Lately, we've been drawing inspiration from Keanu Reeves' quotes and Mr. Miyagi's very credible training approach in Karate Kid. You're welcome. I want to step out of Bill and Ted's traveling phone booth and break out of the 1980s/early '90s vortex. This week, I'm inspired by a more timeless cultural staple, SNL—a show that serves as both a cathartic escape and necessary commentary on what the world is going through.
As a kid, I can remember huddling around the TV with all my older brothers and cousins every Saturday night, feeding us our rotation of material for the week and what the kids in school would be quoting and reenacting. As the youngest, I loved it because I got to be in on the joke. As a parent, I imagine it being pretty genius because it meant all your kids were safely home, all together and having fun—on a Saturday night of all nights!
Well, this month it's pretty convenient that there is a lot of SNL content right now because it's their 50th anniversary—film, docs, docu-series. Getting into the bones of the show, how it started, how it works, the hot mic moments from comics and musical guest hotheads. At that time, they were complete unknowns, from the land of Laugh Factory misfits. Mostly, it's about the mind of Lorne Michaels—the creator and brave ringleader of the whole LIVE circus. What I love about it and why I think we are going to gravitate towards shows like this during times like now is it is VERY authentic. It is very free. It's unapologetically about the arts. There are no focus groups, screening ahead of time, over-editing, overthinking it, or polishing it too much. Some of that is because there simply is no time. Then when it's slapped onto your screen on Saturday night, there's no take-backsies.
Even when there were controversial musical guest performances, or a skit goes sideways, you will never see Lorne come on and try to cover up or apologize for it. He strongly feels this is what a stage is supposed to be, a place where artists can do what they want. Will Ferrell said it best when he talked about his writing process: "Yeah... I'm just gonna try it." Lorne gave him the stage to do just that.
The other really interesting fact I learned about the show is that once a skit is picked in the writer's room, the writer of the skit gets full production control. Whatever they say goes, from the costumes to the stage markers, and every punctuation in their dialogue. It is an uninterrupted brainchild to screen. Tina Fey also explained that back in the day it really was a schedule fueled by cocaine. Even though that culture has changed, the schedule hasn't. So that really set the Picasso clockwork schedule they have today, in a way forcing it to stay pretty raw and lovingly deranged. Lorne Michaels also casted the first openly gay sketch comedian, Terry Sweeney. He made it a point to write him into the sketches as exactly who he is. I also just love the fight the show has, really Lorne, who was behind the scenes fending off every threat of being canceled. Which was many times and very close. Apparently, the first time the show aired, it was the network sticking it to Carson. Carson wanted more airtime AND more time off. So he asked for reruns to replace his days off. NBC instead solved the dispute by giving the slot to a bunch of college kids with a LIVE sketch comedy show, with completely unknown comedians, and no time to rehearse. Allegedly a bluff, the whole show was predicted to fail.
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night is one of my favorites that came out to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Especially the episode on the making of the Cowbell skit. I didn't know how they were able to dedicate a whole episode to the making of one skit, and they did.
The breakdown of this skit and how it came to be really encompasses the magic of SNL and how much of a cultural impact it has. Will Ferrell said something in his interview about his approach to writing that really resonated, “I was never governed, internally, by ‘what do you think people want to see?’ It was ‘what makes them laugh?’” Simple.
As a Pilates instructor and retreat host (which our Bon Vivants, by the way, are not normal—if you haven't been yet, RUN to the next one), this has always been very important to me. If I'm not sure what to teach, I always ask myself the simple question, "What's a workout I love?" If I made less than the rent that month, or the retreat budget is going over, instead of taking shortcuts (or making big cuts) that would make me look like all the rest of the studios, I stop to make sure I am staying authentic to myself. Am I still creating a space and an experience that I would want? A stage where there's freedom.
Right now, we're all uneasy (personally I'm terrified) about what the future holds. More so, who's holding it and doesn't have a handle on it. There was an amusing interview with Marc Maron on Kimmel, an interview that starts off with Maron casually stating, "The world is ending." He admits to already having anxiety, so the only way he is able to stay sane through all the very concerning insanity happening in our Oval Office is by distracting himself. He said he went through a box of wires. Jimmy asks, "A box of wires?"
"Everybody has a box of wires man! ~Maron
It's so true. Everyone has that thing that's been buried deep in a closet or archives that we are rediscovering. We are looking for a project or hobby that we might have neglected to redirect our minds. Maybe to control what we can because there is so much we can't control. My husband is going to the gym more and wants to start playing the drums again. I'm painting a little more and going on more trips just because. Rewatching old classic SNL episodes has also been a perfect redirection ... like my box of wires. It's not just the comedy and cathartic release that's happening on the surface; it represents something very hopeful.
Because even though a lot of things won't be in our control, won't add up or make sense, there are still honest voices out there. This is what's going to keep us going. The arts will be more powerful than ever, the music will be louder than ever, the relationships in your community will be deeper than ever, the Mardi Gras costumes this year will be more creative than ever, comedy will be funnier than ever, and even your workouts will feel better than ever. It's because we really need these things right now.
This week we should take things on like we're on the SNL stage. Don't overthink it. Don't be scared to, as Will Ferrell puts it, "just try it." Move through the session bravely, creatively, and authentically. Enter the studio with a "nothing to lose" John Belushi stage dive. Be like Lorne Michaels and face the airtime in front of you like an ambitious college kid who puts full faith in his dreams, complete trust in his crew, and doesn't half-ass any of it.
Excited to make your bodies sweat, smile, and instead of feeling beat down and sick of all the oppression, get a prescription. "A prescription for more cowbell!"
XO,
Celeste
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