Have you ever wanted to be in the audience at the longest
running live late night show? Here at
Fordham many students take advantage of their extremely close proximity to the
set of Saturday Night Live. I’ve only
gone twice, but during those two trips, I made a “College Kids Survival Guide
to the SNL line” that I feel is pretty universal. Here’s how it goes:
1) Plan on what time you want to get in line.
2) Pack warm clothes…extremely warm clothes.
3) Set up a comfy spot.
4) Meet your neighbors (you will be in line for over 12
hours with them).
5) Eat, talk, and sleep.
Step One: Plan on what time you want to get in line.
For my second time, I went on October 11 with my friend,
Gianna. Since there are only stand-by
tickets available, it runs on a first-come, first-served basis. So, you want to get in line as soon as
possible. However, they do not give out
the tickets until 7 a.m. Saturday morning.
Now, you have to plan according to how badly you want to see the show. Do you consider the host to be a god amongst
men? Well, you better get there early. Thursday
afternoon early. Is the host hugely
popular, a SNL legend, and your favorite person on the face of the planet? Then
you better get there Wednesday afternoon…at the latest. But don't worry, we got in line Friday at 6 p.m. and were about 40 people back.
Step 2: Pack warm clothes…extremely warm clothes.
This one may sound obvious (and it is), but people
still don’t pack warmly enough. My first
time going, I wore two pairs of pants, two sweatshirts under two jackets, two
socks, and snow boots, and I still almost shivered my way to 7 a.m. At first, you’re fine and enjoying a night
out on the streets (literally). But then
4 a.m. hits, and it hits faster than a speeding bullet. However, if you pack warmly and
bring blankets, you’ll be A-OK!
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| The line in front of us |
Step 3: Set up a comfy spot.
This step is similar to packing warmly. If you have a nice campsite, you’ll enjoy the
night! Make sure to bring a blanket to
put on the cold concrete and bags or pillows to lay on. This, again, may sound obvious, but is a must
to have a comfortable night.
Step 4: Meet your neighbors (you will be in line for over 12
hours with them).
One of the first things you should do is to meet your
neighbors. You’ll be in line with them
over 12 hours, so talking to them really makes the time go by faster. Throughout the night, you’ll learn a lot
about them, sometimes even too much. But
hey, when it's 5 a.m. some things slip the mind. No judging. This time, we
all decided to order pizza to the sidewalk in front of 600 Fifth Ave. Over dinner, we talked about our
favorite SNL skits, Lonely Island songs, and how much we hoped to get into the
show!
Step 5: Eat, talk, and sleep*
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| Chock Full o' Nuts truck line around 7am |
Pretty self-explanatory, but make sure you pack snacks or
bring enough money to buy food. It’s a
long night, so you most likely will get hungry around 2 or 3 a.m. Next, you have to talk and play cards to make
the night go by faster. This is when
you’ll learn a lot about people and yourself. Conversations on the street at 5 a.m. tend to be pretty entertaining when
you think back on them. And finally,
sleep. For some, sleeping on the streets
may be difficult; however, you just have to snuggle up in your blankets and count past SNL hosts (works better than counting sheep!) It takes you back to Christmas Eve when you
couldn’t sleep due to your excitement!!
*Repeat Step 5 (in no particular order) until 7 a.m.
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| Gianna and me with our tickets |
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| The audience at SNL |
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| My ticket |
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| Katy Perry performing "Walking on Air" |
And…1) if you do get into the show, make sure to have a Boy Dance Party in celebration!!!
2) the pictures inside the set aren't allowed so shhhh!
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