Brandi, my roommate here in New York is also a dear and tenured friend. We have known each other for more than 10 years since first meeting at Texas A&M. It goes with out saying that we have a lot of common interests. In High Fidelity, a film/novel I love as much as she loves John Cusack, the lead character Rob Gordon says this: what’s important is what you like — not — what you are like.
Much of our relationship was founded upon our love for Saturday Night Live — the history, the show and the players. We laughed/loathed over the show together (something we continue to do even today — thanks to the magic of DVR’s). When a small group of fellow PBS/KAMU PA’s created the first student produced television show at Texas A&M, our dreams always included “delusions of grandeur” at 30 Rock and SNL.
Brandi eventually followed through on that dream and made it to 30 Rock; into the NBC Page Program, now made somewhat famous by Tina Fey’s 30 Rock. While she was working there, she made some incredible friends. Those friends continue to be incredible several years later and have become a special part of my life here in New York.
Several months ago I joked to Brandi that I could die happy after going to see Saturday Night Live, live. It is after all, the dream I’ve had about New York since 6th grade. However, SNL tickets have become extremely hard to procure since Brandi and many of her friends no longer work at NBC and because the show’s popularity has returned to an extremely high level.
It turns out that Brandi and her friends have been scheming over the past few months to land a pair of tickets for me to go see the show. Tonight, I was presented with one of Brandi’s classic handmade birthday cards, decorated with scenes of my favorite SNL sketches (Robert Goulet, Two A-Holes and Celebrity Jeopardy to name a few…) to announce that I will be going to see Saturday Night Live. The card also says that I can die now and that I look like a rabbit…
As if attending the show isn’t special enough, I had mentioned to Brandi last night that a viewing party might be necessary due to the host and musical guest: Rainn Wilson and Arcade Fire. Somehow, she was able to keep her cool and not spill the beans — but decided to give me at least a week to prepare for it, etc.
After enjoying several glasses of wine with a friend this evening, I am not able to sleep at all because I am so excited. I will never be able to thank Brandi, Laura, Megan and MT enough for this gift which carries no pricetag or value yet it’s absolutely priceless. This is one of the most amazing gifts I have ever received.
And I can’t wait to write about going to the show.
Standing outside of Lorne Michael’s (SNL Creator/Executive Producer) office in 30 Rock during the summer of 2002.