as New York as bagels and pigeons

If you’re interested in SNL, or in a potential acting or directing career, this is the article for you! On Tuesday, LateNight Theater, an on-campus late-night comedy sketch group, hosted their first annual speaker series, featuring Don Roy King, the current director of Saturday Night Live. Bwog sent staff writer Lexie Lehmann to check it out. 

Don Roy King is an icon of late-night television. Currently in his 11th year as Saturday Night Live’s Director, King previously worked on Survivor, The Early Show, and The Mike Douglas Show. As a result of his directing work, King has won several Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as awards from the Director’s Guild of America.

On Tuesday, Don Roy King sat down for a question forum led by Nathaniel Jameson, CC’18, a member of Columbia’s LateNight Theater group. Overall, King was a lively, charming, and captivating personality — wonderfully spirited even in his old age. He dressed sharply in bright blue pants and a burgundy jacket, perfectly matching the cozy *aesthetic* of Barnard 304.

During the event, King answered questions on a number of topics, beginning with how he got his start in directing. As an undergraduate at Penn State, King was interested in performing, but majored in broadcasting to satisfy his parents. During a practical broadcasting assignment in his senior year, King stumbled upon his innate talent for directing when one of his peers failed to manage their assignment correctly, and King was forced to step in. He likened the experience as turning into the “quarterback on a football team,” forced to call quick shots and move things around on a dime. King was immediately drawn to this high stakes and the fast-paced environment, and knew that directing was the right path for him to follow.

King proceeded to talk about the his routine at Saturday Night Live. Between meeting the show’s weekly host on Monday and the final dress rehearsal on Saturday, King and his team of writers, actors, and producers have around 3 days to produce 12 comedic sketches from scratch. In discussing the SNL schedule, King stressed the number of last-minute changes and conflicts that occur on the show every week; he recalled several instances when writers changed the order of sketches, even adding and removing entire scenes, moments before the show aired at 11pm.

The demanding, yet necessarily fluid, schedule of the show is met with certain old-school television techniques. King discussed the show’s choice to continue to use cue cards rather than a teleprompter, and a camera crane monitored by hand operators rather than remote electronic cameras. King attributes these techniques to the show’s aged producer, Lorne Michaels, who still plays an incredibly large role in the show’s execution.

King also shared his feelings concerning the role of SNL in its coverage of sociopolitical events. The show received a lot of criticism because of its comedic portrayal of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin in 2008, and recently received backlash for Alec Baldwin’s depiction of Donald Trump in this year’s election coverage. Jameson asked King specifically about how he felt about the show’s capability of persuasion, and whether or not that capability is taken into consideration during the scripting process. King largely defected these questions, saying “Quite frankly… I don’t know. I don’t want to know. [The distinction between what is appropriate and what is not is something] that I am not capable making.” Instead, King emphasized that “[his] job is only to sell the material” and that “the audience should determine what matters…”

To wrap up the Q&A session, King provided some advice to aspiring performers and directors. He was quick to echo the words of his colleague, Lorne Michaels, who warns that “sometimes no really means no.” King described the large amount of rejected talent that SNL casting directors witness. Talent scouts collect candidates from all around the country, and around 25 are chosen for an audition each season. From there, casting is determined on what the show needs — a boy, a girl, someone that resembles a popular celebrity, etc. Those that are cut are not necessarily less talented; rather, they auditioned for the wrong show at the wrong time.

Nonetheless, he encouraged the audience to remain hopeful and to not jump to conclusions too soon about prospective career paths. He also dismissed the saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” cautioning the audience against “getting your foot in the door” only to get stuck in an entry-level position with no hope of promotion. His biggest advice, ultimately, was to wait for the best opportunity, and then to seize it. “Trust your butterflies,” he counseled.

The event wrapped up with a promo for CU LateNight’s Fall performance, next week on Friday and Saturday. Details about the event will follow on the LateNite Theater Facebook page.

image via nytix.com