You never quite know how a sketch is going to do in front of a live audience. That’s a recurring theme so many former Saturday Night Live cast members talk about. The bit might get great feedback from the other cast members and seem hysterical on the page, but if the crowd doesn’t go with it during the actual show, it’s not going to work.
Of course, why exactly they respond to something is a mystery. What works with one crowd during dress rehearsal may or may not work with the next crowd during the live show. There’s a long history of famous sketches that didn’t set the world on fire earlier in the day and went on to gain legendary status, most famously Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken’s iconic More Cowbell.
The sketch didn’t do particularly well during dress rehearsals, which prompted Ferrell, who wrote the sketch himself, to change his sweater from one that actually fit to one that showed his stomach. The result gave off a goofier, more slovenly impression and may have been one of the factors that changed how the audience responded. Here’s what SNL EP Morgan Neville told Deadline while discussing Peacock's SNL 50 docuseries, which devotes an entire episode to the sketch…
Between dress and air, Will Ferrell changed the sweater and got this slightly smaller sweater so his stomach would stick out. Does that make all the difference a costume? Nobody thinks of that, but it makes a huge difference. All those tiny things make a huge difference in unpredictable ways.
As a seasoned SNL fan who has watched hundreds of episodes over the years, I’d describe it as a vibe. Sometimes a sketch is able to slip into a rhythm where everything comes together to make it greater than the sum of its parts. Cast members can tell when something is working, and in their best moments, they can play off each other really well. Both Ferrell and Walken seem to sense what’s going on and really lean into their characters even more. Check out the sketch below to get a sense of what I’m talking about…
In some ways, being a comedian on Saturday Night Live is closer to being a professional athlete or being a professional wrestler than it is to being a more traditional movie or TV actor. When the light turns on, you have one chance to create something special, and what you did during the week, doesn’t really count. All that matters is what shows up during the one take that counts.
It’s not always about performing perfectly or saying all of our lines with the best enunciation. In fact, maybe the most talked about sketch is recent years is the Beavis and Butt-Head bit that went wrong in all the best ways. No, it’s just about finding that magic, that moment where it all comes together and connects with the audience.
We’ll never know if Will Ferrell’s costume change was the reason More Cowbell went so much better, but it was certainly part of the mix that made it so special. Twenty-five years later, we’re still talking about those iconic six minutes, and as long as the show continues, they’ll still be talking about it.
SNL will return for another season in early October. Final casting decisions haven’t been made. Unfounded rumors about the fates of specific cast members are being passed around, but we should start getting more info in the coming weeks. I’ll be watching and wondering what minor details got changed between dress rehearsal and the live show.
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