Why did Emily hyprerventilate? Let me tell you.

I didn't expect to get in to SNL. Well, sort of. But I couldn't let myself get my hopes up too high. Because then I get worked up and upset, which is unneccessary. So, Jon and I got ready to go and took the subway back uptown at like 9:30. We got to 30 Rock and waited in line -- AGAIN. The thing with stand-by tickets is that there is never a certain number that is guaranteed admission. It all depends on how many people with actual tickets show up, how many people the host/musical guest brings, how many people with connections choose to go to that episode. So, sometimes it's 50, sometimes it's 0. So, we stood waiting in line, in numerical order, watching all the lucky people with actual tickets go through the metal detectors and file onto elevators to go up to the 8th floor. Then the NBC page got the first 15 people from the stand-by line, and said "We're going to let you guys go through the metal detectors so you're ready to go if they have room. Just because you go through the metal detector DOES NOT mean you have a seat. Once you get on an elevator, though, you're in." So, being number 21, I'm still in the line, freaking out, wanting them to hurry up and decide how many people they need. Then we get to go through the metal detectors. And then....WE GET ON AN ELEVATOR!!! I almost passed out. I was so excited! We got wristbands and as soon as we got off the elevators, everyone practically ran down the hall to the studio. Studio 8H. The historical studio that SNL has occupied since its birth in 1975. I don't know who still watches it, but I was up in the far right balcony. Opposite end of the musical guest stage. We got all situated, I still couldn't really breathe properly, and I just watched in awe as the SNL band played, and all the crew busily moved cameras and pieces of sets and all the organized chaos. Every once in awhile I'd get a glimpse of Lorne Michaels. Then the announcer, Don Pardo, got onstage to sort of say hi and warm us up a bit. He introduced Darrell Hammond, who did a bit of rather unsucessful stand-up. As soon as he was done, they started setting up the cold opening on the stage. They could take their time a bit with this set. The cast for the cold opening sort of leisurely got ontstage, and the audience clapped. Amy began the cold opening. This was pretty much one of my favorite parts of the show, because when they were shouting "1 minute!" or whatever, Amy just started tap dancing, and singing things like "first show of the season! Live show! 30 seconds, everybody!" Haha. And the stagehand had to yell at her to stop because the show was going to start. It's the little stuff like that that you don't see while watching it on TV that make it all worthwhile. It's hard to tell when you're watching it on TV, but the studio is really small, and they don't do hardly any sketches on the stage. The sketches are all done sort of around and next to the maybe 20 swingy chairs on the floor. So some of the sketches were right below me, some were off on the other side...so some you couldn't really see but they had TV monitors so you could still watch. I liked the ones right below me because I could read the cue cards and know what was going to happen before they said it. Watching SNL live is like watching a well-oiled machine. Because they have to do all the set/costume changes during the commercial breaks, as soon as a sketch is over, the cast jumps up and runs off, and a million people rush in and clear everything away. It's so chaotic, it's amazing! And there was a problem with the set of a sketch right in front of me, and Lorne Michaels had to come over and fix things, and it was crazy, and then it just had to START, they had to stop messing with things and just adjust and deal. I love it. It's an art, really.
Then, after the show, I met the cast and I just had a truly amazing night. I LOVE THIS CITY!!! Tonight I'm going to an improv show! What could be better?!?