We Love You, Harris.

I've been feeling a lot of things since I found out Harris Wittels passed away last Thursday. I've mostly been feeling sad. Very sad. I have been a follower of Harris' work for years. He wrote for some of my favorite shows (The Sarah Silverman Program, Parks and Recreation) and was a guest on many podcasts that I frequently listen to. In fact, I was listening to his most recent Comedy Bang! Bang! appearance when my friend broke the news to me.

I was immediately devastated, but my feelings were confusing. I felt like I had lost a best friend, but I never even knew Harris. I just knew him from twitter and podcasts. This is one reason I felt like I had lost a friend; podcasts are an intimate medium. Especially comedy podcasts. They're generally pretty relaxed and fun. It's a lot like revisiting your high school lunch table where you could sit back and listen to your friends riff the funniest bits. Harris was so candid in podcasts, so he wasn't exactly a "stranger". He was so open on every podcast he was on and he came off as a genuinely funny and likable lovable person.  It's awful when someone who is just obviously just a joy to know or listen to dies. I didn't personally know him, but his silly humor in his work and his funny insights brought a lot of laughter into my life. I believe that's the greatest job anyone can have. Making someone laugh. And Harris did that. A lot.

To tell the truth, he was an inspiration to me. At a relatively young age, I realized that I wanted to be a comedy writer. Parks and Recreation was one of the shows that helped me realize that. Harris helped me realized that a goofy kid like me from Texas could do that. It really hurts to lose someone you look up to so much. I am inspired by lot of people in the comedy community, but Harris was special. He wrote for one of my all time favorite shows, he was one of my favorite people to listen to on podcasts, and he was just a great person.

It's okay that his passing has affected me as much as it has. I've been battling these feelings all week, but with a little help from the Earwolf community, I finally decided they're okay.
If you don't know who Harris Wittels was, I beg you to do a simple google search of his name. Read his tweets, listen to podcasts, laugh...
Because "Motherfuckers wanna laugh".

I love you, Harris.

Reflection on SNL 40

Last week I promised a review on the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special and I have been struggling on what to write. I'm just not a great critic. I mean, check my letterboxd. I can tell you if I liked something or not and I can give you reasons why I feel that way, but I can't write coherent reviews. 

Long story short, I adored the special and if you're a fan of the show, I really encourage you to find two and a half hours to sit down and watch it.

The special really made me reflect on how much Saturday Night Live has effected my life. I haven’t really written a great “About Me” page for this blog, but it should be noted that comedy is one of my biggest passions. I might be a prep, but I am a total comedy nerd. And like many comedy nerds before me, I credit Saturday Night Live as my gateway to comedy. 

Dave Chappelle stated, "I've never lived in a world without Saturday Night Live.”

I know this to be true. I remember watching the show when I was younger. I would stay up late and in between commercial breaks I would change the channel to MADtv. I remember doing this at my grandma’s house in 2000, but I have several memories of staying up with my Dad and doing the same at our house. My first memories of using YouTube was my Dad showing me classic SNL sketches such as James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub, Land Shark, and Steve Martin’s King Tut.

I was always one of those kids who would memorize SNL bits from Saturday’s episode and retell them Monday at school. Even in high school and middle school, I got my current events for history class from Weekend Update.

Another show that had a huge impact on me was 30 Rock. I watched the show as it aired, so watching 30 Rock in my formative pre-teen and teenage years made a huge impression on me. 30 Rock really encouraged me to be myself. I admired how Tina Fey’s character, Liz Lemon, was always true to herself and didn't care what anybody thought. The quirky humor of 30 Rock influenced the alternative sense of humor I have today. 30 Rock encouraged to try improv which was probably one of the most important moments of my life. I remember realizing what a joy it was to make people laugh and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do in life.

I feel like I owe a huge thank you to Lorne Michaels for creating such an amazing institution for American comedy. He's a mad genius who has changed so many lives. 

I could probably write pages and pages expressing my love for Saturday Night Live and all the amazing people who have been a part of it. My childhood dream was always to share the stage that my heroes from Gilda Radner to Tina Fey graced. Maybe someday that dream will come true. Until then, I will keep staying up on Saturday nights to watch the show that has shaped my life.