my grandmother did and I saw Laugh in at her house when my parents went to the movies that were our movies without us. And one day, 20 years after I'd left SNL, I realized my brain took Poems by Henry Gibson, Airheadism by Goldie Hawn, the ukulele from Tiny Tim. This is how powerful TV is, right? And now kids are watching Bang, Shoot them up, kill people videos. It's very powerful for the human brain. It sticks in there. My dad said visual things will stick in your head forever.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Now, so far you're.

[Victoria Jackson]

I copied them all. So anyway, I copied them. I didn't even know I was copying them. That was my act. My stand up act was copying laughing.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And you did it subliminally.

[Victoria Jackson]

I didn't even know I was copying laughing.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right. Hey, I'll be straight with you. The government is not going to protect your health. You are. That's why I want to tell you about All Family Pharmacy out of Boca Raton, Florida. They work with licensed doctors and pharmacists to help you get prepared with emergency medications, travel medications for summer, even custom compounded prescriptions the big chains will not make. This is about being prepared ahead, not trying to figure it out at the last minute. Medical freedom means having access to the medications you need when you need them. So please go to all family pharmacy.com bill use code bill10 for 10% off your entire order. Tell them O'Reilly sent you. That's all familypharmacy.com bill code bill10 don't wait. So far your Christianity hasn't interfered with Your career, that you had a nice career in an ascension and became famous and, you know, all things that accompany that. Did it ever. Christianity, your Christianity start to interfere with your career?

[Victoria Jackson]

Great question. When I was new on the cast, the only way you could tell I was a Christian is I didn't say God's name in vain. If it was in a script, I would just say gosh or golly or something. And I felt guilty about that because my dad taught me that those are euphemisms for God and Jesus, but I would just say that. Yeah. So they might have noticed. Hey, she changed the word. One time I gave the cast the Bible on cassette for a Christmas present because I thought God has me here for a reason and they need to know about Jesus.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, they need the Bible.

[Victoria Jackson]

They need a Bible and we're all getting new cars and have a lot of money. Maybe they can slip the cassette in the. That was the new thing in the 80s. Put a cassette in the car and they could hear the whole Bible. Because I can't tell them I went to Bible college. I know the Bible so well. I study it every day still my whole life.

[Bill O'Reilly]

How was that gift received when you gave it to them?

[Victoria Jackson]

One cast member returned it with a note that said, I already have one. But nobody else said anything. And then years later, I said, kevin Nealon. Hey, Kevin, did I really give you guys the Bible on cassette, or is that like a dream I had? And he said, you did. You did that. And I still have them on my shelf. I think I've listened to number three and number five, something like that. So I really.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But I'm glad to hear that it didn't because there are performers who.

[Victoria Jackson]

Oh, yes, you can be blacklisted for your beliefs. But let me get to that. Christianity didn't make anyone mad. What made me blacklisted was, well, I started being on Bill Maher's show Politically Incorrect. I was on 12 times, and that was fine. He loved me on there because I was the opposite of him. And so it was good sparring. And I brought a Bible with me one time and read Ephesians 2, 8, 9 out loud, but. And the audience clapped. They didn't boo. It was crazy. But anyway, what happened was when I joined the tea party in 2010 and I went on your show, when I went on your show, like, people can deal with Christian, but they can't deal with conservatism. That's where I started getting hate. Obama was running for president. He came out of nowhere, and I'd Never been political. What happened was I was in LA and I was trying to get my career back. My kids were almost all the way grown. And I said to my husband, I want to go back to LA and try to get my career again. And I know they hate old women, but I'll give it a shot. Well, I go to la. And I said, where am I going to? How am I going to network? I don't know anyone anymore. My gay friend Dan, he goes, why don't you go to that underground group of conservatives? You can network there. There's like Gary Sinise and John Voight and.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, Lincoln somebody.

[Victoria Jackson]

It was called Friends of Abe.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Friends of Abe. Right, right.

[Victoria Jackson]

And I said, well, I'm not political. This was 2008. I go, I'm not political. I didn't even know how to vote, like, till I was. Till Clinton said, it depends what the meaning of the word is is. When Clinton said that, I went, okay, that's who's running the country. I have got to get involved. My husband used to watch you all day on Fox. He'd stand in front of the tv. He was a poli sci major and he is passionate about politics. And I'm like, paul, where do I vote and where do I find out what they stand for? Where is it in the newspaper, you know? So in my 40s, I start. My dad told me, just vote for anyone with an R next to their name. And he was right. Even though I learned what a rhino is, he's right. So anyway, I go to this underground group to network for my career, and I started learning and I found out that someone was running against Hillary. No one ever heard of him. And who was his dad and who raised him? Oh, his white grandparents in Hawaii who are members of the Communist Party usa, raised him. Oh, Frank Marshall Davis was his mentor. Oh, he's a communist. Oh, he said to Joe the Plumber on the campaign trail, spread the wealth. That's a direct quote from the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx. I Learned that in 8th grade at Dade Christian. So we had to read the book 1984 by George Orwell. That's my first sentence. In here is a George Orwell quote

[Bill O'Reilly]

you got more and more involved with.

[Victoria Jackson]

No, the more I found out, I was like, I got a fire. I'm like, america doesn't know. Someone has to tell him the media's lie.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did that hurt you once you went over to the right?

[Victoria Jackson]

That's when I got blacklisted. My agent dumped me. My standup agent. I've been doing it 15 years after SNL. Just for money for the family. Because my first marriage, I lost all my money. My agent said we can't. She was at apa. She's very powerful now. She said, I can't represent you. All the club owners are liberals and you're too outspoken as a conservative. I was on your show.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, I remember.

[Victoria Jackson]

And I said to you, obama's a communist. And you went like this. Oh, come on. You don't really. You did that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But he isn't a communist. He's got four houses. Maybe he espouses.

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, communists are all wealthy. They just don't. They want everyone else to pay the taxes, not them.

[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Victoria Jackson]

But I couldn't believe you didn't agree with me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You know what's interesting though? A previous friend of yours maybe, but a previous performer with you, Rob Schneider.

[Victoria Jackson]

I'm in touch with him sometimes.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right. He Is very conservative.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But his career now is prospering. You know, he's hooked up with the Sandler crew and, well, I'm not best

[Victoria Jackson]

friends with Adam Sandler. And also, Rob Schneider sold out Zany's Nashville for two weeks. And he is a great stand up. I'm okay, but I'm no Rob Schneider at stand up. So he deserves to be doing well. But he has been affected badly for standing up for conservative values. And there's a couple that are. And some are doing well. But you know what the main thing that got me blacklisted? I wrote an article when I was trying to warn America about this creeping communism, which now we have to worry about. Islam and communism. Those are the two threats to America.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Those are the ones that you feel are threats?

[Victoria Jackson]

Oh, yeah. I have proof. So I was writing articles for Breitbart. I knew him, you know, he was a great guy. And I. I was just doing, I think it was called make me a liberal name of my column. It was like, I just want truth and facts, right? I just want truth and facts. I wrote an article and I said something about the TV show Glee should not have a homosexual theme where two teenage boys are kissing because children are watching. They're brainwashing this generation. They brainwashed this generation in 10 years. And there's a book about it called after the Ball and two PR guys determined to change America's opinion of homosexuality. And they did it in 12 years by TV and everything. Anyway, you cannot say gay is a in or you're blacklisted. So. So that was like, that was it. My agent in Atlanta said, everyone in show business is gay. I cannot get you any auditions. And then my other agent dumped me and I was like, well, you know, I get it. I. I have gay friends. I love everyone. But I'm just trying to stand up for the. By the word of God because no one else is. Why doesn't somebody just say the truth?

[Bill O'Reilly]

But you recovered a little bit from that, right?

[Victoria Jackson]

All sins are equal. We're all sinners. Homosexuality in Romans, chapter one is in the same verse with gossip. They're equally sinful to God.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right, But I mean, your career, My career.

[Victoria Jackson]

Well, what happens is some Christian people like to hire me because they agree with me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right.

[Victoria Jackson]

Some Christians think I'm wild because I was on snl or my butt showing on every page of my book.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, you're doing a handstand.

[Victoria Jackson]

I can't help my butt showing.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I mean, how can you?

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah, And I've gotten work, but I, you know, I've gotten work in Christian movies, small, independent. But I don't really want to work that much. I'm a grandmother of five.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Right. And you got to take care of your health. We want you around. Victoria.

[Victoria Jackson]

I can hardly walk anymore. It's a miracle that, you know, I'm just acting like a healthy person. But after this, I'm going to lay in my hotel.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But as I said, when I saw you, I would not have known that you were in, you know, that kind of a medical situation. So whatever you're doing is working.

[Victoria Jackson]

It's reading the Bible and listening to worship music. That's the secret.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You have any fear of death?

[Victoria Jackson]

I'm kind of scared. It's a horrible thing. God did not want it to happen. You know, the Garden of Eden, he said, don't eat at that tree or you'll be die. And they said, oh, the devil said, you won't surely die anyway. I don't like death. It's a horrible thing. So I prayed and I asked God, could it please die with no fear, no pain and no sadness? I mean, it's the best day of your life if you're going to meet the Lord face to face.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Sure.

[Victoria Jackson]

And live in eternity with him, worshiping him, serving him. He invented music. He invented everything.

[Bill O'Reilly]

That's a good prayer, though.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yeah. So that's what I pray. Whenever I get scared, I go, lord, you know, he knows me and my kids are doing great. They're happy, they're happily married, they love Jesus, they have healthy children. Like, it's.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You've done your job.

[Victoria Jackson]

Yes.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And men. Okay, we're going to take a quick break now and we're going to come back with our special for premium and concierge members. And we appreciate, of course, Victoria Jackson coming on in and spending some time with us. So we'll be back in a moment for killing time.

[TikTok Narrator]

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[Victoria Jackson]

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