I Couldn't Curb My Enthuiasm

The three of you who actually read this blog every week may remember that about two months ago I waited in the Saturday Night Live standby line overnight for tickets to the dress rehearsal for the Tiny Fey/Amy Poehler/Bruce Springsteen show. I was 10 to 15 people short of getting in. And that overnight, outside, cold, on the street experience is grueling, to say the least (props to the homeless who do it daily). No logical person of their right mind would want to subject themselves to that again. Luckily, I'm neither of my right mind nor logical. So when I heard that Larry David was hosting SNL, I said "What do I have to lose?"

As it turns out, the answer is nothing. I waited for significantly less time than before, a mere 6.5 hours. The temperature was comparable to last time, maybe slightly colder. If I've learned one thing from all of the waiting that I've done, which is a lot because I used to caddy at a golf course over the summer, it's that the first six hours are fine. It's that last 30 minutes where I get ansy. But I did it, and I was 45th in line for the live show. 

At 11:00 pm on Saturday night, when I was standing in line at the NBC Experience Store and the NBC pages announced that they were taking the first 50 standby tickets, my heart sounded like a Dave Grohl solo. "This is it," I said, quoting the late Michael Jackson. I went through security, which I'd done before, only this time it was a little more strict because the secret service was there. Secret service? What? Is Bernie Sanders here or something? Next, I waited in a round room while they slowly let people into the elevators in groups of 10. Then, they let me in. I kept pinching myself and asking "What's happening?" Next thing I know, I'm out of the elevator walking down a hallway of SNL photos. Then, they sat me down in the theater. 

The Saturday Night Live theater is small. And they film different sketches in different sections of the theater. A small part of me kept thinking that it's almost better to watch it on TV, because that way you have a good view of everything. I strangled that part of me and threw him out of the 8th floor window of Rockefeller Center. There are cameras, people, and actors moving everywhere at all times. It looked like Penn Station, if Penn Station was a long running televised sketch show. 

As it turns out, Bernie Sanders was in the show, and much like his politics, his sketch was shot in the leftmost space in the studio. I mean, his sketch was so far left that everybody temporarily had free health care when they were in it. (Look! I'm a regular Bill Maher doing political comedy. Speaking of political comedy, the Republican Debate.)  

Overall, the show was brilliant. Seeing it live was very cool, and it was nice to breathe the same air as all of my idols. (Written down, that sounds creepy. What I think I mean is I want to hold them all hostage for days in my basement. Less creepy!) Anyway, I had fun. After seeing the show, for about an hour, I thought that I was just 'up,' and never going to sleep again. That turned out to be false. Wishful thinking. 

The cast is nice enough to take pictures with those who wait around afterwards. Waiting is my specialty (see above), so I got some good photos. That was pretty cool. And that's about it. 

Oh, and Super Bowl 50 was yesterday. Strange game. I haven't seen balls change hands that much since my last orgy, but hey, I'm not one to kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, and tell.  The halftime show was amazing, including Coldplay. I like Coldplay. Lady Gaga sang a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It's pretty much hacky to talk about how she dresses, so based on yesterday's look, I'll say this. Lady Gaga: voice of angel, face of a lizard. Congratulations Denver!!