The God of ‘SNL’ Will See You Now
Current and former cast members of Saturday Night Live—and one who didn’t make it—reflect on what it’s like to audition for Lorne Michaels:
"Marc Maron: I think I was a little high on pot. There were some pictures facing [Mr. Michaels], and in front of the pictures was a bowl of candy. It was all very loaded. And then he just starts looking at me, to a point where Steve Higgins [then an ‘SNL’ producer] goes, ‘Lorne?’ And Lorne goes, ‘You can tell a lot by looking into someone’s eyes.’ And then I took a candy. Lorne looked at Steve, and the meeting was over. I thought I failed the candy test.
“If it panned out, my life would have been dramatically different. I wouldn’t be mildly obsessed with Lorne Michaels. I talk to people about Lorne because I’m hung up on it. I feel like I need to talk to him again to get some closure. [Laughs.]”