Let’s Talk Late Night
Late Night TV has been around in New York since the 1950s, bringing entertainment to the nation for decades! My mom loves Jimmy Fallon, so I grew up watching clips of him the next day. I’m sad to say I didn’t grow up watching Saturday Night Live, but it has been really exciting getting into it the past year and learning about all the Late Night hosts who used to be on SNL! When I moved to New York, I knew that I needed to go to at least one taping of Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and SNL. I have gone to all three now, and what’s even better is that it was free! Here’s how.
Late Night Shows
Through the 1iota website, I was able to go see Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon for free! All you have to do is request tickets, and then you’ll get an email if you get in. For Seth Meyers, I joined the waitlist a few days before and got in the day before, and for Jimmy Fallon my roommate requested the tickets when the link first opened. Both shows tape in the afternoon, so it was a little tricky with my work schedule, but I was able to move things around to go.
I attended Seth Meyers with Jake Shane and Lizzo, which was genuinely so much fun! I LOVE Jake Shane and had actually just met him at DWTS Live because he sat behind me, so the timing was just so perfect. He was promoting All Out, the Broadway show he was in, which was so fun by the way. Lizzo was doing a few shows here at the Blue Note, and she sang part of her new single for us! But the real star of the show was Seth Meyers. He came out before the show and introduced himself and talked with the crowd, and you could tell that he truly loves his job and is so grateful he gets to come to work every day. He’s also beautiful and hilarious, so what more could you want really. It was an amazing experience, and I will definitely go again soon.
I attended Jimmy Fallon with Jamie Lee Curtis, Sam Heughan, Andrew Jarecki, and Megan Moroney. Going into it, I only knew Jamie Lee Curtis and Megan, so I thought that I might not be super engaged, but I could not have been more wrong. My mom watches Outlander, which Sam Heughan is in, so I got to tell her all about it, and I learned about the incredible powerful documentaries that Andrew Jarecki has directed. Jimmy came into the crowd similar to Seth Meyers, though I do feel like Seth was a little more laid back. Jennifer Lopez’s mom was at the taping, and Jimmy gave her a hug and introduced her to everyone, which was super cool! And then we got to see Megan perform Medicine twice! Overall, it was an incredible experience and I highly recommend. The Jimmy Fallon process was around three and a half hours – we arrived at 3:00 and left at 6:30 ish. Seth Meyers was a 2:00 arrival and I was out by 5:15.
Saturday Night Live
Thanks to my incredible roommates (shoutout Rachel & Bailee), I had the opportunity to go to SNL a few weeks ago to see Teyana Taylor and Geese. Rachel requested tickets on Thursday at 10 AM for the dress rehearsal and got numbers 105 and 106. For reference, they give out 300 standby tickets. I got super lucky because Bailee wasn’t able to go, so I got to be Rachel’s plus one. It also was SUPER cold that week, so instead of waiting five hours on the side of the road freezing Friday night, we only had to wait about thirty minutes, and they passed out numbers at 7. We got bumped up to 85 and 86 because so many people in front of us didn’t show up. We went back on Saturday to line up in number order a little before 6:30 in the NBC Store and then experienced the most stressful hour and a half of our lives…
Basically, you don’t know if you’ll get into the room until it’s 8:00 and the show is starting. We started in the NBC Store and were there until 7:30. We got through security at 7:40 and turned our phones off. Then we waited up in the big room that you wait in for all the late night shows and at this point we still didn’t know if we were going to get in. They started handing out wristbands and rushing people at 7:50 I think, and we barely made the cut. We got our wristbands and RAN to the elevator and then down the hall, dropped our tickets in the bin, and walked into Studio 8H to hear “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” It was genuinely the craziest experience, and once we were in, it only got better.
Mike Myers (aka Shrek and Austin Powers!!) made an appearance as Elon Musk, and Marcello did some Gen Z translating for Colin during Weekend Update. Teyana Taylor did a really great job hosting and matching everyone’s energy. Even though it was dress rehearsal, the room was just as electric as I bet it is during the live show. We also got to see extra sketches and a longer weekend update, as they decide what to cut based on audience reaction.
Obviously as soon as I left, I decided I needed to go back every weekend, but unfortunately my website crashed every time I’ve tried to get tickets since. Hopefully I’ll get to go back soon!
Learn More
As you can tell, I’ve become very invested in this world the past few months. I’m hoping to go see Stephen Colbert before his show ends. Media is so important to our culture, and it’s important to stay informed on the way it’s being regulated! Here a few resources to learn more.
For History: The Story of Late Night (HBO Max), Saturday Night
For Tickets: SNL Ticket Info, Late Night Tickets
What’s Happening Right Now: The Crackdown on TV, Best of Late Night