Stories from ‘Saturday Night Live’

Summary

Podcast Summary: Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Episode Title: Stories from ‘Saturday Night Live’
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Host: Amy Poehler
Guests Featured: Mary Ellen Matthews, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, Jack McBrayer, Fred Armisen, and others.

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Episode Overview

This special "clip show" episode centers on memorable moments and behind-the-scenes stories from 'Saturday Night Live' (SNL), as shared by past cast members, writers, and the iconic SNL photographer Mary Ellen Matthews. Amy and her guests reminisce about their SNL experiences—covering the creative chaos, the heartbreak and hilarity of sketch comedy, friendships formed, and the odd, magical moments unique to that historic show. The tone is warm, loose, and irreverent, with laughter and candid admissions about the pressure and unpredictability of SNL.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. SNL Behind-the-Scenes with Mary Ellen Matthews

Featuring: Amy Poehler, Mary Ellen Matthews, Rachel Dratch
(Timestamps: 03:16–09:18)

• Mary Ellen’s Role & Creative Process

  • Mary Ellen describes her process of conceptualizing and shooting the iconic SNL photographs, emphasizing collaboration with talent and stylists and capturing the moment as a time capsule for the era.
    • “It's not about just doing these conceptual ones. It's just about you being you in this time and space.” — Mary Ellen Matthews [03:47]
  • The magic of spontaneous moments (e.g., shooting Ronda Rousey in a blizzard minutes before air).
  • Partnership with Tom Broeker (costume designer) for styling last-minute photo concepts.

• Anecdotes from Memorable Shoots

  • Recounts the last-minute transformation of Paul Rudd into a ‘60s Paul McCartney, with staff scrambling to gather props and costumes. A black-and-white photo ensued, described as one of her favorites.
    • “He nails this. I could show you. Yes, he nails this. I'm a moptop Paul McCartney.” — Mary Ellen Matthews [07:24]
  • Amy recalls a shoot as Simon & Garfunkel with Tina Fey hosted by Mary Ellen.

• Atmosphere and Collaboration

  • The sessions are portrayed as spontaneous, playful, and deeply collaborative across departments.

2. Fond and Funny SNL Memories

Featuring: Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, Bobby Moynihan, Jack McBrayer, Fred Armisen
(Timestamps: 10:27–50:22)

A. Office Life and Camaraderie

• Maya Rudolph shares a touching office story about Rosa, the cleaning lady who would comfort stressed writers, once tenderly telling a crying Emily:
  • “She put her hand on Emily's shoulder and she goes, 'aw, don't cry sexy.'” — Maya Rudolph [11:37]
• The unique blend of exhaustion, emotional support, and humor among cast and crew.

B. Meeting Obama in Costume

• Maya recalls meeting Barack Obama while dressed as Shirley MacLaine; the second occasion, as Obama himself, led to an awkward and hilarious exchange.
  • “I don't wear a three button suit.” — Barack Obama (to Maya, dressed as him) [14:50]
• Amy, Maya, and Rachel riff on how surreal it was to interact (and try to impersonate) public figures.

C. Women of SNL and ‘The Steakhouse’ Ritual

• Seth Meyers is (fondly) roasted as one of the few men allowed to crash the SNL women’s social gatherings:
  • “You needed a second table for all your jackets, and every one of you had two totes.” — Seth Meyers [16:12]
  • Running gag about the "rustling of puffy coats" outshouting actual conversation.
• Group dynamics—food panic, organizing chaos, and Paula Pell setting up a literal home office at dinner.

D. Lost Sketches, Auditions, and Comedy Fails

• Fred Armisen’s persistent on-set bits and pranks, both on-stage and off (“Why did you call Paul McCartney Tony McCartney?”).
• "Oh Bobby”—Bobby Moynihan reacting in disbelief to his own cringeworthy audition tape; suggested as the ultimate meme for past insensitive comedy:
  • “You have to see a piece of comedy that you're like, okay... you just show the content and just hear the voice of Bobby going, 'oh, Bobby.' And that's how you apologize for problematic content in the past.” — Amy Poehler [24:32]

E. Sketches that Never Made It

• Jack McBrayer’s near-audition as a weird Hulk performance artist; own stage-fright self-sabotage:
  • “That's the constant battle is the fear of failure. Sometimes you're up for the battle and sometimes you're just like, ah, pass.” — Jack McBrayer [26:27]
• The lost “Boys Night Out” sketch: Jack singing, “Boys Night out, Boys night out. Now we're really rocking and the chicks are roller squawking.” [26:55]
• The painfully funny process of writing, rewriting, and mourning axed sketches:
  • “We can't produce honk it. We can't get two giant...cabs. And also, like, you guys, we have... like 35 sketches over.” — Amy Poehler [22:10]

F. First Shows & Musical Encounters

• Rachel Dratch recounts her first live credit coming in week three after her first two sketches were cut.
• Magical experience: Dratch’s opening credits photo shoot soundtracked by David Bowie rehearsing “Rebel Rebel” [30:01].
• Her lone drug story: Accidentally getting high with the Black Crowes’ crew [31:08].

G. Debbie Downer: Creation Myth and Crack-up Legacy

• Debbie Downer originated from Rachel’s awkward vacation conversations, crystallizing the art of “derailing” happy talk with sudden darkness.
  • Written by Dratch and Paula Pell, inspired by real-life encounters and cosmic “secret”/manifesting stories.
• The live sketch's notorious break—detail by detail, moment by moment breakdown (the “Zapruder film” of SNL).
  • “It's like the Zapruder film, like, frame by frame. It just. It got me. It's such a serotonin boost.” — Amy Poehler [34:42]

H. Kristen Wiig’s Characters & Sketch Joy

• Wiig’s favorite recurring characters: Target Lady, A-Holes (with Sudeikis), Surprise Lady, “Bobby Mohan Culp.”
  • “The Surprise Lady...the way you play her is so funny. I love her wig...because she is nervous but excited, and she loves a party.” — Amy Poehler [43:53]
• The delight and inherent stupidity of the best sketches:
  • “Funny and stupid, which we know is the highest praise in comedy. Agree.” — Amy Poehler [45:26]

I. Returning for SNL 50th—Stage Fright and Triumph

• Wiig describes performing as “Bobby Mohan Culp” at the SNL 50th Music Special, following Lauryn Hill to a jaded, “cool” audience at Radio City.
  • “Who brought Granny and Gramps? Like, just right past us.” — Kristen Wiig [48:10]
• The joy of leaning in, taking all the awkwardness in stride, and amplifying the classic “settle down” teacher bit:
  • “The funniest thing in the world to me is this woman and this man...these choir teachers getting people to settle.” — Kristen Wiig [49:46]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Are you kidding me?...So we're like, doing our clip show of all the SNL peeps that have come through. So many of them are in your book...” — Amy Poehler [03:23]
• “I think Quincy Jones said, let's. When you walk into the studio, because you don't know what's gonna happen.” — Mary Ellen Matthews [06:42]
• “Debbie Downer...was and is the thing that I go to during very dark times.” — Amy Poehler [33:38]
• “The more people go, 'ugh. That's so dumb,' you're like, yay.” — Rachel Dratch [45:32]
• “Who brought Granny and Gramps? Like, just right past us.” — Kristen Wiig [48:10]
• “The funniest thing in the world to me is...these choir teachers getting people to settle.” — Kristen Wiig [49:46]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Mary Ellen Matthews on SNL Photography: [03:16–09:18]
• Maya Rudolph on Office Life & Obama Encounters: [10:27–14:50]
• Seth Meyers, Women of SNL, Totes & Coats: [15:15–18:42]
• Fred Armisen Bits & the Tony McCartney Prank: [19:06–21:26]
• Bobby Moynihan’s ‘Oh Bobby’ Audition: [24:32–24:56]
• Jack McBrayer’s Not-Quite SNL Audition & ‘Boys Night Out’ Sketch: [25:08–27:02]
• Rachel Dratch’s First Show, Bowie Story, The Black Crowes Incident: [28:35–32:24]
• Debbie Downer’s Origin & On-Air Meltdown: [33:08–41:02]
• Kristen Wiig on Iconic Characters & Surprise Lady: [42:40–45:26]
• SNL 50th Special, Onstage Nerves & Triumph: [46:10–49:16]

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Tone, Flow & Takeaway

The episode is breezy, deeply affectionate, and packed with inside-baseball SNL talk and backstage stories. It’s a love letter to the creative mess, the camaraderie, and the legendary weirdness of SNL’s process and people. The participants are honest about the pressures and personal insecurities but find joy and pride, especially in their goofiest moments.

New listeners get a rare mosaic of diverse SNL experiences—heartfelt, silly, sometimes cringeworthy, but always full of warmth. If you love ‘Saturday Night Live’ or want to know how showbiz magic (and chaos) really works, this episode serves up laughter, nostalgia, and human connection in equal measure.

Transcript

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[Amy Poehler]

Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special episode of Good Hang. You know, we have done 52 episodes. Deck of cards, baby. And it is time to celebrate. And we are going to celebrate with a few clip shows that puts together some of our finest and most fun moments. And our first one this week is all of our SNL stories. So we have had cast members on here, we've had people who hosted, and we've had a lot of people talk about their time on snl, the good and the bad. And so we've grabbed some of them and put them together. And you're going to hear from some amazing people. You're going to hear from people like Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Martin Short, Andy Samberg, Tina Fey, Jack Black, Rachel Dratch, Kristen Wiig, Ana Gasteyer. It's going to be incredible. And we are going to start this episode with someone who worked behind the scenes, someone who was and is still the most incredible photographer who took all the pictures of your favorite people and they are their favorite photographs. And just recently, her new book, the Art of the SNL Portrait has come out. Mary Ellen Matthews is joining us. And let's get the skinny about what it takes to work at that crazy place. Mary Ellen hello. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Uber eats. Big news. Aldi is now on UberEats and you get 20% off your first grocery order with code Newaldi26. So whether your fridge is empty and you're too tired to shop or you just ran out of essential ingredients in the middle of a meal prep, don't worry. Fill your fridge in just a few taps and get 20% off your first Aldi order on Uber Eats. For orders over $60, you can save up to $20. Ends February 28, 2026. Terms apply. See app for details. Mary Ellen, Hi. Hi, honey.

[Rachel Dratch]

Hi, honey.

[Amy Poehler]

This is.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

I'm so. I'm so thrilled to be here. Like, never in my wildest dreams. This is so. This is amazing.

[Amy Poehler]

Are you kidding me? I'm so, you know. So we're like, doing our clip show of all the SNL peeps that have come through. So many of them are in your book, the Art of the SNL Portrait.

[Rachel Dratch]

Your book.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

I'm so excited to see it in your little paws.

[Amy Poehler]

Tell everybody, like, what your job, what does your job consist of? What does the week look like?

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

So we find out who's going to be on the show like, the week before or a couple weeks before that, hopefully. And I just kind of have to come up with some ideas and talk to the stylist, talk to whoever's team it is, because it's collaborative. It's between you and I. It's between whoever it is and myself. I don't want to drive the vision, just what I want to do. So, you know, try to include whoever it is in those decisions. And also, it's like, it's not about just doing these conceptual ones. It's just about you being you in this time and space. Because it's all, you know, it's a documentary also about the time of you're doing the show and what's going on in the world.

[Amy Poehler]

It's so true.

[Rachel Dratch]

You're right.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, everyone has an era that they're in.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, for sure.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

And like, for instance, there was a blizzard happening one in 2016. It was on a Saturday. Ronda Rousey was on the show, so grabbed her between dress and air, threw her on a slit, and just put her outside on 15th Street. So things like that, if you can really, like, nail it down to the actual minute that it's happening, is pretty special.

[Amy Poehler]

That's cool. You want the pictures to feel like live, like part of a live show.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

I mean, I wish I could do that more often, but, you know, that's. No one else wants to do that but me.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's talk about Tom Broeker. What does he do at the show and how do you guys work together?

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

Tom is the costume designer. He designs all the costumes in the wardrobe for the entire show. And for me, I work with him on the photo shoots. So if he styles the photo shoots, if the person doesn't come with their own styling team. And if I have an idea of, like, I want Amy to be in a, you know, 17th century Dutch masterpiece, you know, of course, that idea doesn't come till about 1:30 when you're gonna step on set. So it's like. I'm like, tom, you know, I'm so sorry. This idea just came to me. But it sometimes. But, you know, so he has an archive, and he's just a genius to know what to pull and know exactly how to make sense of this sort of, you know, wacky idea.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, I'll give a perfect personal example of what it's like working with Mary Ellen. So Mary Ellen's like, I have this idea where you have an apple on your head. You're balancing an apple on your head, right? And I'm like, okay, cool. And then props gets the apple. And then Tom's like, what are you thinking? And you're like, maybe something, like, angelic. And I put this, like, kind of white dress on, and it looks kind of culty. And you're like, that's cool, that's cool. And we're like, that's cool. That's cool. And then the apple goes in your head, and someone's behind me holding the apple on my head. And you're like, don't worry, we'll paint it out. We can paint out the hand so it looks like the apple's on the head, but then you're like, but it looks kind of cool with the creepy hand holding the apple. And that's a perfect example of, like, all of these things are happening in real time. And the creativity part is the part you're getting the most excited about 100%.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

And, you know, it's like, I think, who was it? Quincy? I'm gonna quote Quincy Jones right now and say, let's. When you walk into the studio, because you don't know what's gonna happen.

[Amy Poehler]

Mariellen, anyone that's worked with you, like, you're proof that if you're good at your job and you're wonderful to work with, like, it should be easy, it shouldn't be hard. It shouldn't be torturous. You know, everyone that has worked with you comes away with their favorite pictures of themselves.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

That's so nice to hear.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, that's true.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

And it's a collaborative thing. I've got so many great people working with me. And, you know, the styling goes into it in our prop. You know, they're. I can. I'LL tell a funny story if you

[Amy Poehler]

have time, of course.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

Okay, so Paul Rudd was on Paul McCartney. And I thought of this at the very end, you know, we were all like, you know, I couldn't, you know, he's watching the rehearsal. I'm like, you gotta come over here, we gotta get this done. And at the very end, I was like, we should make you into a 60s version of Paul McCartney the mop top. And so, you know, he's gotta go on and do his rehearsals and whatnot. The speedy or sir Speedy who is, who is, you know, the wonderful guy who, the gentleman who takes care of all the band's equipments and all logistics. He goes running down to like Chelsea guitar, gets like the left handed bass for the Paul McCard. Jody's doing the wig and Tom's pulling together this. And we put it together during meal break and he is like, he nails this. I could show you. Yes, he nails this. I'm a moptop Paul McCartney. And it's one of my favorite.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh my God, I remember that picture. So listeners, it's a black and white picture of Rudd looking like Paul McCartney. And it's. This is Mary Ellen in a nutshell, which is like, I have an idea and then everybody steps to it. It's a complete collaboration like you said. And it looks incredible.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

And you can't ask that kind of get from people unless you know it's a good idea.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, you took an amazing picture of Tina and I when we hosted where we were Simon and Garfunkel.

[Rachel Dratch]

There was a great behind the scenes

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

picture in there, by the way, at the very end of you two like laughing when we were doing that.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, everyone should check out the art of the SNL portrait. Mary Ellen Matthews, the best photographer around. Mary Ellen, everyone that has worked with you adores you and you are aging in reverse. Love you, Mary Ellen. Thank you so much for doing this and congrats again on your book.

[Kristen Wiig]

Thank you.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

I hope to see you soon, honey bunny.

[Rachel Dratch]

Okay, honey bunny, I'll see you soon.

[Amy Poehler]

Thanks again.

[Rachel Dratch]

Bye.

[Amy Poehler]

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[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And there was a moment. When would you tell the moment when we were in that office and Rosa came in.

[Maya Rudolph]

I think it was probably usually if we were in that office during the day because we were there so much at night, you know, we weren't keeping regular office hours. So there weren't great times for people to come in and clean and change the trash cans out and stuff. And so it's probably a read through day, maybe like a Wednesday. And we were in there waiting for table read to start and someone was definitely crying. I think Emily might have been crying because her desk in that office was close to the door and so she had her back to the door and she was talking to us about something that was really hard and we were also sleep deprived. And I just remember Rosa coming in and she didn't speak very much English, but she saw what she always saw, which was she came in and she saw a few of us just sitting around talking to each other, deep in conversation. And Emily was crying and she put her hand on Emily's shoulder and she goes, aw, don't cry sexy.

[Rachel Dratch]

Do you remember that?

[Maya Rudolph]

I love it so much. It was like it was yesterday.

[Rachel Dratch]

Don't cry sexy.

[Maya Rudolph]

Don't cry sexy.

[Amy Poehler]

And highly recommend you say that to your friend when they're sad. It's really just a little. Don't cry sexy.

[Maya Rudolph]

Don't cry sexy.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you want to tell everyone the first time you met Barack Obama and who you were dressed as?

[Maya Rudolph]

Yes, I would love to. The first time I met Barack Obama when he was running for office, I was dressed as Shirley MacLaine. And.

[Amy Poehler]

And then the second time you saw him, you were dressed as Barack Obama.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah, it was a sketch that you were. You and Daryl were Hillary and Bill Clinton at Halloween party. Halloween party. And it was one. And I remember Barack was new on the scene, looking smooth. And at that time, I think like Barack Obama masks were popular, you know, because it was like the new candidate. And so the joke was gonna be that I come in like, womp, womp, I'm Barack Obama. And then he taps me on the shoulder with his mask and takes mask off and goes, oh my God, it's the real Barack Obama. So we did that at dress and that was it.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, he didn't do it today.

[Maya Rudolph]

We did not do it at air. Thank God.

[Amy Poehler]

Why do we know why?

[Maya Rudolph]

I do. I mean, I did not have a take on Barack Obama at all.

[Amy Poehler]

I didn't have, you know, I just remember the way I was stressed. You were a teeny tiny.

[Maya Rudolph]

He's a teeny tall man. Very tall and funny.

[Amy Poehler]

It's very fun and stressful to be dressed exactly like the person you're standing next to.

[Maya Rudolph]

It is so much fun. And I remember the first time we saw each other was when we were about to walk out on stage. So at dress rehearsal, there was like a little flag there and door that's supposed to open and I'm there waiting in my little Brooks Brothers suit. And I think we like bound my boobs. And I had, I used to play Scott Joplin and so I had my Scott Joplin wig on and I was standing there and then for people don't know.

[Amy Poehler]

Maya has the cutest little, tiniest little leg from knee down.

[Maya Rudolph]

Just the knee down.

[Amy Poehler]

Knee down. It's like a little toothpick. Teeny tiny toothpick. Look at those little legs from knee down. So cute.

[Maya Rudolph]

Kick,

[Amy Poehler]

stretch and kick.

[Maya Rudolph]

5 to 3.

[Amy Poehler]

Teeny tiny, teeny tiny.

[Maya Rudolph]

Just from the knee down. They're like, like breakable.

[Rachel Dratch]

I think.

[Amy Poehler]

I know.

[Rachel Dratch]

They're so little.

[Amy Poehler]

So you had your little suit on.

[Maya Rudolph]

My little suit on. And it was teeny tiny. And then he came over and here's the thing. I didn't. It was written then. I didn't have a good impression. Like I was sort of like, I'm Barack Obama. And so I was standing there and then he came over and I said, well, what do you think? And all he said to me was, I don't wear a three button suit.

[Kristen Wiig]

Damn.

[Maya Rudolph]

I still don't know what that means. That's like a guy knowledge thing.

[Amy Poehler]

Sounds like flirting to me. Just kidding.

[Maya Rudolph]

No, I'm not. I will take that. I've gotten two tonight and I'm taking them home with me. I'm taking them into the spank bank tonight.

[Amy Poehler]

And you have a lot of female friends.

[Seth Meyers]

I do.

[Amy Poehler]

Great. Like a great number. I count myself as one of them women in your life who are Your friend, who you're deeply tender to and very, like, you really, like, take care of us and you care about us, and you, like. I mean, you're the only. You and Shoemaker are the only men they're ever allowed even close to. A lot of the SNL women, we gather together as a group, and just recently, we let you sit with us for 30 minutes.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And then we said, I think it might have. Maybe it was Tina.

[Seth Meyers]

But Tina said, thank you for coming. And also thank you for leaving.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, on the way there, I said, seth, heads up. We're meeting. And I think you have about a half an hour window. And you said, fine, I'll take that. And then we sat down at the steakhouse and you hung. And then Tina said, and now it's time to go.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, it was. Can I point out my favorite observations about you guys? Group?

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

You needed a second table for all your jackets, and every one of you had two totes.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And most of the meal. Again, I think if people saw the seven women that were there, they would be like, oh, my God, how funny was it? And I would say mostly they were looking through their totes, and at no point were less than two people looking through a tote for something.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, yeah, because we had put it in the other tote.

[Seth Meyers]

Comedy legends.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Rustling through totes.

[Amy Poehler]

And it was like, hand. And it was a lot of hand. Me, my tote. And it was like, is this my tote?

[Seth Meyers]

A lot of matching totes.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, I think we had gotten some

[Seth Meyers]

matching totes and puffy coats is how I would describe it was. I mean, it was the SNL 50th week, and it was very cold.

[Amy Poehler]

It was.

[Seth Meyers]

But it was also.

[Amy Poehler]

We were all dealing with, like, a lot of temperature. So our bodies, you know, we're of a certain age, we get hot and cold really fast. So it was a lot of putting on coats, taking off coats.

[Seth Meyers]

It was a lot.

[Amy Poehler]

And a lot of like, oh, my, I'm so hot. And taking the coat off and then handing it to you to put at the table.

[Seth Meyers]

Every coat was louder than the next coat. Just when you moved the coat, it was like the sail of a schooner, which, like, very hard to hear any conversation due to the rustling, which is

[Amy Poehler]

weird because we were shouting at each other. We do shout at each other across the table, very loudly.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Also, Paula within. Paula Pelle, within, like, five seconds, had set up a home office at a third table.

[Amy Poehler]

She. You're right. She went. She got a third table because she had to do some during the show.

[Seth Meyers]

Real time rewrites on SNL 50th, she was immediately had like a. A laptop and also, like a TV monitor.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Hooked up.

[Amy Poehler]

There's also. When we all go out, there's a ton of food panic.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

When are we going to get our food? Who ordered? What should we order? And we all fall into very specific categories about, like, how fast we should order. And.

[Seth Meyers]

And there was a lot of talk about what you guys are going to get. And as soon as the server came over, the minute they spoke, everybody forgot everything that had been agreed upon.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Because it went right back to square one.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. And don't forget, you know, I'm a woman of a certain age. I need like, 85 grams of protein a day. So we were just like, how many steaks do we. We need to get? Like 40 steaks.

[Seth Meyers]

They put us in a private room where you could have a wedding. That's how big it was.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

They knew what they were dealing with.

[Seth Meyers]

And yet within, like, 10 minutes, I thought we might need a second room. The Sprawl.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, luckily, in 10 minutes, we asked you to leave because it was enough time.

[Seth Meyers]

It was so. It was so much putting on and take it off coats. Sometimes I think of an SNL sketch just at the table that for whatever reason, stays with me forever. Do you remember Fred did a sketch once where he was someone at a dinner Friday who kept taking. Putting on his scarf.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. The longest scarf, really long scarf.

[Seth Meyers]

And he kept being like, oh, my God, it's so hot. And he would take it off and it was like he had to, like, loop it around his head. And he had a practical scarf. And he'd loop it around his head like 10 times while everybody waited. And then he'd start telling a story. He's like, oh, my God, it gets so chilly. And then just looping. I think about it all the time.

[Amy Poehler]

Did it make it on air? No, no.

[Seth Meyers]

And I. But I can't. I think about it all the time. Also, Fred, I think Anilda was his. Do you remember his stenographer. Court stenographer character?

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And it was.

[Amy Poehler]

They had a name. I think his court stenographer had a name.

[Seth Meyers]

I think Anilda. Anilda, I think. I'm not sure.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

Typed like this.

[Amy Poehler]

Kind of a little bit like this.

[Seth Meyers]

It was a lot like that. But also paused the trial a lot to look through her bag and just would say over and over, I can't find my chapstick. I can't find my chapstick, I would say, I don't see a scarf without thinking about the first one. Or hear somebody say, chab. Stick with that about the second.

[Amy Poehler]

Fred Armisen is like, we talk about him all the time on here. Like, he is truly, like, the funniest of the funny people. I think Fred can do these physical things the slightest.

[Fred Armisen]

There is no one funnier than Fred.

[Amy Poehler]

I agree.

[Fred Armisen]

This is what Fred said to me. Fred, armstand for everybody. This is what, first of all, well, this is visual. But his dressing room is beside me. So I would pass his room and he'd be on his phone. I'd say, hey, Fred. And he'd go say, fred, you're not really asleep.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, hi.

[Fred Armisen]

How long have you been here? Fred, I just saw you on the. And the other thing he did, which he completely convinced me was true, was when I left the stage after the goodnights, he said, why did you call Paul McCartney? Tony McCartney? I said, I want what? Yeah, I mean, you said, oh, Tony McCartney. And because I didn't know Paul was standing beside me, I thought, did I.

[Rachel Dratch]

Such a funny joke.

[Fred Armisen]

Then I told Bill Hader this and Bill told Fred, and Fred sent me a text, like, a couple days ago. Sorry, I thought you knew that was a joke. I literally thought I said, Tony McCartney. The stupidest thing in the world.

[Amy Poehler]

Tony McCartney.

[Fred Armisen]

Tony McCartney. I wish I said it. Of course, you know, not knowing Paul's name.

[Amy Poehler]

Fred used to send me long texts about his flight schedule, like when he was arriving, what airport, what time to get picked up, as if I was picking him up from the airport. He is so deeply funny. He also does a bit that I love where if you haven't seen him for a long time at a party and you go, hey, Fred. He goes, hi, how are you? He pretends you're just a fan bothering him. He's so funny. He loves a bit.

[Fred Armisen]

He does a million of them, too. And everyone's funny.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, that's what's so funny about the stuff that we do is, like, Nobody remembers the 10 to 1 versions of things that were just stinkers.

[Seth Meyers]

Always crazy stuff. Stuff where I was mad that it would get cut and then I would go back and be like, oh, my

[Amy Poehler]

God, there's nothing here. I was just running on fumes.

[Seth Meyers]

Like, why was I so mad? It was just because, like, it was literally, as much as, like, I exist too. I wanna be on the show, too.

[Amy Poehler]

Emily Spivey and I wrote a scene one night that we thought was so funny. And it was just about these two giant, like, trucks, like, truck drivers who would come up next to each other and keep telling the other one to honk it. Yes. And it was like, honk it. Honk it. And just telling the other one, honk it. And we were like, oh, we were dying. And we turned it in, like, you know, 8:45am and Shoemaker was like, we're not doing honk it. And we were like, what? And he. He was like, we can't. We can't produce honk it. We can't get two giant. Like, you know. You know, we can't get two cabs. And also, like, you guys, we have. We're like 35 sketches over. And like, you turn this in at 8:45 and it's like, we were like, justice for Honkit. Like, we were still. We were so mad.

[Seth Meyers]

So just to be clear, you're not gonna let us read Honkit?

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. Okay. Noted. Looking forward to having an employer that supports Honkit.

[Seth Meyers]

Fucking noted.

[Amy Poehler]

Looking forward in the future to working with someone who understands Honkin and what it means to us. Oh, my God.

[Bobby Moynihan]

The thing that made me laugh the hardest most recently was this clip of Bobby Moynihan from. They did these really great SNL documentaries, and it was a documentary about auditioning for snl. And it was people. And you were in it. You were great in it. And they. About the process of auditioning, and then they show them their audition back, and people get emotional. People, you know, they've never seen it or like, oh, my gosh, this is from 50 years ago or whatever. And they showed. Made Bobby watch his audition back, and he's doing a character that's in his audition that's just beyond inappropriate. And he's watching it, and he's watching it, and he goes, oh, no. And then he just goes, oh, Bobby. And the way he says, oh, Bobby, the way he calls himself by name is so gentle. And so it made me laugh so hard. And I. I think it should be the TikTok sound that people play. Like, when you have to. You have to see a piece of comedy that you're like, okay, we did.

[Rachel Dratch]

We.

[Bobby Moynihan]

We realize now that that's not okay. You just show the content and just hear Bob. Hear the voice of Bobby going, oh, Bobby. And that's how you apologize for problematic content in the past. You just put the oh, Bobby sound over it and it means, I see it. I'm sorry.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's all move forward. I know better now.

[Rachel Dratch]

I know better now.

[Amy Poehler]

I do better now.

[Bobby Moynihan]

I'm an ally who makes mistakes.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, Bobby. Oh, Bobby. Oh, Bobby.

[Bobby Moynihan]

That really made me laugh. I couldn't stop watching it.

[Amy Poehler]

You can make that. Get that audio. You should trademark that audio and make merch. Well, you could have been a cast member.

[Jack McBrayer]

No, I don't think I could. I don't think I could handle it week in and week out.

[Amy Poehler]

100% disrespectful.

[Jack McBrayer]

Once every 20 years is more my speed for that gig.

[Amy Poehler]

But you could have. I mean, did you ever audition or want to audition? Cause you.

[Jack McBrayer]

I did want to audition, but then I didn't audition. I had an idea in mind that I never went and followed through with. But you had.

[Amy Poehler]

What do you mean you had an idea?

[Fred Armisen]

Well, I had.

[Jack McBrayer]

I don't want to repeat it because now it really sounds stupid in my mind. But my audition was going to be basically I was going to be a superhero that I created. I don't remember what it was called, but it was like a combination of the Hulk and maybe it was just the Hulk. I was gonna come in as the Hulk and just jump around and do like this weird slow motion kind of performance art dance where I would crush things with my foot and then do a mimed. The earth is cracking. I was not gonna get in. And I knew that, but I had practiced it in the mirror in my living room a few times, but I never pulled the trigger.

[Amy Poehler]

You didn't?

[Jack McBrayer]

No.

[Amy Poehler]

How come? Like, did you get an audition and you just didn't do it or you like. I'm fascinated by it because also I'm interested in that story because that is a little bit of sabotage.

[Jack McBrayer]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Maybe there was a part of you that didn't wanna be on it.

[Jack McBrayer]

Well, that's the constant battle is the fear of failure.

[Amy Poehler]

Totally.

[Jack McBrayer]

Sometimes you're up for the battle and sometimes you're just like, ah, pass.

[Kristen Wiig]

Okay.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you remember Boys Night Out?

[Jack McBrayer]

Yes. Do you remember the sketch that didn't make it on SNL when I was there with you?

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. Emily Spivey and I wrote a sketch called Boys Night out. And it was Jack waiting for the boys to arrive. And they never showed up and just kept ordering more wings. But there was a song. Do you remember the song to it?

[Jack McBrayer]

Boys Night out, Boys night out. Now we're really rocking and the chicks are roller squawking.

[Amy Poehler]

Cause they're talking about a boys night out.

[Jack McBrayer]

You never forget a song like that.

[Amy Poehler]

Thank you so much. That's all I needed to hear. This episode is brought to you by Tax Act. Look, nobody wakes up Excited to do taxes. Luckily, Tax act makes tax season easy, walking you through every step of the way. Get tips along the way. Add expert assist to talk to tax experts or let our experts do your taxes for you with expert Full service Tax act helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details. This episode is brought to you by Too Good and Co Coffee Creamers. How do you take your coffee? Piping hot, iced, strong, Frothy. If you love rich, creamy goodness and delicious flavor in every sip, try two Good and Co Creamers. They're made with farm fresh cream, real milk, and contain 3 grams of sugar per serving. That's 40 than the 5 gram per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers. Two good creamers are available in sweet cream, roasted, vanilla, and lavender. So which one are you trying first? Find two good creamers at your local retailer in the creamer aisle. Do you remember the first scene on SNL that, like, you were getting laughs and you thought, like, it's working. Like that felt like.

[Kristen Wiig]

No,

[Rachel Dratch]

Gosh, I don't remember the first. Cause I remember the first few times I got on, like, I wasn't even. I left my body. So I don't remember, like, this is going really well. I was just like, I'm on, like,

[Amy Poehler]

that kind of thing.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah, well, the first, very first show I wasn't in, like, the, you know, season premiere, whatever, right? And like, you've told all your friends, like, I'm on, and everyone's watching it. Your scene gets cut like it does. And then the next week, the same thing happened. Scene got cut. So it was like the third week.

[Amy Poehler]

Who was the host?

[Rachel Dratch]

Do you remember the one that I got on was. I should know this. Oh, my God. Well, I know the first one was Jerry Seinfeld. Then it was Norm MacDonald, and then it was and. Does not compute. Oh, my God.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't know. It's funny. The brain remembers trauma. So you remember the two shows that you were on.

[Rachel Dratch]

Dana Carvey. I'm gonna have to go.

[Amy Poehler]

They're gonna do those three. What year was it, Dratchy?

[Rachel Dratch]

It was 1999. Third episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, this will be a fun game.

[Rachel Dratch]

Dana Carvey.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, I'm gonna. And I'm gonna have you guess the musical guest, because that's always fun, too.

[Rachel Dratch]

Oh, my God.

[Amy Poehler]

See, 1999. I don't remember anything. No 1999. SNL hosts. And don't worry, we're gonna keep all this.

[Rachel Dratch]

Let me tell you one cool thing, though. Let me tell you. I just heard that. Wait. Let me tell you one cool thing, though.

[Amy Poehler]

Please,

[Rachel Dratch]

please. The very first musical guest was David Bowie. And when I was. I've told this before, but when I was getting my photo taken for, like, the very first opening credits, like, it was on the stage, you know, like in 8H. And David Bowie was. It was Thursday. He was rehearsing with the band. So, like, I'm getting my picture taken, and he's right over there singing Rebel. Rebel. I mean, I have chills every time I think about that, because that was just like. I mean, I don't even have words for, like. Like the surrealness.

[Amy Poehler]

That's a very. That's a. Like, to have a soundtrack of that moment for your life. And it's David Bowie playing Stephen Bowie, icon.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yeah, So I remember that. Should we tell the Black Crows story? So one time. So I don't do drugs at all. So then one time, the Black Crows were the musical guests. And someone in the Instagram came up to me. He's like, hey, do you want. That's my drug offer voice.

[Kristen Wiig]

Hey, do you want.

[Rachel Dratch]

Whatever you call it. Joint. Not a joint, but just, like a hit off a joint.

[Amy Poehler]

I see.

[Rachel Dratch]

And I was. I don't know. I've tried it a couple times. It's never really worked. I've never really dug it. And then I was like, okay, sure. So I took, like, one puff off of this. Black Crows. Am I gonna get sued? The Black Crow's pot. The Black Crows. I took a hit off the Black Crow's pot, and my cousin was visiting me, my cousin Zach. And I came back to the table and I was like, oh, I guess this is. Like, I'm really high right now. And I was so embarrassed. Cause, like, it was my little cousin, and I never, ever, ever get high. And then I came back and I was kind of like, I don't really remember if I told him or not.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, he didn't. He might not even know.

[Rachel Dratch]

I don't even know. But that was my one. Like, I remember you telling me you

[Amy Poehler]

couldn't get up from your chair.

[Rachel Dratch]

Oh, I don't remember that. But it's possible.

[Amy Poehler]

It's possible that you were kind of stuck.

[Rachel Dratch]

I was just like, really, like. Anyway. And that's why I don't do drugs. I mean, no, I'm just not into that feeling, I guess, but.

[Amy Poehler]

No, you're not into that feeling.

[Rachel Dratch]

Only if it's from the Black Crows. And then, yes, Chris Chris Robinson. Call me. Call me.

[Amy Poehler]

And then when you were at snl, like, I feel like we got. I was thinking today about all the stuff we got to do together, and we got to do a lot of dumb.

[Rachel Dratch]

So fun.

[Amy Poehler]

So fun stuff.

[Rachel Dratch]

Oh, my gosh.

[Amy Poehler]

But. But, you know, and I was thinking it was like, I mean, in many ways, I wish we had. I wish we had more time together when I was more experienced there because I was new and kind of stressed, and I felt like I loosened up more and figured out how to, like, just have more fun as I got older there. But we did get to do some fun stuff together.

[Rachel Dratch]

Well, first of all, you were in the original Debbie Downer, and that was so fun. I mean, just to be laughing there with you.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, you bring this up and, you know, I ask this question to people on this podcast, and I truly feel like it is because of Debbie Downer that I asked this question. Again, I owe you a lot of money, and thank you for building this podcast with me. But Debbie Downer, I've said it many times before, was and is the thing that I go to also maybe now replace the clip.

[Rachel Dratch]

The clip.

[Amy Poehler]

The clip of this podcast.

[Rachel Dratch]

I watch the clip a lot of times. And I just wanted to clarify. I don't go, like, watch my. Like, I don't go watch, like, a movie. I did. Cause, like, I just like to have it in my head. But that. It's like I said, it was like seeing your biggest crack up.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Rachel Dratch]

And just like, I have to laugh every time I watch it.

[Amy Poehler]

Me, too. And Debbie Downer was like that for me during very dark times. Because it was the combination of us all having fun. You, Your. Like, the way in which you were physically trying to hold it together. Like, the way, like, the laugh was like, something you were trying to hold in combined with the zoom in. The zoom in and the sound effect.

[Rachel Dratch]

And we've watched it so many times. Like, Emily Spivey knows every single. She's like, this is the part where your lip starts quivering. Cause there's one part where at the very beginning, I'm going, ga, ga, G, G, G, G, G, G, G. And then there's the part where something falls backstage and I look away. My eyes start over there. Like, we know every single moment. It is.

[Amy Poehler]

It's like the Zapruder film, like, frame by frame. It just. It got me. It's such a serotonin boost. Before we move on, talk to us about the. Like, who did you write Debbie Downer with? And how did it start?

[Rachel Dratch]

Like, the origin of.

[Amy Poehler]

It's the origin of people will wanna know.

[Rachel Dratch]

So. Well it really started cause I went on a vacation by myself that had been suggested to me by a therapist and I honestly that detail out. But since I'm on this one on one Amy interview. No, I said it like once or twice but usually I leave that part out for the masses. But no, not like this number one podcast masses. But no, she was, she just like, she kept saying like take a trip by yourself. And I was like why? Like I don't want to do that. I could go with friends. Like I don't want. And I just kind of took it as like doctor's orders. Like I just sort of like I'm doing this and I like self propelled myself to the jungles of Costa Rica. No, but I wanted to pick somewhere that it wasn't going to be like honeymooners. And like I wanted to pick somewhere that was like just like. I don't know, somewhere kind of remote I guess. So it was like very remote. It was in the OSA peninsula. You had to take like the big plane, then you take the smaller plane, then you take the two hour jeep drive. I mean I was going deep out of society and each time they were

[Amy Poehler]

like, it was like Barbara Patty one.

[Rachel Dratch]

Well no, so I picked this, it was like this eco lodge thing. So I went there and. And then it was just like a. It was so there was like these communal. It wasn't like a lot of people there and it was actually really cool like and I did meet really cool people and I met these two sisters that like, like they were older but they're like my age right now. But I mean the age I am now. And they were sort of like. They sort of told me like the rudimentary fundamentals of what is later known as the secret. Like did I tell you when I

[Amy Poehler]

was on this trip people should know Dratch knew the secret before anyone knew the secret.

[Rachel Dratch]

And I learned it from the jungles of Costa Rica from two white ladies that were from Colorado. But anyway, so they were just weird, you know, cause you're like chatting and I gotta say like hats off to the suggestion cause I never would have talked to strangers if I was with friends, right. You know, so I'm like having this conversation and these women were telling me about like, you know, basically like what's the law of attraction? I guess. But they put it like, you know, if you, if you think on positive things, positive and if you're, if you're focusing on lack, you'll attract lack, basically. But then it almost like the whole thing got, like, sealed because then we were on this, like, you know, you could do, like, nature walks or whatever. And we were on this, like, walk on the beach, like, with the little, like. It wasn't like a group. It was like, whoever's here and wants to go on this thing. And. And this woman was saying, like, there were these, like, beautiful birds overhead. These, like, scarlet macaws and, like, way up in the sky. And this woman goes, I want a feather to bring home for my daughter. And I swear, like 20 seconds later, from, like, way, way up high, this feather starts to just go, bloop, bloop, bloop. It falls down. We all, like, kind of see it, like, bloop, doop. And it lands, like, right at her feet.

[Seth Meyers]

Whoa.

[Rachel Dratch]

Amy doesn't believe in any of this stuff. I do. I've been, okay, no, that's cool, that's cool.

[Amy Poehler]

But I believe in manifesting.

[Rachel Dratch]

That was cool, though. So then I was just like, sold, I'll join your cult.

[Maya Rudolph]

No,

[Rachel Dratch]

but then, okay, this isn't anything about Debbie Donner. This is just other stuff on that trip. But anyway. But then the Debbie Donner story is that when later, it was like, sitting at dinner like, you're with randos that are there, and people just making chit chat, and someone said, like, where are you from? And I said, new York. And then they said, like, oh, were you there for 9 11? And it was like three years after 9 11. It wasn't like it just happened. It was kind of out of. And then I was kind of like, yeah. And then, like, it's kind of like just like in Debbie Downey, you had to, like, get the conversation back because it was like vacation times. Right. And then, like, about a week later, after I got home, I was, like, out listening to some band, which isn't something I usually do, but I think that's kind of interesting because, like, doing something you don't usually do, and then your brain is kind of like. I don't know, you're not on your usual channels, I guess.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

Yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

But then I just had that idea of this kind of based on that, like, some, like, Debbie Downer popped into my head of, like.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Rachel Dratch]

And then. Which. This is kind of just talking creativity I found at snl. You couldn't just go in there and like, okay, let's think of a scene. Like, it had to be like, moments like that, like. And to me, that only happened like, once or twice a year, which is why like, you might sit there at home, be like, why isn't there, like, like snl, man? But it's like, thinking of really original characters that kind of, like, hit on something. It's not something you can, like, steer the ship on. Like, to me, like, it has to, like, vibe out with you.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

I don't know.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. You have to be like. You have to.

[Kristen Wiig]

To your point.

[Amy Poehler]

You have to, like, keep the channel open and, like, find the mus. Let it find you. It just can't be, like, churned out.

[Rachel Dratch]

Exactly.

[Amy Poehler]

And how.

[Rachel Dratch]

Then I took it to Paula Pell, who we wrote with often and is hilarious. And everyone knows Paula now because I love Paula's, like, out there more in front of the camera. But anyway, and then we were on writing night. We were trying to write it. We set it in an office, and it just kind of wasn't really flowing. It just wasn't really jiving. And then we were like, maybe we need to put her somewhere really happy. So then we thought of Disney World, of course. Happiest place on earth. And then while we were writing it, like, when, like, of course, Paula was cracking me up with these one liners and everything. And then we started just going, like, just for ourselves. And then we were like, what if we put that in the scene with the actual trombone sound? So then for read through, we had. I don't remember if we had, like, the live person or someone just had done it, but then it read through like, it killed. But then you never know because sometimes something can kill at the table. And then when we were in dress rehearsal, Jamie and Horatio were kind of laughing, and I was thinking, like, you guys, like, I feel like this could work. Like, keep it together, guys. And then, like, on air, I just flubbed one of the lines. And then I don't even know. I guess I was, like, so nervous.

[Amy Poehler]

Sure.

[Rachel Dratch]

And then you.

[Amy Poehler]

But thankfully, you just like, like, like the good Pisces fish. Like, you just, like, you went along for the, like, it was. It's so joyous watching it because it is just the com. It's like what real live TV is supposed to feel like. Okay, well, you've talked about this and I've heard you talk about it and really made me laugh. The first sketch you were in at snl. Oh, yeah. Was when you.

[Rachel Dratch]

Right, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Were pregnant in the butt. My character was pregnant.

[Rachel Dratch]

Your character. But it's funny because back it up.

[Amy Poehler]

Even to, like, my first pitch, because that was JB's move, right? The great writer, the performer. JB's move.

[Rachel Dratch]

The great.

[Amy Poehler]

Everything but the best pitcher. Incredible. And he pitched this thing where you were pregnant in the butt and everyone was laughing. And I didn't know that.

[Rachel Dratch]

Like, he's like.

[Amy Poehler]

He just does, like, funny pitches. Right.

[Rachel Dratch]

And he wrote it.

[Amy Poehler]

I think he often. Jb, I think you often pitch stuff that maybe you weren't gonna write. Yes. You know what I mean? Always pitched stuff. I wasn't gonna write same. That was kind of the thing on Monday night.

[Rachel Dratch]

You would be like.

[Amy Poehler]

And you just kind of bullshit your way to get a laugh. And then you'd be like, okay, and now I really have to buckle down. But I think because the response was so funny, JB was like, I should write. I gotta write this.

[Rachel Dratch]

That's the other thing. And you're like, I wasn't really gonna write that thing.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

It was my very first sketch. Jason Lee. Jason Lee was those Foo Fighters.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. Foo Fighters.

[Rachel Dratch]

Foo Fighters.

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

I did say that.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

Foo Fighters.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm so happy.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

That was my first sketch.

[Amy Poehler]

That was your first sketch. And do you remember the first, Like, I mean, the first character. You have so many. But do you remember the first one that was a recurring that you thought. Was it Target Lady? Like, where you felt like, oh, I'm gonna get to do this again? Like, I have some kind of. I don't know. I know it might have. Was it a holes with Sudeikis? It was either a Holes or Target Lady.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, for people who don't remember, you know, Kristen has done so many characters. I mean, we could talk about them all day. But there was Target lady, who was, of course, very, very excited about things getting approved and had an incredible haircut. Great wig.

[Rachel Dratch]

Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

Incredible wig. And then another great wig. And another character was a holes, which is Sude. Jason Sudeikis. And you guys were kind of like, just like the worst people to show up anywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you did a great move where you would play with your hair and chew gum. Real simple. There's so many funny characters that I want to talk about, but I won't embarrass you by going through them. But I've said this to you before. My favorite character is the surprise lady.

[Maya Rudolph]

Thanks.

[Amy Poehler]

That's one of my favorites. I love her. I love her for a million reasons. I love her because the.

[Mary Ellen Matthews]

The.

[Rachel Dratch]

The.

[Amy Poehler]

The way you play her is so funny. I love her wig. Fantastic wig. Always at a turtleneck. Always. Well, she had to hide in it.

[Rachel Dratch]

She had to hide in it.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right. That's right.

[Rachel Dratch]

Did you.

[Amy Poehler]

Did you write. It was in the script that we. Like that we pulled it over.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

And when I.

[Rachel Dratch]

When I say that was one of

[Amy Poehler]

my favorites, that comes from doing it.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yeah.

[Rachel Dratch]

Like, I. I like being.

[Amy Poehler]

I like being in a sketch where there's a lot of people and there are moments where everyone is looking around, like, what is going on? I love that moment.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

I love a cut to Kenan.

[Kristen Wiig]

Just

[Amy Poehler]

like, we gotta get out of here. Like, this

[Kristen Wiig]

is my favorite thing.

[Amy Poehler]

That actually would be a really good way to sum up a lot of your characters. Oh, yeah. Most of my sketches, if you go back and look like, no, you gotta cut to people being weirded out by me to remind the audience that. But why I love the surprise lady so much is because there's a lot of wig in it, I think because she is nervous but excited, and she loves a party, and she cannot wait to deliver that good news. She can't wait. And the physicality of her and the way. So funny. God, I just watch clips of it all the time. I love it.

[Maya Rudolph]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

I love it so much. It's so funny and stupid. Funny and stupid.

[Kristen Wiig]

Yes.

[Rachel Dratch]

Which is the best?

[Amy Poehler]

Which we know is the highest praise in comedy. Agree.

[Rachel Dratch]

Like, the.

[Amy Poehler]

The more people go, ugh.

[Rachel Dratch]

Ugh.

[Kristen Wiig]

That's so dumb.

[Rachel Dratch]

That's so dumb. And you're like, yay.

[Amy Poehler]

I did it for people that didn't. The SNL 50th Music Special, which was amazing. There was, like, sketches in between acts and a lot of musical sketches, and Bobby and Marty came out and crushed. That was not an easy audience. It was an audience of truly. Every single person was either performing or a performer or, like, it was a cynical audience. You guys. Crushed. What was that feeling to do that that night?

[Kristen Wiig]

It was so fun, for lack of a better word. Like, it was. So there was something. You know, as you go back to these reunions and you bring all of your kind of history and baggage and whatever with you. Again, kind of speaking to your point of the fact that this is all just so embarrassing, because first of all, like, it's Radio City music hall. It's 6,000 seats. I mean, it's a huge, epic space.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Kristen Wiig]

We followed Lauryn Hill.

[Rachel Dratch]

Sure.

[Amy Poehler]

That's who you want to follow.

[Kristen Wiig]

So you have to understand that in the wings.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right.

[Kristen Wiig]

There are, like, thousands of cool music people. I mean, like, my dressing room was next to Jack White and his band, and I'm dressed as Bobby Mohan Culp. Okay. I've got the giant glasses and my, like, like, striped dress. And Will's got his bald paint and his. You know, we were rehearsing in the keyboard. So already we're like the losers in the wings. Do you know what I mean?

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, the winners for me.

[Kristen Wiig]

But it was fantastic.

[Amy Poehler]

I mean, actually, you're like, you got the violin and you've got the eyepatch 100%.

[Kristen Wiig]

And so we're already just like, what is happening? What is happening? Why are we here? And who invited us? You know, and then we just started to giggle. Cause we. It was so cute because doing the sketch and doing the. Like, we just. It was very easy to imagine how excited Bobby and Marty would have been, the people would have been to be at Radio City.

[Amy Poehler]

And what was it like back. What was it like back then? You see Jack White. Who else are you seeing?

[Kristen Wiig]

I mean, mayhem. Like, posses and people with, like, you know, music people.

[Amy Poehler]

So they got like. They're so cool.

[Kristen Wiig]

Big, cool hair and glasses and fur. Like, Lauryn Hill's a fur collar coat and an Afro. And, like, everybody's got, like, floral pants that come up to here. And there's posses and, you know, weed everywhere. You know, Chris Martin's in the corner. Like, cool people. Actual cool people who just looked right past us. Like they were. They did not know that we used

[Rachel Dratch]

to be on Saturday Night Live.

[Kristen Wiig]

They were just like, who brought Granny and Gramps? Like, just right past us.

[Amy Poehler]

That actually probably was fun.

[Kristen Wiig]

It was so fun.

[Amy Poehler]

That's fun.

[Kristen Wiig]

And then going. And then we, like. Like, you know, going out there and all that stuff just suddenly worked.

[Amy Poehler]

So you're right. Now that I'm remembering, Lauryn Hill had had a surprise, incredible performance.

[Kristen Wiig]

Insane.

[Amy Poehler]

And then it

[Rachel Dratch]

was like smoke.

[Amy Poehler]

And then it was like, test, test, test. And you guys cried. And that's What I mean is that I did.

[Kristen Wiig]

I knew it was streaming. And I also knew. I mean, it was really funny because we were like. They just. And all of their stuff was about how they'd come to New York for an ophthalmology appointment. You know, they were just lucky to slip in and just everything about. And so we're sitting there and. Yeah, and I did have the feeling. I was like, this is streaming. Because one thing about SNL for me, again, I don't know if you ever had this, but it's a little bit of an A student, you know, nerd girl thing. I was always. My greatest regret about this show, not that you would go back in time, is that I couldn't. I never, like, settled into it and enjoyed it. Because I was always so aware of the time and of running. Somebody running down the clock, somebody else's sketch is going to get cut.

[Rachel Dratch]

Like, I was always.

[Kristen Wiig]

And when we were there, it was such a, you know, like, explosive surfeit of talent that there were always three sketches a night that might not make it, you know, So I always felt like I had to, like, keep it moving, keep it moving. So I was suddenly very aware that it was streaming and that I was not gonna be rushed. And I was like, I'm gonna be Bobby. The funniest thing in the world to me is this woman and this man. These. These choir teachers getting people to seven settle. Because there's just nothing funnier.

[Amy Poehler]

So that's. High school teachers just kept telling people to settle.

[Kristen Wiig]

I need you to settle. I need quiet in the back. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Hand goes up, mouth goes shut. Just this idea. I was like, I'm gonna keep going until they settle. I'm not gonna worry about it. And if I had been at 8h, we never would have done that.

[Amy Poehler]

Right? Very good point. But we just.

[Kristen Wiig]

We took a full probably 45 seconds to, you know, get people to pipe it. David Spade, pipe down.

[Amy Poehler]

That's right. You guys called him out by.

[Kristen Wiig]

I don't want to hear it. Pierce Brosnan. So stupid.

[Amy Poehler]

You've been listening to good hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite for the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, cat Spillane, Kaia McMahon, and Alaya Zaneras. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miller.