SNL after party!

Yesterday was by far the craziest day of my New York life. I started it off by meeting with Rachel Sklar from the Huffington Post for food and drinks at Teany (Moby's vegan tea house/restaurant). This was an amazing experience itself... to know that somebody important is actually interested in my writing and wants to recruit me for such an amazing blog- it's just so flattering and exciting. We talked for 3 1/2 hours about everything. I have a feeling great things will come of this.

Later, a friend of mine who was able to find out where the SNL after party was called me and asked if I wanted to go with her and attempt to get in. Um... yes. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done. All the names she dropped were on the list, but only had a (1) next to them, not a (+2). We watched Keenan role in with his crew, slap some suit on the back and put his arm around him. People were coming and going, but things weren't looking good for us. Then finally some familiar faces came out. Will and Amy came out to smoke and I introduced myself to them, explaining our previous connections. We talked briefly and I was introduced to Bill Hader. We talked for quite awhile, but I just couldn't find the right way to ask him if he could help us get in. Will Forte came up to us and I talked to him for a long time too. He was such a nice guy, very flattered by all the kind words I gave him. He asked who we were there with and I explained that some of our connections fell through. "You wouldn't know of any way we could get in, would you?" I asked, giving him a playful nudge and wink. "Oh, you guys can come in with me as long as you promise not to start any bar fights." And just like that we were in to the most exclusive party of the night.

The rest is kind of a blur. It was such a surreal feeling to have watched SNL at home, like I've done every saturday night for the past 10 years, and then 30 minutes after the show was over actually be in the same room as the cast and crew. Just very weird. The first person we met was Brian Williams, who said he was not only familiar with who my friend was, but said he's read her stuff and thinks she's "brilliant." He introduces himself to me and we talk for a little while about the show and his contribution ("The line about the ear piece was mine"). I talked to Dane and told him about the time we met in Maryland and how impressed I was with how friendly and genuine and down to earth he was. He joked, "I should say something really rude right now and just walk away." I told him I was at the Cellar wednesday when he tested out (almost word for word) the material he did for the monologue tonight. We talked a little about the difficulty of translating that vibe to television. He proved himself to be a nice and sincere guy once again. And remember that cast member who I saw mocking Dane Cook on stage this summer? Well I talked to him tonight about that and he said he had him all wrong. He said Dane is the kind of guy he would've been friends with growing up and that he really likes and respects him now. I talked with Fred Armisen about my favorite reccuring skit, the Nunni's, and he said he's going to try to bring it back this season ("It's all about the chairs"). We also talked about his incredible Hugo Chavez he did tonight and his general love of dictators. I talked to Andy Samberg for a little while and Seth Meyers for an even littler while (he'll be doing WU all year). I finally met the beautiful Liz Cackowski, who just left SNL this summer after writing for them for a couple of years. I had a lot to talk about with Jason Sudeikis, who was incredibly genuine and nice, as usual.

I was very surprised at how open and accessible everyone was. Keenan stayed at his table most of the night, so I never got a chance to meet him. And Lorne never left his table in the back. He's the kind of guy who doesn't come to you, you come to him. But other than that, I met some of the nicest people last night. All the cast members were so open and talkative, and to someone whose never been to any of these before and is practically a nobody. It's just amazing how down to earth and humble these guys are. I've met people who are lucky to get a line on Best Week Ever who have had more of a "I'm the shit" attitude than these guys. So it's nice to know that nice people still exist in Hollywood. What a crazy, crazy day.