(WTNH) — Streeter Seidell grew up in Madison, went to Daniel Hand High School and became a comedy writer.
For the last four years, you’ve been seeing his work on “Saturday Night Live.”
Seidell describes the organized chaotic hours that go on in the week leading up to the live show. Sometimes, that means staying up 30 or 40 hours in a row.
He says the learning curve is almost nonexistent.
“It’s like, you go and you are thrown in the deep end,” Seidell said. “At that point, at that place, there’s no hand-holding. Like, okay, let me take you through the week. Like, here’s this person. It’s immediately like, your first Monday of your first show you’re just sitting on the floor in Lorne Michaels’s office and he calls your name and you’re looking at a famous person. Chris Pratt…was the host for my first show and I’m like, ‘Oh, now I just have to talk to Chris Pratt in front of my heroes here and try to make him laugh in front of this room of people whom I’ve never met but all of whom I admire,’ and then you’re just off to the races.”
Despite the pressure, Seidell enjoys the work he does.
“I have a great time there. It’s perfect for what I like to do,” Seidell said. “I love the people I work with. It’s such a tight knit little family of people there and there’s no egos, there’s no, like, no mater how famous or notable you are to the public, you know, once you’re in there everyone is just the same. You’re working the same crazy hours, you’re going through the same nonsense, you’re dealing with the same stresses and whatever, so, someone like Kate McKinnon who is a certifiable movie star, two Emmys for her work on the show, she’s huge. She was just on the cover of Vanity Fair. But in that environment, she’s dealing with the same pressures we are and going through the same stuff.”
Seidell co-wrote the David S. Pumpkins skit starring Tom Hanks that airs around Halloween. That led to the animated children’s show that just aired.
