John Mulaney Admits He Was ‘Miserable’ and ‘in Knots’ Before Hosting ‘SNL’ for the First Time
Despite being a writer on Saturday Night Live, comedian John Mulaney recalled his first time hosting SNL to be a pretty terrifying experience.
Mulaney took the iconic stage on April 15, 2018, to host SNL for the first time, leaving the audience in stitches while his stomach was literally in knots.
John Mulaney said he was pretty miserable with stress leading up to his first time hosting ‘SNL’
Mulaney recalled how he worked himself up into feeling pretty miserable during the week leading up to his first SNL hosting gig. “One thing I have found was really bad to ingrain in myself was that if I’m having a miserable time, the end product will be better,” he said on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast.
“And I remember the first time I hosted Saturday Night Live, the show was really fun,” Mulaney recalled. “The show was great. I twisted myself in knots all week and was pretty miserable. By Friday night, I was feeling miserable. Things turned out really fun on the show, but just emotionally, I was like, no one wants me to host because I’m a writer and are thinking this is going to suck. And it was like the world is waiting for this to be bad. And I was just in knots, and it was so unpleasant.”
Mulaney learned a big lesson after hosting ‘SNL’ for the first time
Of course, Mulaney killed on SNL that first time as a host. But he learned a lesson for the second time he hosted. “A lot of other things in my life I needed more emotional maturity about,” he admitted. “I did make a pretty good resolution the second time I came back. I was like, ‘I’m going to have fun.'”
“And if it’s a bad show, then that’s fine,” he said. “If this weird Catholic superstition of ‘must suffer for it to be good,’ if that’s true, I’d rather have fun for the week and have the show suffer. Let’s just see it as an experiment if that happens. And I had a lot of fun that week, and I thought the show was strong.”
He added, “I feel like I’ve even heard top NBA players say, like, practice is where you work hard and the game is fun.”
The comedian is now in the ‘Five Timers’ club on ‘SNL’
Mulaney got so good at hosting SNL that he was asked back multiple times and recently joined the illustrious “Five Timers” host club. The group consists of celebrities who have hosted SNL at least five times. Alec Baldwin currently holds the record for most times hosting SNL.
A good portion of Mulaney’standup performances and cold opens reflect his life. His last SNL hosting gig allowed him to explore a darker time in his life but also becoming a father. He joked about how his son was “annoyed” with the bright lights in the delivery room. And said, “He was annoyed but didn’t say anything. And I was like, ‘That is my son.'”
