On the Dream Job, Writing a Hit Sketch, and Working with the Stars
Topps RIPPED is celebrating Saturday Night Live’s historic 50th season with multiple articles about the show’s biggest stars, best sketches, and connection with Topps and The Hobby
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“It really started with Blues Brothers,” Eli Mandel began. “I think I was maybe ten. I remember my dad, he didn’t like television, movies, but I remember we were all in a hotel one time and we turned on the TV, and Blues Brothers was playing and my dad watched the whole movie and I was like, okay that’s crazy, he was a blues musician, and liked that stuff, he loved it. That was my first real introduction to SNL, our whole family loved the movie, Blues Brothers 2000, we had original Blues Brothers stuff on DVD. Dan Aykroyd is now an underrated Hollywood legend, and on SNL, he was just perfect.”
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“When my sister and I first started watching SNL, Colin Quinn was hosting Weekend Update. We didn’t get it,” said Mandel. “We were too young and it seemed more Leno-esque humor, instead of Conan-esque. At the time, we’d watch all of MadTV and then switch over to SNL once Weekend Update was over. But, when Tina and Jimmy took over, we started watching more and more of the show. I remember laughing for like 10 minutes at Jimmy Fallon’s “I married a black bear” joke. He’s like, ‘I’ll have you know Tina. I’m married to a black bear,’ and they showed a picture of him with a black bear, in a wedding gown. It felt like the jokes were just weirder, which I loved.”
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While Blues Brothers was an early inspiration for Mandel, there was a shift as time went on. To this day, he holds both a comic and sentimental attachment to the cast that featured Fey, Fallon, as well as the likes of Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Amy Poehler. “It was right when I was getting into high school. You know, Lorne (SNL Creator Lorne Michaels) always said, ‘The cast that was there when you were in high school will always be your favorite cast.’ And even though they’re like a decade older than me, it felt like we were the same age. But looking back, it also really was a phenomenal cast.” Indeed, that class of SNL produced multiple late night television hosts, and some of the best television comedies of the last 20 years, including Fey’s 30 Rock, Poehler’s Parks and Recreation, and Hader’s Barry.
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After doing some theater in high school, Mandel joined the improv team at college. “I mean, I got on, but didn’t really know what I was doing. A guy on the team said the best improv was in Chicago, so I did the iO intensive there in the summer. I fell in love with the city and the improv, and I basically just headed there the second I graduated.”
Chicago has long been a premier destination for American sketch comedy, and has been essential in helping create and maintain the talent pipeline at SNL, particularly through iO theater and of course, Second City. Early legends like Akyroyd, John Belushi, and Bill Murray as well as Chris Farley were all Second City alums. More recent stars like Fey, Poehler, Cecily Strong, and current cast member Sarah Sherman also developed in the Windy City.
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“There a good system in place to get Chicago people on SNL showcases,” said Mandel. The writer, as often happens, was initially offered a chance to audition for a spot on the cast. “You go out onstage, and Lorne’s there, Colin Jost, Michael Che, all the producers. Luckily I couldn’t see them. Maybe that helped.” Mandel was then flown to New York to screen test. “A few of us got picked, and we end up going to the Ritz-Carlton for this sort of speed dating, meet-and-greet with writers, producers, Lorne. I was part of the group who talked to Lorne first, which was nerve-wracking, but it made it easier to do the rest once it was out of the way.”
For Mandel, working on SNL was always more a dream than a goal. “You want it, but don’t fully allow yourself to be like, wow this can actually happen. So, I kept saying, if this is as far as it goes, it’s already amazing.” A few days later, he was hired as a writer. He found out at work. “It was my first day as a permanent employee at this tech company.” Mandel quit his day job. “That was fun.”
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Mandel wrote on SNL during season 44. Typically, writers will pitch sketches and take them through a process with the entire team, until they are chosen to go following a table read. For new writers, it can take awhile to get something through. “I didn’t really expect to get anything on the show ’til Christmas.” Instead, Mandel ended up creating one of the hit sketches of the season in his very first episode and found himself working with the host, Adam Driver. “It was an insane experience. You’re just there, working with Adam Driver. He was just awesome, so prepared. I caught a glimpse of his script, it was completely marked up with acting notes – he was doing real acting work on this thing, which felt awesome. Obviously, he crushed.”
The sketch, “Career Day”, in which Driver plays oil baron Abraham H. Parnassus, is still considered one of the best of Season 44, and one of four-time host Driver’s funniest moments on the show. “It’s cool. The sketch and character have a life of their own now, which has been really satisfying. People have Abraham H. Parnassus tattoos!” Since leaving SNL Mandel has gone on to write for Comedy Central and The New Yorker.
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