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FEATURESaturday 25 April 2015
Cecily Strong: From ‘SNL’ Hot Seat to Trial by Fire
DAVE ITZKOFF still showing respect for elected of- humor.” he said, have all rated “a solid B-
© 2015 New York Times ficials. “She’s the nice girl who’s cutting in a plus, A-minus.”
NEW YORK - Sitting in her tiny dress- And, oh yes, she must follow a rou- way that you don’t really notice until “People are really there to see the
ing room at “Saturday Night Live” tine performed by President Barack later,” said Parsons, the White House president,” he added, “so even if
on a Friday afternoon, Cecily Strong Obama. correspondent for Tribune Publish- you’re Jay Leno or somebody at the
was trying to keep her mind off a big As Joel McHale, the host of last ing. top of your game, you’re not the
looming commitment. year’s dinner, said in an interview, Parsons said she wanted to see “a most interesting person there that
Not the impersonation of Marion when he completed his duties, “the different perspective” at the hosting night.”
Cotillard she was about to rehearse relief afterwards was measurable on dais. Cody Keenan, Obama’s chief
- that she could handle. a Geiger counter.” “If every year, for too many years, speechwriter, said in an interview
that the president provides no
Cecily Strong, a Saturday Night Live cast member, at the show’s studios in New York, April 9, 2015. Strong, the 31-year-old guidelines or restrictions on what
the host can joke about. “There’s
comic actor and SNL regular, will take center stage at the Washington Hilton as host of the White House Correspondents’ no shortage of material when you
have a bunch of politicians and me-
Association dinner on Saturday, April 25, 2015. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times) dia figures with big egos in a room,”
Keenan said. “The president can
But on Saturday, Strong, a 31-year- Still, Strong said it was a challenge you have the same late-night mid- take it. He loves it.”
old comic actor, will take center she felt she had to face. “I’ve done dle-aged white guys up there talk- Obama’s own routine, Keenan said,
stage at the Washington Hilton as a lot of things that have scared me, ing, then maybe it’s possible you’re is overseen by speechwriter David
the host of the White House Corre- and they turned out OK,” she said. not getting a wide range of per- Litt with input from former Obama
spondents’ Association dinner, and Strong, a veteran of Chicago’s Sec- spectives,” Parsons said. speechwriters Jon Favreau and
she was justifiably nervous. ond City and iO comedy theaters, As far back as the 1940s and ‘50s, Jon Lovett, political strategist David
“I truly had days where I’m like, I wish is now in her third season at “SNL” the dinner featured performers like Axelrod, the former White House ad-
I could disappear today,” said a de- There, she has become known for Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Mil- viser Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor,
ceptively upbeat Strong. “Because characters like the Girl You Wish ton Berle. In the modern era it has a former National Security Council
there’s no way to back out of it.” You Hadn’t Started a Conversation favored late-night comics like Jay spokesman.
This annual gathering of journal- With at a Party, and one of a pair Leno and Conan O’Brien. Jokes are batted around over email,
ists, politicians and celebrities has of barely coherent former porn stars A watershed moment came in 2006 with Obama weighing in up to the
become a marquee event for the she portrays with Vanessa Bayer. when Stephen Colbert, in the guise very last moment.
performer who delivers its closing She also spent one season as a co- of his blowhard pundit character, In 2011, Keenan said, Obama ex-
monologue. Strong will be only the anchor of the show’s “Weekend delivered to President George W. cised a “not very good Osama bin
second female comedian to host it Update” desk, a seat it was an- Bush what sounded nominally like a Laden joke” that would have been
in more than 20 years, and the first nounced she was losing just as she speech of praise but was actually a delivered one day before he an-
since Wanda Sykes in 2009. was approached about the Wash- biting critique. nounced the U.S. military mission
No matter who gets the nod, it’s an ington dinner. After that, “a recalibration” oc- that eliminated the al-Qaida leader.
assignment that almost never re- Strong said she was unhappy about curred, said Patrick Gavin, the direc- “He was like, ‘Let’s just take out bin
sults in universal praise. It is more like how the news media covered her tor of “Nerd Prom,” a documentary Laden,’” Keenan recalled Obama
the comedic equivalent of an Evel “Weekend Update” exit, but that about the correspondents’ dinner. instructing. “And then he did.”
Knievel motorcycle stunt, an act the transition itself had been “actu- Later comedians have played it saf- McHale, the star of “Community”
of boldness that can end in a fiery ally a happy thing for me,” allowing er, and “figured out the right tone,” and “The Soup,” said he had been
wreck. her to participate in more sketches said Gavin, a former reporter for Po- advised by past dinner hosts to bring
The host must play to both the din- and character pieces on the show. litico. as much material as possible, and
ner’s in-person guests and its televi- Christi Parsons, the president of the “As a result, you get fewer bombs, not to duplicate topics covered by
sion viewers; zing Democrats and White House Correspondents’ As- but also you get fewer home runs,” the president.
Republicans with equal zest; and sociation, said she selected Strong he said. Recent performers like Seth Even as he sat next to Michelle
speak satirical truth to power while this year for her “heartland brand of Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and O’Brien, Obama at last year’s dinner, McHale
said, he was still revising his stand-
up act. “The first lady looked at me
like, ‘What are you doing?’” McHale
said. “I’m like, ‘I’m ripping out jokes
that your husband just told.’”
Strong is working with writers from
“Weekend Update” and Jimmy Fal-
lon’s “Tonight Show,” among other
NBC colleagues, to create her rou-
tine. Understandably, she did not
want to reveal too many specifics,
but she said she wanted to bring her
“silly sensibility” to the show.
Pointing to the example of her “SNL”
predecessors Amy Poehler and Tina
Fey, three-time co-hosts of the Gold-
en Globes, Strong said she wanted
to say “a couple very pointed things,
to make some points that are my
own opinions, but still try to go af-
ter everybody - not in a mean way,
necessarily.”
“There won’t be blood afterwards,”
she said. “Unless I trip and fall, which
I’m still worried about.”q
FEATURESaturday 25 April 2015
Cecily Strong: From ‘SNL’ Hot Seat to Trial by Fire
DAVE ITZKOFF still showing respect for elected of- humor.” he said, have all rated “a solid B-
© 2015 New York Times ficials. “She’s the nice girl who’s cutting in a plus, A-minus.”
NEW YORK - Sitting in her tiny dress- And, oh yes, she must follow a rou- way that you don’t really notice until “People are really there to see the
ing room at “Saturday Night Live” tine performed by President Barack later,” said Parsons, the White House president,” he added, “so even if
on a Friday afternoon, Cecily Strong Obama. correspondent for Tribune Publish- you’re Jay Leno or somebody at the
was trying to keep her mind off a big As Joel McHale, the host of last ing. top of your game, you’re not the
looming commitment. year’s dinner, said in an interview, Parsons said she wanted to see “a most interesting person there that
Not the impersonation of Marion when he completed his duties, “the different perspective” at the hosting night.”
Cotillard she was about to rehearse relief afterwards was measurable on dais. Cody Keenan, Obama’s chief
- that she could handle. a Geiger counter.” “If every year, for too many years, speechwriter, said in an interview
that the president provides no
Cecily Strong, a Saturday Night Live cast member, at the show’s studios in New York, April 9, 2015. Strong, the 31-year-old guidelines or restrictions on what
the host can joke about. “There’s
comic actor and SNL regular, will take center stage at the Washington Hilton as host of the White House Correspondents’ no shortage of material when you
have a bunch of politicians and me-
Association dinner on Saturday, April 25, 2015. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times) dia figures with big egos in a room,”
Keenan said. “The president can
But on Saturday, Strong, a 31-year- Still, Strong said it was a challenge you have the same late-night mid- take it. He loves it.”
old comic actor, will take center she felt she had to face. “I’ve done dle-aged white guys up there talk- Obama’s own routine, Keenan said,
stage at the Washington Hilton as a lot of things that have scared me, ing, then maybe it’s possible you’re is overseen by speechwriter David
the host of the White House Corre- and they turned out OK,” she said. not getting a wide range of per- Litt with input from former Obama
spondents’ Association dinner, and Strong, a veteran of Chicago’s Sec- spectives,” Parsons said. speechwriters Jon Favreau and
she was justifiably nervous. ond City and iO comedy theaters, As far back as the 1940s and ‘50s, Jon Lovett, political strategist David
“I truly had days where I’m like, I wish is now in her third season at “SNL” the dinner featured performers like Axelrod, the former White House ad-
I could disappear today,” said a de- There, she has become known for Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Mil- viser Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor,
ceptively upbeat Strong. “Because characters like the Girl You Wish ton Berle. In the modern era it has a former National Security Council
there’s no way to back out of it.” You Hadn’t Started a Conversation favored late-night comics like Jay spokesman.
This annual gathering of journal- With at a Party, and one of a pair Leno and Conan O’Brien. Jokes are batted around over email,
ists, politicians and celebrities has of barely coherent former porn stars A watershed moment came in 2006 with Obama weighing in up to the
become a marquee event for the she portrays with Vanessa Bayer. when Stephen Colbert, in the guise very last moment.
performer who delivers its closing She also spent one season as a co- of his blowhard pundit character, In 2011, Keenan said, Obama ex-
monologue. Strong will be only the anchor of the show’s “Weekend delivered to President George W. cised a “not very good Osama bin
second female comedian to host it Update” desk, a seat it was an- Bush what sounded nominally like a Laden joke” that would have been
in more than 20 years, and the first nounced she was losing just as she speech of praise but was actually a delivered one day before he an-
since Wanda Sykes in 2009. was approached about the Wash- biting critique. nounced the U.S. military mission
No matter who gets the nod, it’s an ington dinner. After that, “a recalibration” oc- that eliminated the al-Qaida leader.
assignment that almost never re- Strong said she was unhappy about curred, said Patrick Gavin, the direc- “He was like, ‘Let’s just take out bin
sults in universal praise. It is more like how the news media covered her tor of “Nerd Prom,” a documentary Laden,’” Keenan recalled Obama
the comedic equivalent of an Evel “Weekend Update” exit, but that about the correspondents’ dinner. instructing. “And then he did.”
Knievel motorcycle stunt, an act the transition itself had been “actu- Later comedians have played it saf- McHale, the star of “Community”
of boldness that can end in a fiery ally a happy thing for me,” allowing er, and “figured out the right tone,” and “The Soup,” said he had been
wreck. her to participate in more sketches said Gavin, a former reporter for Po- advised by past dinner hosts to bring
The host must play to both the din- and character pieces on the show. litico. as much material as possible, and
ner’s in-person guests and its televi- Christi Parsons, the president of the “As a result, you get fewer bombs, not to duplicate topics covered by
sion viewers; zing Democrats and White House Correspondents’ As- but also you get fewer home runs,” the president.
Republicans with equal zest; and sociation, said she selected Strong he said. Recent performers like Seth Even as he sat next to Michelle
speak satirical truth to power while this year for her “heartland brand of Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and O’Brien, Obama at last year’s dinner, McHale
said, he was still revising his stand-
up act. “The first lady looked at me
like, ‘What are you doing?’” McHale
said. “I’m like, ‘I’m ripping out jokes
that your husband just told.’”
Strong is working with writers from
“Weekend Update” and Jimmy Fal-
lon’s “Tonight Show,” among other
NBC colleagues, to create her rou-
tine. Understandably, she did not
want to reveal too many specifics,
but she said she wanted to bring her
“silly sensibility” to the show.
Pointing to the example of her “SNL”
predecessors Amy Poehler and Tina
Fey, three-time co-hosts of the Gold-
en Globes, Strong said she wanted
to say “a couple very pointed things,
to make some points that are my
own opinions, but still try to go af-
ter everybody - not in a mean way,
necessarily.”
“There won’t be blood afterwards,”
she said. “Unless I trip and fall, which
I’m still worried about.”q
