Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff - Inside Late Night: Amber Ruffin

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Amber Ruffin thought she was about to join Saturday Night Live. Instead, she got a rejection call—and three days later, a life-changing phone call from Seth Meyers.This week as we kick off a new season of Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff, Ruffin shares the story of auditioning for SNL, missing out, and being recruited by her former Boom Chicago castmate to help launch Late Night with Seth Meyers.Plus: her Emmy-nominated Amber Ruffin Show, Broadway’s Some Like It Hot, CNN’s Have I Got News For You, and her new musical Bigfoot!.

from late-nighter.com, it's Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff. Welcome to Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff. Today we talked to the great Amber Ruffin about her time at Late Night with Seth Myers, the Amber Ruffin show and CNNs, have I got news for you? Amber Ruffin, nice to see you again. Hi, I found you. I was just in Omaha, Nebraska for the first time a few months ago. That's where you grew up.

And it was fascinating to be there. No, it wasn't. I loved it. I went in. I just wrote a book about Johnny Carson. So they had me go into, I thought it was called Norfolk, but they could say Norfolk. So I flew into Omaha and I loved it. I was looking at you growing up and there's so many amazing things about you growing up in Omaha. But I wanted to start with late night. Your parents were big Leno fans and you wisely were more into Conan. That was your late night intro? Yes, I'm a Conan man. But you could in my house, if you stayed up and watched the news, you could really do whatever you wanted. Spent parents would be like, well, you watch the news. You know what's going on in the world. You couldn't stay up and watch Leno. So you were the youngest of five years old.

I mean, your dad, I guess probably knew you would be a performer because he'd take naps and you would actually come and you'd be brave enough to sing for him. during naps, and he would always applaud you no matter how tired or to know what he was. Yeah, it's very, it's where I get my horrible behavior from. These people really let me act however I wanted to act. It was great. We both had similar high school experiences where in the beginning, I was also bullied and it went not well. And then I don't know how the shift is. I know that it actually went really well the last couple years. I started to perform and people started to get nice to me. And I know

the last two years it went well for you. You were voted class clown and people loved you. What was the ship from getting bullied to it going well? I got this front tooth replaced. I am almost legally blind. I got contacts. I had like a jerry curl type of thing and I got brides. And teachers I had had the year before didn't recognize me. You were saying that you were the ugliest child you'd ever seen, which I can't even imagine, but that's what you said. Yeah, it's real.

Not like a kid, kid. Like, as a little girl, I was still like, I looked like I would bite you. But it wasn't like bad, but then... So it has nothing to do with you being the lead and Benson higher the lead and once a pound a mattress, which made Carol Burnett famous. Those had nothing to do with you think any popular,

maybe a combination? I got that because I was funny. Sure. And they just let me carry a whole show with my comedy. And I was like, ooh, this is lovely. So who was it that played this joke on your high school? Your mascot was the bunnies. I mean, I went to NYU.

We were the violets. But you, the bunnies, I guess, could eat violets, a flower. But is that true, the Benson bunnies? We are, I think, the only bunny, the only school with a mascot of a bunny in America. And also, rumor has it that it's because the school was a school for girls. And then they just never changed the mascot. When you were 12 years old, is it true that you were leading your chorus at church because you were the only one that could play piano and you're actually instructing adults at this age?

The, what happened is the, um, woman who was the choir director was teaching me how to play piano. So I would come in to choir and she would teach me the song, you know, that she was going to play that Sunday. That happened one time. I got one class. And then she, uh, another rumor. she, well, she, I shouldn't say, but for whatever reason at church, they would not allow her to be the minister of music anymore. So then I had to, because I was the only person who had touched the piano aside from her. So I had to just figure out how to play the piano. It's a lot of power

for a 12 year old. I like, I like hearing that you were getting rave reviews in the newspaper, 2000, you did Hell Cab. Standouts include Amber Ruffin, her lawyer roles, one uptight, the other, not so much. Millennium Theater in Omaha Godspell 2002. During this time, are you taking improv classes? I feel like I started improvising before, maybe after, I don't know, I'm going to say possibly. And then it was somebody, and you were in an improv trip and somebody had been in Chicago and it was like this whole different. world of improv that you were told about and then you did that festival and that was you're really kind of I look at your first big break with Sharna Halpern. Yeah, Sharna Halpern, the woman who owns and runs I.O. is taught a class and she was like, if you move here to Chicago, you'll have a full time job within a

year. And she was right. That was one of those things where you were doing a festival and she, You interned there. What did that involve? So you're interning at I when taking classes. What did that involve interning? Sometimes, I mean, nothing hanging out. We would like man the phones. And sometimes we would like, my very good friend Rebecca Crasny and I were interns at the same time.

And we went up to Sharon and we were like, you need us to have a photo shoot where we model the t-shirts that are for sale. And she was like, Maggie Self out. Took a bunch of pictures of the shit. Like, it was stuff like that. You were 22 years old. You'd never lived anywhere other than Omaha.

What were your parents? What was the reaction, your siblings, when you said you were moving to Chicago? No one cared. Okay. I feel like when I moved to Chicago. Yeah. One of my sisters, I think, lived in Panama at that time.

And then my other sister would go on and move to Namibia. So Chicago, no one cared. Before that, did you really think that you're going to be maybe going into teaching gymnastics? Because that's what is your day job? And I read an interview saying that you really kind of thought that might have been where you were heading. 100%. I thought that was it. Because I liked it and it was fun. So I was like, I could do this forever.

But I was wrong. I don't think I could have done it. So you go to Chicago and within a year, yes, this happens, this prophecy. You are hired at Boom, Chicago. in Amsterdam, and that's where you meet Seth Myers, a lot of other funny people. What was that experience like? Being at Bloom, Chicago was the most fun.

It was maybe the most fun I've ever had, because, you know, it's the youngest you're ever going to be, and it's the most power you'll ever have while being so dumb. So that made it, that, like, fantastic combination of, like, you're kind of safe because it's Amsterdam. and you have your first money you've ever had in your life, which is almost none, because it's a theater job. And it is like your face is on freaking, like the building and like buses and stuff.

So it just felt cool. You're like getting into clubs. They're like, oh, it's the, that you're boom Chicago right this way. It was wild. It was a wild time. And then you were there. And how did you get hired at Second City Main Stage in Chicago? And then I know you were in Denver as well for a little bit.

This is the craziest thing that's ever happened to anyone. I slumdog millionaireed my way into Second City main stage because I just so happened to be there on the same night as Martin Short. Martin Short didn't want to do the set after. So I was there. They're like, do you want to do this set? I was like, sure. I did the set because Martin Short was there, everyone who makes decisions at Second City

was there. So it was kind of like an audition. So I did, I think three improv scenes, you know, in the set and our suggestions were gymnastics, and I was a gymnastics coach, sign language. And I just so happened to know sign language. And something about an engine. And I had just learned how to change a spark plug. So I just seemed like a freaking genius.

So you don't have to do that. the touring company, you bypassed everything to mainstage? I bypassed everything to Second City, Denver. We existed. And then after that, I was like, I'm going back to Boom Chicago. And I think they thought that was like a power move, but it wasn't. I was like, I love Boone Chicago. Oh, I'm going back. It's so fun. And they were like, will you just, will you just please do main stage? And I was like, sure. Wow. And then I know that you did, that was your idea for the title in 2007 on the main stage between Barack and a hard place. You're playing Barack Obama, which you've done subsequently. No country for white old men in 2008. Did you think you were going to stay in Chicago? What made you

move to Los Angeles? Because this was a big risk. You're getting paid to do comedy and suddenly you go to Los Angeles and you have to take a day job as a nanny. Was that a hard decision? No. I, you know, I had had a great time in Amsterdam. I really did. It was the best. best. And then I decided I have to try, you know, because I felt like I had a shot and I knew I would hate to have never tried. So I had to do it. And I went and it was very bad. I mean, how bad was it? No, tell me how bad is. I know your husband at the time was a security guard. He was not happy. You were a nanny. You were not doing what you wanted to do. Yeah, I was a nanny for two families and one was just awful, horrible, horrible family.

And then one, I'm still friends with them to this day. My baby had his bar mitzvah just every day. Was that the nine month old when you found out, we're getting ahead of ourselves that you found out you got Seth's show that you got hired as a writer? Was that the nine month old? Yeah, he was 10 months at that time and I was holding him when I found out that I got. It's such an incredible story because you just never know what's going to happen. And if you have talent, it's sometimes this big roller coaster.

But have you auditioned for SNL previously to December of 2013? I know you did some showcases in L.A. Or was that your first round of auditions? Oh, yeah. What was your showcase like? Because it wasn't, at this point, people weren't really doing stand-up. They were looking for a woman of color, an African-American woman. And what did you do, you could do stand-up, you could do characters.

What was your audition for SNL? They asked for, am I right? It's been a thousand years. I think they asked for three original characters and three impressions. And it was at the groundlings. And the backstage was just every black woman who does comedy. And it was so fucking fun. And at one point, we were all like, it's right before the show started.

And everyone was like a little nervous. And everyone was also like combing their hands. hair with like a big Afro brush. So it was making like, like, ch-c-c-c-sounds. And then, but everyone was silent except for the sound of brushes going through hair. And then Tiffany Haddish was like, it sounds crazy in here. And then just like did like four minutes on the, how we were all black and everyone was combing their hair out. We were crying. She had us crying laughing. I'll never forget.

get that. It was very funny. And it was like what we needed to be at ease for a second. I read an interview. I've read a bunch of interviews. And you said at one point that when you auditioned by S&L, you, you quote, knew you were going to get it. That was where your confidence level was, which I think is a good, can be very, very good thing. But that's where your head was at the time. Like, you felt very good about it. I really thought I was going to get it. And I don't know why. But I just, I think I'm just like a positive guy. But also like, I had been at that point, writing and performing sketches had been my full-time job since 2003.

You are selected as a bunch of people. You get flown out to 8H to New York to audition. What was that experience like? It was, again, super fun because everyone's a black woman. And we all hung out and we all had a nice time. And other people from SNL were out. to dinner with us. Everyone was just so happy and nice and, you know, it just felt great. This is the week of Jimmy Fallon hosting with Jimmy, with Justin Timberlake's musical guest.

It was the Christmas show. And you're out there. And right before you audition, a lot of times they tell people nobody is going to laugh, so don't take it personal. All you hear are laughs because Leslie Jones was auditioning. Was that intimidating to walk in and still hearing people laughing? from her set, from her audition. He had murdered. She was, I, because I wasn't in the theater when her set, uh, when she was talking. I was in the theater after they had already called her offstage. They laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, as I'm making my way onto the stage,

the entire time. And she's coming off and I'm passing her and she's covered in sweat. And she's like, oh, man, what a ride. You know, meanwhile, they, she had them die. And then they ask, I think at this point, three of you to stay and watch the show this weekend, which is normally a very good sign. It happened to Bill Hader. I know Chris Farley and Rob Schnerer came in when Deborah Winger was hosted and they just kind of took them around backstage. So I think it was you, it was Lecendra Tux and was Lecendra Tux and was Lekendra Tux and Leslie Jones? And then we went to go see the show. We're like, oh, it's the three of us. us is three of us. And then Sashir walks up. Wow. And we were like, are you? And she was like, yeah. So then we were like, well, it's four of us. And then those three women, Sashir got the job. And LaKendra and Leslie became writers. Everyone got S&L but me. Where did you watch that Christmas

show? Were you in the writers room? Were you in the audience? Were you standing on the floor? I'm 90% sure we were in the audience. Yeah, I mean, Chris rocked a good night. Paul McCartney, the monologue, Madonna. I mean, it was a big, big show with people making cameos. So how do you find out that you did not get it? Wait, I have to say this. I was telling this story yesterday. That night at the after party, I'm talking to P.O.B, who goes by Michael Bryan back in Chicago, his name was P.L.B. So P.O.B was talking to me. We're just talking to me. We're just talking. at the party, and he goes, he's telling a story. Paul McCartney kind of like stumbles into him a little bit. And you can tell he's had a few drinks.

And like, it's awkward and we like stop talking and we look at him. And P.O.B. goes, you know, the thing about Paul McCartney is, any time you see him in his pocket, he always carries a and before he said tiny harmonica, Paul McCartney had pulled out a tiny harmonica. And he's looking at me. He's going, do, no, no, and he plays me an entire Tiny Harmonica song. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake walks up, and he wants to talk to Paul McCartney. And he's trying to figure out what the fuck is going on here because we're just watching

Papa Courtney plays the song of the Tiny Harmonica. That was, like, a very adorable time. It's like you're in show business. And then you would think that this is getting to be your big break. You're going to get hired. looks good. And then how do you find out that from your agent or do how do you find out that you didn't get the gig? I found out I didn't get the gig because Lindsay Shookas called me. And I was like, okay, thank you for a time. I was in rehearsal for a musical I had written

with my friend. And I was like, it's them, it's them, it's them. It's them. Oh, God. Okay. Thank you for a time. I didn't get it. But we had to rehearse because we had. had to perform it. So I was like, just rehearsing it. And then I went to my friend Christina Anthony's house after for a meeting. And I had to suck it up. And then we went out and got drunk that night.

Were there tears at all? I mean, I know that you said, quote, you thought I was going to die, which is an exaggeration. But still, like,

I mean, were there tears? Were you that? Yeah, I thought I was going to fucking die. But I, you know, but not then because I had rehearsal.

Sure. And I got home when I was fine. I had like a half an hour to an hour to cry at home. Then I had to go to another meeting. And then the second the meeting was over, I was with my friend Christine Anthony, and she was like, we're going out, we're getting shit-faced. It's good to have friends.

Yeah. Yeah. Three days later, you have this 10-month-old. You're holding a 10-month-old. You're a nanny, and your life is about to change. You get a cell phone call, and it's Seth Myers, your old friend from Boom, Chicago. At this point, do you have any idea why he's calling?

Yeah, he's calling me to say, I'm sorry you didn't get SNL. That is 100% what I think he's calling for. And I thought, how sweet. Because Seth is sweet. He would do such a thing. So it wasn't crazy for me to think that. So I kept saying, you didn't have to call. You didn't have to call.

I'm fine. I'm fine. And he's trying to get a word in at this point. And finally, he says, I'm going to be doing this show. I'm going to be hosting a late at night show. Would you write, would you be interested in? I need you in 72 hours to move from one coast to the other coast. That's basically what happened, and you were in shock.

That's right. He called me three days after the audition to say, will you move here in six days? And I was like, absolutely. So it was so fun and so cool. And I had to go downstairs and quit real quick and come back upstairs and go home, go back. You called your mom. You said you were screaming. I mean, you were just, you could not believe that. That's accurate, right? I mean, you were in disbelief. Yeah, I couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. We were, there was a lot of screaming. And you bypassed the, you didn't have to submit because they wanted somebody that could perform as well. And Seth knew you could do this job that you were funny. So I read this quote that you said within six days, I was dressed as a hibernating bear. And you were immediately.

in sketches. That's correct. Yeah. They had, we did a lot more. I feel like when Seth got the show, he thought it was going to be very much like weekend update with a lot of like character bids. And there was always, he always created room for that. So if you wanted to show up and bug out, you were welcome to do it. I think of you is just the most confident person,

We spoke a couple years ago, and you said about your first year at Seth, you said you spend every the first year knowing you're going to get fired every day and there's, it's no one's fault. It's just the coolness of the job. And you just, you didn't know you could do this job for maybe a year. And it was questioning yourself. Is that what you're, that's what you remember looking back at that? Yeah, because, and it's not because you're doing a bad job.

It's just the chasm between. Nanny and a late night television show writer is so great that I was like, well, soon the jig will be up. I better enjoy it. Was there a learning curve, do you think, a little bit of one or not really? I mean, you knew how to do sketch comedy and doing it and getting paid to do it, but was there a little bit of a learning curve doing television? The learning curve was that there is no learning curve. Yeah. The learning curve was that to stop trying to bend it to what late night is.

and then once that understanding arrived, then everything was so much easier and so much more fun. You mentioned this once, and I've heard this about Seth. You said that sometimes you could just bring him an idea of something or just something. It would be a good idea, but you didn't know where to take it. And you said he could just look at the thing, move things around, and it would be perfect. And within like a couple moments, like he had this unbelievable skill set. It was shocking. I was shocked at how he, but if you think about it, that was his job at SNL for a thousand years.

Yeah, headwriter. You can look at your sketch and then just move it around and it's perfect. And I am 100% certain he could do that with any little fart of an idea. He could do it. You mentioned that you said that Seth could write the show alone if he had to. It would be hard, you said technically, but he would have the skill to do that. Yeah. he could 100% write this show by himself.

He doesn't need us. He really doesn't. He can do it if he wanted to. And now he kind of, I mean, he does a lot of it. Yeah, he's unbelievable. He looks, he writes a lot of it. In terms of being specialties, I mean, you were on the sketch side, and then you had the monologue writers.

You had a little bit of both. Can you talk about Alex Bays a little bit? I talked to him once and got to interview him, but Seth called him the greatest joke writer in America. Do you have anything to add to that? I mean, do you agree with that that maybe? He's 100% the greatest joke, right? Why?

Because his jokes are sharp and many. And he can also take a joke and fix it. And I think it's from his natural snark. You know what I mean? I honestly think that I'm a perfectly fine joke writer, perfectly fine. I'm certainly adequate. it. But I don't think I'm, I think in order to be like a great, great, great joke writer, you have to be a little snarky. And I, I just think I am wholly without snark.

It's rare for a comic. Fourth season, have I got news for you? I just read something that you and Mike William Black are going to England. I mean, that show's been going there strong for 30 years. What are the plans for that? There aren't any. Okay. day. Our showrunner said that. But I'm ready to go because it's so much fun. It's so much fun here. And I want them to come here. I just think we should do a small show swap and it'll be great. You and Michael Black and Roywood Jr. are so good with one other. You cannot force chemistry like that. And it really does, you can tell you're having fun and that you all really do get along. I know afterwards, sometimes you go out for drinks after the show and stuff. But that chemistry. Did you feel that right away, even during maybe test shows? Was it always like that? Instantly. Because, well, I knew, I knew Roy, and I know that he is very personable, severely personable. But I didn't know, Michael. And we auditioned together, and they, you know, would do

different pairings, right? So it was me and three people who I don't know. And that was perfectly fine. and then it was me and Michael and we were just like and it was perfect. It was very good. It was so good that I was like, ooh, I think Michael and I are going to get this. And I realized that means nothing because I thought I was getting his and now.

How many test shows did you do? Do you recall of any test shows? Was it just we're going to go right on the air? I don't think we did a test show. Didn't I can't be trusted. But the audition was a test show. It was a test show. How much personal preparation do you do for each show?

Obviously, I know that you have writers for the show, but what do you do for prep for the tape in? No one writes for me. We're just talking. I think it's pretty clear that my prep is almost nothing. Well, that's what Michael Black, Michael Ian Black said is the charm is sometimes you'll learn about the current events on air in real time. Yeah. And the second I found out, they don't mind that. I'm like, I mean, I do have to watch the news for Seth.

But look, I'm trying to stay alive. And the news is trying to kill a person. Do you think that the best guest on the show, have I got news for you, the best guest, are not necessarily comedians? I've heard Roy say that Roy Wood, Jr. Do you agree with that? I think we, I mean, I don't know.

Everyone's great. It's always fun. Like, it always ends up being very fun because we're all happy to be there. I think that when we have a comedian, it's fun and nice and we're more, I don't know, loud and rowdy. The show's rowdier. But when it's an expert who can then give us all the. information and answer all of the questions, then I feel like Michael and I behave even worse than normal because we know there's an adult in the room. I couldn't believe that CNN, it was either

Michael Ian Black or Roy of Wood Jr. said that CNN said, and this is something, again, I never would have guessed, said that we want the three of you to go almost too far. For a news organization, that is, that is very surprising and encouraging for comedy, say. That wasn't CNN. That was from our showrunner. But he said at the end of every show, you should be worried that you're going to get fired because of how, because of what you said.

I was like, all right. Was there anything that you asked to be edited out that you did say in just in the moment or anything like that or not really? No, but I feel like Michael will say stuff And I'll be like, don't put that in the show Yeah Who's a dream guest, one or two dream guests for your show

If you could come up with a few I absolutely don't have any And I don't know how the guys arrived at their feelings For who would be a good guest because Paula Poundstone was untouchable She was very funny Andy Richter Dave Foley Yeah And then

But so are like politicians sometimes really can shock you and they're out there having a great time. And Roy said this the other day and I think he's right. I'd love to see some actors, but, you know, an actor's probably going to be, unless they're like an actor slash activist, they're probably not going to want to. You never know. It's risky for some of them. They feel it's risky.

I read an interview where I was watching an interview with you and you're We were talking about a typical week. This was, it might have been last year, but it's just to think about your life and show business, how big you are. You were saying that Monday you might go over to 30 Rock and you're doing taping maybe, you know, jokes. Seth can't tell or Amber says what at 30 Rock. And you see on the billboard, you see you're the purple M&M. And then you go to the city center to rehearse and you have a show over there. And then you go over to do, have I got news for you?

unbelievable. I mean, you worked so hard, but does that ever get old or every day? Are you just like, I can't believe this? And you recognize how cool that is. I feel like I'm getting away with it still. And that's, I like to say they gave me an inch and I'm still taken. But I feel like I always am ringing all the fun out of it. Because like when I had Amber Ruff, and show, I would see my name on the totem outside of 30 Rock. And I would look at it and I would be like, take this in, enjoy it while it's here. And now that shit says Kelly Clarkson. So I'm glad. Never know. It's just, yeah. Did you, you said that there was really, in that same interview, there's really not, no stress in it and you're having fun. Is that, you have that ability?

Because I know some comedians are always stressing out and freaking out, but you can really enjoy it and have fun, which is such a gift. That's correct? Yeah. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it. I'm not a doctor. I could have been something great. Could have been a scientist. You know how when you take that, you're probably not old enough.

But in seventh grade, they would give you that test to say what you should be. Sure. And mine said, scientists. And I chose fun. So I like, I'm not doing this to stress. No way. What was it like writing on the first season of a black lady's sketch show on HBO? That was 2019.

Yeah, I wrote remotely. I was wondering how you were able to do that because you were still working at Seth's show, correct? That's right. So I didn't get all the fun of being in a black room with a bunch of black women, which I would have loved. But it did like, you know, I do love Robin Thidi. Robin Thedie is a producer on my musical that I'm doing at New York City Center called Bigfoot. So that's like how much she has your back. And she let me work on that show from the other side of the country.

That's very cool. She got her own show on BET. And then you had a big, was there a birthday party for her? And you had all the black women that had been written writing for late night shows or had been on. And it was, I don't know how many it was. But what was that experience like? Because obviously it wasn't a huge gathering, but just to have everybody there. What did that mean to you?

Every, me and Ashley Nicole Black were like, hey, it's Robin Thidi's birthday. Let's take her out to dinner. And then we were like, you know what Robin Thidi likes. She likes late night. And you know what she loves black women who write comedy. So we were like, between the two of us, in our phones, we have every black woman who writes on late night's phone number, except for one woman who was in L.A. writing on Corridon, maybe. So we. got literally every black woman in late night and had like the funnest of course dinner but there was like 10 of us 10 you could you could call every black woman in late night it was really fun do you get tired of when journalist and I'm sorry to bring this up if you do get tired of this asking you how it feels to be the the first black woman right on a late night show or are you do you take that as an honor or you pride or do you feel um that it just kind of shows where the industry was for so long and that's sad or maybe a mixture of both? I'm still not sure that I was the first.

I really do think that that's true, but there is no real way to like really check that out, is there? But I think that that is neat. I certainly did not think of it before someone sent me the article. It never occurred to me. And then I was like, this can't be true. And then I looked into it as much as I could. I think this is true.

I think it might be. Mark Schaman has a book coming up. Mark Schaman, I've interviewed before, and he did some work on Saturday Night Live and has done very prolific with Broadway. Is he the one that approached you to co-write the adaptation of Some Like It Hot on Broadway? You did get nominated for a Tony, I want to mention.

That's right. She didn't. It might have been the producer, I'm guessing, but that's really great that you got to do that. What was that experience like? I mean, it was definitely like Broadway. Broadway is just like a different beast. Tell me about that because you did it again with The Wiz

and you got a writing credit and made it really funny. The Wiz was the most fun I've ever had. And in each situation, it was more like you can just do as the spirit moves you whereas you would think they would constrain you. But they really, they could have been running my behind, but they didn't. And they gave me a lot of latitude. Yeah, with the ways you're talking about Lion King and karaoke things not in obviously 1975, but that's great that they let you just kind of roll with it.

Well, ours didn't take place in 1975. No, no, I know it didn't. I'm just saying like the, yeah, wouldn't it. I don't. There's our Bigfoot. Yeah. The show I'm working on now takes place in 1980 something. We have a reference to Crystal Pepsi.

I thought that was early 90s. And that's early 90s. Yeah, yeah, I remember. I think about it all of the time. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like, it's a Crystal Pepsi reference. But the joke makes me laugh so hard I have to. I like it.

Keep it. I remember David Mandel on Saturday Night Live writing a commercial parody for Crystal Gravy for things. Thanksgiving. That was David Mendel, a very funny writer. So when you were announced that you were going to be hosting the correspondence dinner in February of 2025 was the announcement, what was your excitement level at that point like? When you're a big deal. You're in great company, right? I thought it was really neat. I thought it was certainly the next cool thing. But I also was like, I better do it right. It's a lot of pressure. And then how much time? Do you know, did they give you before they make the announcement that they decided to cancel the host in? Do they tell you? Do they tell your manager before they make an announcement?

Or do you find out in real time that you don't have the job anymore? They told my manager who called me or my agent, who called me. And I think they announced it later that day, maybe. I have to ask. You got so much positive publicity. off of this. Was it almost a relief that you didn't have to do this and you're kind of a hero to a lot of people and the press just flowed? I mean, it was everywhere. It was everywhere. Yeah. But I feel like the relief comes from when I was like, okay, well, let me cancel my this and

that and bodyguard. Bodyguard? Oh my goodness. Freaking bodyguard. And now we know that. I would have super duper needed one. And my one bodyguard probably wouldn't have been enough because these people are insane. Tell me about that. Well, I talked to everyone who had done it, not everyone, but almost, everybody who had done it. And they were like, okay, brace yourself because there was a lot of blowback when I did it. And, you know, a lot of people said that. And then I was like doing the math of blowback.

And then, you know, I'm very, I'm friends with Michelle Wolf. So I called Michelle Wolf. And she was like, girl, these people are wild. So I was, that was my thing I was scared of about that. I was more scared of that than doing a bad, job. I was like, if I do a bad job, then people will talk about it for one second, and then they'll forget. If I do a good job, then I'm in extra danger, you know? So, I don't know. What was it like going on Colbert's late show? And I know that that came up on when you

were on his show as a guest. Yeah. It was crazy going on Colbert because I used to live right by there and I walked by there. I used to have to walk by there to work every day. And I would be like, Okay. So it was crazy to actually be inside of that building. And one of my very good friends, who I'm seeing tonight for Mark Shaman's party for his book, we're going to go. She's, Ariel Dumas, one of the headwriters at Colbert. And so I got to go to her job. And it's fun to be like friends for a thousand years and then get to see. It's like meeting your friend's parents. And it kind of like super is when it's your friend's boss. I like that. That's really, really fun. What was it like driving around in a car with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and then

Vanessa Williams for carpool karaoke the series? It was great. When Vanessa Williams got in the car, she, we sang her music and I sang so loud. And I was like, I'm singing louder than Vanessa Williams singing a Vanessa Williams song. I need to. pull myself together. But yeah, I embarrassed us all pretty good in that car. It was really fun, though, watching all of you. Who are some of the people when you were writing at late night with Seth Myers that you went backstage to say hi to that?

You're like, I have to meet this person. I have to either get a photo or at least say hi to them. I had to meet. Okay, my brain doesn't work today. That's okay. You know, I may destroy you. and chewing gum. Who's that lady?

A lady I love. Oh, I'm going to ask my producer, John Schneider, if he knows. I'm not really sure who that person is. Michaela Cole. There we go. So I had to meet Michaela Cole. And I made my, I was too nervous to do it. And our stage manager was like, trying to meet Michaela Cole.

I was like, I love her. I can't talk to her. He was like, I'm going to bring her out a little early. So he brought her out into airlock. just a couple seconds early. And I was like, will you take a picture with me? I love you. And she did, and I love her.

Even though I can't remember anyone's name. Yeah, every once in a while I'll meet someone, but it's the people who I don't meet where I'm just like, like Chadwick Bozeman was backstage. And I had done it, Amber says what? And as I'm walking out, he was like, hey, you did a good job. You keep doing it.

You did great. That was very good. I was like, you're mommy me. So cute. You got to work with everyone from Loria Steinem to Hillary Clinton. That must have just gotten surreal. It started as just this quiet bit with you and Jenny Hagel. And then it just explodes.

Yeah. We had, Jenny was like, this was Jenny's idea. jokes, Seth can't tell, where she tells gay jokes and I tell black jokes. And it was hilarious in the room. And then we did it once. And I was like, we were both like, this was fun. I love that we got to do it. And then they were like, please write another one.

And we were. The audience loved it. Yeah. The audience loved it. It did go very well. What was that week like when you would open the show? telling your experiences of the George Floyd protest were going on. What was your mood before the show?

Were you nervous for the first one? What stands out looking back at that week? The week of George Floyd's murder, I opened the show with a different story about being harassed by the police because it's an everyday occurrence when you're, I shouldn't say every day, but it's very common occurrence when you're black,

that the police will stop me for no reason. reason. But that was what made me crazy about George Floyd's murder is white people were like, well, the police wouldn't just do that. And I was like, wait, do people really think that the police wouldn't? So that I was enraged. And I had written something about George Floyd's murder and it was a sketch. And then George Floyd's murder set America on such a different path that by the end of the day I couldn't do that sketch anymore. And then I wrote a rant. And by then it had timed out because the world was changing. And then I was like, the only thing I could do is tell an actual story of my run-ins with the police when I thought they were going to kill me, which I have plenty of.

And you put those into a book. You wrote a book with, was it your sister? Was that the book that you wrote with your sister? I wrote a book called, You'll Never Believe What Happen a Lacey? crazy stories about racism. And it wasn't serious stories like those. It was just like the funniest stories about racism I have ever heard because she's in Omaha still and lives in Omaha. And these people just press her and it's hilarious. So we, yeah, we put all those in a book. Amber says what? That started with the Olympics, correct? It did. It did start with the Olympics. I first did it. It was only like six pages long. And it was just about everything that happened in the Olympics. And it was mostly just what's. And now it's kind of evolved into a little bit more.

Did you, was it your idea to do the one where about the athletes that were kneeling during the national anthem using your gymnastics skills? Was that your idea? Did you pitch that? Did you write that? Where Seth is talking to you as you're doing tumbling and jumping around? Um, yes. Oh, right, when I'm rolling around the thing. Yeah. I forgot about that. I really enjoyed that. Because every once in a while you write a quick one. I feel like, oh, I know. It's every day you're pitching stuff and it's just like, I must just, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were telling me a bunch of years ago, how much fun though, the Mondays and Thursdays, you do the pitching and reading through the material on Thursdays around the big, big table. What are some of your favorite? moments from memories from the table reads on those Thursdays. You just said that they were just the most fun and just laughing constantly.

Table reads are the most fun because it's like this delicate dance of like, I want this to be on the show. But it will have to make us all laugh in order to do that. And that then diagram of like what makes us laugh and what belongs on television is so small. Like getting in there is pretty hard. But even if you don't get anything on the show, it's fun that you made us laugh. How did it go when you, was that a table read when you did Amber's late night safe space, the one where you filmed, I know you filmed, I think, in 8-H.

I think that was in Saturday Night Live's studio. Was that a table read or did you just pitch that? It was a table read. I mean, it had to be a table read. We were having table reads all the time back then. So I'm going to guess it was a table read. And it was so fun. It was a smart idea.

You have to paint the pink room and all your favorite things in the room and rules. The second I figured out, I write chocolate cake in a sketch, I get to eat chocolate cake. That was the last day I should have freaking worked there. Yeah, and you're doing it in Saturday Night Lives room. It was so much fun watching a video when you found out that you got your own show. and the set pieces are all over 8H, and you were like a little kid so excited that your name is on the back of the scene of the properties.

Was that the first time that you actually solved the set? And was that your genuine reaction the first time? Yeah, absolutely. I'm so glad I had the wearer without, to take a little video of it because it was so neat. It's still the coolest thing. And there'd be, you know, giant, I don't know the words for the thing.

There's giant, giant boxes with a desk in it. The curtains and stuff. And they're everywhere. They fill up the whole hallway. And it's like, wow, someone's dead has to put up these sparkly-ass curtains. Because I was like, shout out to Ellen Waggott, who was an amazing set designer. I've worked with her, and she did a fantastic job on your set.

She's untouched. She is. She did Jimmy's 1230 show, maybe the Tonight Show. When you got your own show, I talked to you right before I think it was officially announced. You had never met Lauren Michaels. Did you have any involvement? Did he come to the pilot? Did he have any notes whatsoever?

Was it one of those Lauren productions, which sometimes is like, I'm going to put my name on it. I trust all of you, go do your thing. I had met Lauren Michaels for the Saturday Night Live. audition. Oh, okay. Where we had like, I think he just met with each person. And I said, four words. Couldn't talk. Couldn't talk. Couldn't do it. What did he say? Do you remember what he had to say during that initial meeting? I have no idea. Okay. I was, all I could, all I could remember is my heart was beating so fucking loud. And I was like, don't say anything crazy. And I'm sure I instantly did.

It worked out. You got your own show. So did Lauren come down for the pilot or the first taping? Did he have any notes or was it hands off Lauren Michaels pretty much? I feel like he was pretty hands off. Yeah. But there's always like you can watch anything. You know what I mean? Because you can flip through the channels at work because every channel is every studio in the building.

So like you can watch Fallon. Sure. You're taping it. So, I mean, maybe it was a that situation, but I feel like at that point he had to know. At what point did you know that you wanted an audience and you have an audience in the beginning and that goes away? Was that a hard adjustment? Were you happy to not have the audience? Yeah, we didn't have an audience because of COVID. And I was finding that.

Yeah. Because I didn't want anyone to get sick. but it was like so strange to go from no audience to audience because we had shot things so that they were funny like this, you know, instead of things being funny live and like this. And that was an adjustment. That was the adjustment I should have made when I first got late night, but it took a minute. But yeah, that was different. having your name on a show is the pressure different or could you just have fun and be like i have my

own show this is going to be fun or is there more stress or pressure did you feel that at all no i really didn't that's fantastic because i was like hey this we got three episodes okay let's do our best oh you know the fact that we lasted i mean nominated emi nominated wGA nominated now it's unbelievable. I'm so glad you got to do it. Seth is, Seth Myers at late night. It's pretty famous for writers not leaving. And it's one of those things where people want to write there. And it's like, unless I, as something drastic, there's some of these shows where people get let go and stuff. Was there anybody ever that they did let go as a writer? It seems like that doesn't really happen over there. It doesn't really happen at Seth. And no one wants to leave. And leaving. And leaving

a stupid. I get it. Because I had, I wrote on two other whole TV shows, three other whole TV shows. I had a TV show. I shot two pilots. I wrote two books, two Broadway musicals. There's no reason why you would ever quit this job. And while you're doing all that stuff, fuck it. Seth and Shoemaker are like, how can I help? You know? Yes. There's They're not the nicest people. Shoemaker, can you talk about Mike Shoemaker? His skill set. First of all, really, really nice approachable executive producer. Not always the case. We both know this. But how would you summarize his skill set and what's made him really successful and given him longevity, both at S&L and it's with Seth?

Yeah. Shoemaker is a real person and he is happy and he wants the best for you, you know? and it's never competitive. There's no competitive any kind of feel with us at our show. And he doesn't have that feeling about the world. He's just like, oh, wow, we're all, we all get to have a nice time. And whatever he can do to help you have a good time, that's what he wants to do. And I've had friends who have nothing to do with us.

And they'll be like, yeah, I asked you for a meeting. And I got a meeting and I talked to him. and he knows everything and blah. But, you know, he's been around a lot and he understands how it goes because you know what you want to do. You know what you want to see on TV. He knows what they want, you know?

And his skill set is marrying those two things because writers have a really hard time with that. Before we go, I have to ask if this is true. There was an interview, a journalist that said that you drink a gallon of water every morning. That's 128 fluid ounces. Is that true? I carry around a gallon jug all day long. Okay. That makes more sense that it's throughout the day. Okay. I just was worried about you because I didn't think that that would be healthy weight for a morning for that much much water. Okay, that makes much more sense. How many times would you estimate that you saw Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon? I've seen it a lot. I know that probably have seen that more than any.

other movie. I used to watch that all the time. Do you remember when his little brother says, hey, Riloy, instead of Hey, Rayloy? No, I don't remember that, but I've seen it so many times. No, I worked at the, I had a day job at the Colbert Report, and we were obsessed with it. And I said, I will have Time Act here to the studio within a week.

And I had no, I didn't know Time Act, the star of the show. I knew, the movie. I knew he lived in New York, and he came to the set and hung out with us. And we were like little kids. We all took photos with Bruce. Louis Leroy. So that was a good day at the Colbert Report. That's excellent. Yeah, it was fun. Amber Ruffin, thank you so much. What can we, any thing you can share, any teas about have I got news for you or the Bigfoot musical? I know you have so much going on, but any, anything you can tell us? I can't tell you anything about have I got news for you because I find out everything about it

the second I arrive in the building. Good answer. Bigfoot, I'm going to say previews, begin February the I'm going to go with 11th I really should know that but we open March 1st at New York City Center Stage 1 and that show is so fun and so wild and raggedy

and it has like fun good songs that are a good time that you'll be singing long after you see up I love that Amber Ruffin it's so good to talk to you again thank you so much for this you're delightful this was really fun yay Thanks for listening.

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