People in the News - Tina Fey

PIN Tina Fey v7:Layout 1
12/10/09
12:18 PM
Page 24
Chapter 2
Live from New York,
It’s Tina Fey
W
hen Fey was twenty-seven years old, she thought she
was living life at the top. But in June 1997, she made a
decision that would catapult her to even greater heights. It
started when her friend Adam McKay urged her to send some
sample scripts to Lorne Michaels, Saturday Night Live’s powerful
and charismatic executive producer. Fey knew McKay from his
work at Second City, and since then he had gone on to be head
writer at Saturday Night Live. McKay thought Fey was perfect
for SNL—and after reading her samples, so did Michaels.
Within just a couple of months of receiving the scripts, he offered her a job as a staff writer on the show.
Fey initially paused when presented with this intimidating yet
awesome opportunity. On the one hand, she had been interested
in doing sketch comedy since she was a little girl, and Saturday
Night Live was the apex of that universe. On the other hand, at
Second City she was able to write and perform comedy seven
days a week in a personal, intimate environment. She was also in
love with Jeff Richmond, the piano player with whom she had
begun an intense relationship. Above all, she loved the city of
Chicago—it felt like home. But when she told friend Amy Poehler
(a future Saturday Night Live cast member) about the opportunity—
and about the salary Michaels had offered her—Poehler strongly
urged her to take the job.
Once Fey dug in to SNL’s quirky backstage atmosphere and
close community of writers, she never looked back. “I’d had my
24
PIN Tina Fey v7:Layout 1
12/10/09
12:18 PM
Page 25
eye on the show forever, the way other kids have their eye on
Derek Jeter,” she said. She enjoyed the rowdy, intense atmosphere
of the writers’ room. It was always crowded and noisy, with writers constantly bouncing jokes and potential bits off each other. It
perhaps is not surprising that in an office packed with some of
the most talented writers and actors of the day, Fey was always
greeted with hilarious antics and off-the-wall pranks. “Most of
the time you’re too busy to think about it, but every now and
then you say, ‘I work at Saturday Night Live,’ and that is so cool,”25
she said. Also, she was able to salvage a long-distance relationship with Richmond, and within a few years he ended up getting
a job at SNL, too, as a composer of music for skits.
Writer Adam McKay on the set of the movie Step Brothers.
McKay helped Tina Fey get her start on Saturday Night Live
by urging her to send some sample scripts to executive
producer Lorne Michaels.
Live from New York, It’s Tina Fey
25