Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff - Inside Late Night: Lori Nasso

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Lori Nasso had never written a sketch when SNL hired her. She joins Inside Late Night to talk about learning on the job, surviving the pressure of live TV, and how a fake Scottish accent led to a recurring role with Craig Ferguson.

From late-nighter.com, it's Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff. Hi, welcome to Inside Late Night with Mark Malkoff. Today I talked to former Saturday Night Live writer, Lori Nassau. Let's do it. Lori Nassau, nice to see you. Nice to see you, too. So before you were a Saturday Night Live writer, before Second City, is the only comedy experience you really had, Tony and Tina's wedding at that point,

Is that in Canada, that's where you first knew you could do comedy? Yes, I had a theater degree. So I had, and I'd done theater since I was a kid, plays since I could, you know, could do them. And so I had a background in theater, but I didn't really pursue. I had taken a class at Second City, but I got into Tony and Tina's wedding. That was my first, the first thing I did. And then while I was with that production, I went out one night and I overheard these two strangers in a bar saying there were Second City auditions the next day. And I was like, Second City Auditions.

Because I had taken a class a few years before and I loved it. But I just never thought. I don't know. I never ever had, I don't know. I was nervous about it. But then I called up and got an audition and then I wound up getting into the master class. And then six weeks later, the touring company. And that kind of set it all off.

And then I was kind of up and running with the comedy thing. I read in an interview you were talking about you at a bar and you overheard these people. And that conversation changed your life. You got to Saturday Night Live eventually. You got married from Saturday Night Live. So that bar conversation, very important. Yes. So you're 27 years old.

You audition. And then are you in the touring company initially before they move you up to Mainz? What they did was they had a master class. So they hired nine people, I think, for the master class. And then we put on a show at the end of the six weeks. And from that, when we were walking to the bar right after that, the director said to me, would you like to join the touring company? And I said, oh, my gosh, I would absolutely love to.

So that was that. And then, yeah, that sort of started the whole ball rolling at Second City. So you do a bunch of years, I think four or five years at Second City. You're doing a show called Jolly Rogers Cable or Pirates and Men's. pants. I know you play a nun in one of the sketches. Did you have any idea at this point that either Lorne Michaels or Marcy Klein was interested in you to audition? Did they, I'm guessing they came to the show. You know, there was one, the first year I got, the thing was we went from the touring company to London, Ontario for the London stage of Second City, but it closed down when I was there, the London's,

we closed it down. So it was like nine months into that, the theater. close and we all went back to Toronto with no longer in the farm team that, you know, was drawn from for the main stage. We were sort of all scattered. And during that time, you know, I was waitressing and I did the Brady Bunch show and things like that. But I wound up getting into Second City like flukishly like, sorry, main stage two years later. And during that week, I think it was like three weeks after I was there, SNL asked me to go audition. in Chicago, on the main stage of Chicago, doing improv. And I felt so rusty at improv that I said, no, thank you.

Like, I'm not getting up on a stage with a bunch of people I don't know. Because my improv was really, like, rusty. So I said no. And I thought, you know, I didn't even, I thought it was so Atlanticish and so crazy. I had just gotten back on stage. And so I thought, I'm not ready. And thank goodness, because I knew people who went down, who had a sort of, they said it was a tough, it was a tough thing to do.

I think improvising is a tough thing to do when you're wanting to, you want to take the things that you're really comfortable with to be in front of Lauren Michaels. So, and then by some miracle, the next year I was scouted again, I guess, and asked to audition. And then I was really comfortable to go down and do my characters. So it said in the Toronto Star that you got three callbacks. So what were those auditions like when you went in to audition on the set? What was, did you do characters?

Did you, that's what I normally. I loved that I was in the Toronto Star and I didn't even know it. Yeah, I did, well, I went and did the first audition and did you do characters. You do your three characters. I'm sure you've heard like the. What were they? They were an Italian, my Italian grandmother, who I think they were quite, I think they liked that one the best. And then I did this party girl to, you know, move it to the other end of the spectrum.

I did sort of a lively party girl. And then I did. Oh, I did. a character, what's her name, Dr. Jane from Star Trek. I did like a, what's her name? I forget the actress who played her. But anyway, I did a Star Trek impersonation. And then I did a newscaster up from the, I think from CNN. And then they asked you to come in again. Yes, they asked, I did a callback. But then I didn't know what to do for the callback, really. I did a whole bunch of, I did six new characters because I was like, oh, if you like that, watch this. So just too many.

And I, it was a lot. So for me anyway, I was just like not as comfortable with them. They were sort of things I had sort of done before. But so then I did that. And then was there a third? No. And that's weird that they said there was a third. Yeah.

So you do this. At this point, you have never written sketch comedy before. Do you even have an agent or manager at this point? I did have an agent. Yes, I did have an agent. I just recently acquired a new agent. I had had an agent. No, I think it was my first agent.

first acting agent in Toronto, yes. Did it ever occur to you with these auditions that you would get hired as a writer? Never, no. So that was, no, no, it was not. I think, because this is the year with Will Ferrell, Sherry O'Terry, they're really overhauling the writers and the cast. I think you might have been, were you the only person that was hired as a writer just from their performing audition? Yes, I believe so, yes. Yeah. I mean, in that year, I mean, I think this happened before, but to me, it was so jarring and so strange that I, and because I didn't have a background as a writer, I really hesitated. I said, can I think about this? Because I wasn't even, I didn't, I'd never sat down to write a sketch. We improvised at Second City and keep improvising in front of an audience to develop a new show. So that's how we never really sit down and go, okay, you can if you want, but no one's going to read a script and then go out and, We just perform around each other to create a scene.

We perform around an idea and a premise. So I was so nervous. I thought, oh, my gosh, I can't go work for American television show writing for people. I don't even know how to write for myself, per se. But then I thought, you know, my big thing has always been to just say yes and jump in. It's terrifying. Yes, and, yes. What was your meeting like originally then with Steve Higgins, who had just gotten hired

in Lauren Michaels, when you sat down with them for that initial meeting. Did you bond over Canada? What was that like? Oh, a little bit. We bonded. Yes, that was a good question. I was, well, we'd had the meeting, I believe, after the first audition, you have a meeting with Lauren. And he was very nice. And yes, we bonded a little over Canada. And he was super cool. Very nice to me. And then, as I'm sure he is to, I don't think he'd be a jerk to anybody going into that meeting. But he was really nice. And it was very, exciting and then I did the call back and then I got the call like a few weeks later I got the call that you know you're not going to be a performer but then I got the call a few weeks later to say you want from Steve and I was at second city and backstage and and I got I checked my messages and he had called and said call me back and asked me to be a writer and I was like oh god I don't know so then then I had a meeting with Lorne to confirm that offer and he was very nice and he mentioned somebody who who had done that from Second City, Chicago. She did third rock from the sun.

Oh, Christine Zander. Christine Zander, yes. Yeah. So she's great. Oh, great, yes. Excellent. So she's a really great writer. So she had made the transition.

So he brought her up and said, but there was a part of me that was like, well, I don't, okay, I guess this is my new career. But I, so there was a part of me that was so comfortable with character work that I, I think that was my strength. and I really enjoyed it. So it was very difficult for me to imagine myself as being a successful writer. But I decided to try it, but I was terrified.

You were the first woman writer hired that season. Yes. As you are going into the office, people start getting hired. Paul La Pelle was then hired and she's going to be with your office mate at that point? Well, actually it was Cindy. Cindy Cappanera got hired a couple days later. and she had written for television before, but she was, yeah, it was great to have her arrived because it was me and like, you know, 10 guys at that time or something. It was just really like,

overwhelming. Everything was overwhelming to me, like New York City, like everything. So, and the quick turnaround of like, oh, you're a writer now. So, but she arrived and that was great because I had met her once before, a couple years before. She was doing a workshop for us at Second City in Toronto and I really liked her. So I was like, of all the American women, you're hiring the one I know. So that was one. wild. And so we had it. We, you know, we had a great bond. And then a week later, they hired Paula. And she was hilarious. I called her in Florida to say, don't worry. It's okay. Everyone's really nice. Because I thought she was like, because she was also plucked from a, she was plucked from a

videotape that they had seen and asked to be a writer. And she was also a performer that, so she was like, who is this? Like, are you for real? So, anyway, so we wound up being office mates. And That was perfect. There were some people such as yourself that summer that were a little nervous with that New York Magazine article that had come out earlier that year, that you were nervous, correct? Very nervous. That was part of the problem. That was part of the, you know, the hesitation on my part because I thought I don't know

what I'm in for. I don't know how women will be treated. You know, the whole thing was pretty intimidating. And that's why I called Paula in Florida, because I thought, everybody knew about this and she was like, I don't even think she might not have known, but I was like, don't worry, everybody's really nice. And it was a real, not that I don't know what the past cast was like, but I think, and she, the thing was it was such a new, we were all being hired on mass. So we were all going through it at the same time. It was really, it was a very exceptional and unique experience to go

through it together, all being newbies. Even Steve Higgins. That's why he was, he was wonderful because he made me feel like, just give it a shot. Do your best. We're here to help. So he was very supportive. Show number one was Mariel Hemingway and Blues Traveler. And I know that you worked with Will Ferrell on Get Off the Shed. How did you team up with him to write? And what did you do? Because the sketch, he was doing it at the ground lanes. Did you just adapt, adapt it a little bit more for television? Yeah, they just gave me the script and we adapted it and put it on for that week. And I was in charge of once again, thrown into the fire, you're the producer of the sketch. And so you basically just run around and, you know, make sure everybody's doing what they're

supposed to be doing. And even though you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, but he knew the sketch really well. And, you know, he did a great job. So that was, it was good, but they they throw you in, which is great. So you were by yourself with Lauren under the bleachers during the sketch and he's giving you notes. And not by myself, because I'm not by myself, because I'm all the producers and, you know, other, well, I guess I was the only writer representing Will there. But, yeah, I was underneath the bleachers and that's when he gives all the notes, good or bad, and you sit there and take it. I know that you wrote the sketches with Sherry O'Terry, where she's on the porch, Rita.

How did that develop? Was that a previous character? She brought that, yeah. Yeah, she brought that with her. So we just adopted it. But I was just heading up that sketch at the time. Yeah. Yeah.

She auditioned with that. David Schwimmer was the third host. Recently, he said that he didn't show up because he was taping friends. He wasn't able to get there until Wednesday for readthrough. So he missed the host meeting. He missed Tuesday. And he said, according to him, he said that he perceived that the writers were very unhappy and upset with him. Do you have any recollection of that?

No. He seemed shy to me a little bit, like a little reserve. But he's, no, I forgot that he came late in the week. And to me, we were also new that I didn't, no, I didn't even, I don't remember that at all. I wasn't unhappy with them. You and Cindy, that show, Cappanera wrote a sketch called Slim Shannon for Nancy Walls, where she plays a salesperson and kind of a plus-sized people coming in. And her apps doesn't mean to be cruel, but.

Right. So you could, early on, you're getting stuff on that. It has to give you some confidence. Yes. And we wrote, we did. Cindy and I wrote, um, a commercial parody Lobital that got, and those are the things you do in the first few weeks,

is right, a commercial parody, and one of ours was chosen. And I also had another one, hilariously, not a great idea, but it was being considered for quite a while. So I was suddenly like, okay, like maybe I have something here that I, you know, was going to work, and it didn't wind up getting on,

but the Lobitol did, and we were in the Lobital sketch as commercial as well. So that was fun. We were able to perform in it. You also wrote, I was there for a dress rehearsal. I remember this extremely well. Anthony Edwards, when he hosted, you did the Princess Diana piece.

I did, yeah. Looking back on that, what was that like your choice to make him play Princess Diana? It seemed unusual, but it did work. I don't know what it was. I think it was, I don't know. Like, I guess I was trying to do something for him. It was for him that week. And I just thought maybe he would, it would be funny to see him play her.

and I think I pitched it and people laughed. And then I wrote it up, you know, based on that interview she did. In retrospect, it mortifies me because, you know, she passed away and I felt so bad. And so it was all in fun. And, you know, you don't, sometimes when you're young and stupid, you don't think about, like, the repercussions. But I think, yeah, it got a lot of attention, actually. It was written up in TV Guide. And some of the executives were quite.

complimentary about that. So that made me feel like I had landed. It took a few months to get something on my very own on and feel that way. So it was a little bit of hope there. I think it was Tina Faye's first year that you two came up with the idea to do the view, the recurring sketch, correct? Yes, we did. In the summer, we had both watched it and thought, oh my gosh. And when we arrived, we both said, oh, my God, I was thinking the same thing. We've got to parody this because parody it because it just seems so crazy all the talking and just the characters we thought would be great to skewer. She mentioned in her book that she got help with a writer's submission from Ali Farinaki. And so if she needed help, do you think there was any learning curve

whatsoever when she started writing sketch comedy going from Second City was there? Was she good right away in your opinion? In my opinion, she's incredibly talented. I think she did like everybody else have a, there's a certain style of sketch, a certain pace to a sketch. Coming from Second City, we were given a little more breathing room in a sketch maybe, but, you know, you're on network TV, you're working. You need a certain rhythm in there, which I didn't necessarily have either to begin with. So I think she had a little bit of a learning curve, but it didn't take long for her to catch on. She is whip smart and just had it.

Those view sketches were great. And I know it's true that everybody at the view other than Barbara Walters, really liked that, correct? They did. They were so nice to us. We went there. We were invited to go backstage and was somebody being interviewed? I don't know why we were there, but we were there about the sketch.

And they were very nice, but Barbara wouldn't talk to us. She did not like it. She did not appreciate being imitated at all. Very sensitive, Barbara Walters. Yes. You and Molly, Shannon, worked on the Sally O'Malley character and it didn't get on at this point. wasn't until a new writer, your future husband, Jerry Collins, came in. How did he shape the piece that was different from the piece that you and Molly did for it to get on air? You know, it,

that's a good question. There were probably slight changes in there, but really it's timing. It depends on who's in it. It depends on what they need that week. It depends on so many little factors. It's just, it just happened to get on. It wasn't that much different, I don't think, but it was just sometimes you try things a few times and suddenly it clicks and it lands. What was the most stressful sketch that you remember, either getting notes between dress and air or just that was really complicated? Oh, my gosh. I don't remember a specific sketch, but it was always stressful between dress and air. The fact that you exit a meeting at like 1030, 1045 and you have changes that need to be made to the sketch for a show that is going live in 45 minutes

to a half an hour is terrifying. So you're running to Wally and, you know, giving him the changes. And you're even talking to some of the host and giving them instructions. Yes. Yes. And they're great. Like I can't believe how they roll with it. I mean, it's it's a panicky situation. You're like, hey, just take up this paragraph and go to this and you have to act like, you know, it's just, it's a lot. And that's why they read cue cards during the show. They cannot remember the changes. They need the cue cards. So never understood that until I was there. Can you talk about the Celine Dion show? Anna Gastiron gives you complete 100% attribution on this?

Yeah, I wrote that sketch thinking she was a great singer, so I thought it would be really funny to have her play Celine. And she did a great job. And we had fun with it. Once again, we went a little far with some of our jokes. But we had fun. And then we met Celine, and she was really on board with it all. In fact, she had Selena play.

She had Anna play her at Madison Square Garden. gardens or garden for her concert and come up through the stage as Celine, playing Celine singing the song and the crowd's going crazy when she first starts singing and then slowly the clapping

stops and they're like, that's not Celine. So that was kind of fun of her to include her in her thing. She comes on stage and nods at the whole. That must have been so surreal. Was there ever a public figure? You said Celine Dion liked the sketch, other than Barbara Walters, was there anybody else that you found out later wasn't a fan of something that you did? Not that I did. No, not that I heard anyway. It was, they were pretty, pretty good sports about it. How did morning latte come about? Was that, was that

Sherry or Will or are you? I think Sherry and Will wrote that and then I had a, then we, I was responsible for the changes and things and the production of that during the week, but they came up, they had already done one, I think, before that. But yeah. Is there a particular one you liked? I know they did one with D.D. Khan from Greece with Bouchemmy, with Steve Boushemi, which was really fun. One was Chris Barley. Oh, Chris Barley, right. I think I did the one with, no, I did the one with Bill Murray. That's right. But there were a lot of changes to that one at the last minute. Bill made a lot of changes. So that was stressful. In fact, I was in Bill's dressing room with a bunch of people while he was making changes to the sketch. And I was trying to copy down everything he was saying. He was like,

yeah, we'll do this, then we'll do that, and we'll do this. And I was standing there and he, I didn't even think he could see me. I was behind like nine or ten people just kind of, and then he turned and said, are you okay? You look like you're going to cry. And I really was going to cry. Because I was like, I hope I got all this. I hope I got all this, because it was just kind of coming out of him so quickly. So that was one of the most stressful situations because I thought, I don't know. I don't know what he just said. So I hope I got it all. Was he just the most relaxed, detached? You would have no idea this guy has any nerves whatsoever hosting? Oh, yeah. Like he was, yeah, I mean, he'd done the show. Yeah,

he was not, he did not sweat it at all. I don't think. I mean, not that I could tell. He was, although he did do something really interesting. Tell me. He, he, okay, he came up to, Jerry and I had been dating each, my husband and I had been dating each other for a couple months maybe, but nobody knew at all. And so, except Paula. But I don't think she told anybody, he arrived, was talking to some people at the other end of the room. And Jerry and I were on either side of the couch, just kind of watching things and sort of like chatting, nothing big. He walked over and looked at both of us and said, there's something going on here. There's something.

You too. there's something going on. And we both thought, what? Like, it wasn't, you know, so he's a really interesting guy. He's very, uh, some intuition, Bill Murray. Definitely. Was there ever a polar opposite? Who was the most nervous, visibly nervous host before the show? I've heard in retrospect that people were really nervous, but I didn't ever. I was always amazed. I think they do a great job there of, I think Lauren's great at like, letting, at nurturing talent and like, also supporting people. Like I think he, he always, I don't know what he says to them, but and sometimes he would ask me to, if there was, there was one, Terry Hatcher, oh, okay, she was nervous. I think she was

nervous. And he asked me specifically, I think she asked for me. I think we'd had a few conversations and she felt comfortable. So I kind of like was with her a little bit through the process, I think, to help her relax a little bit and just, you know, be comfortable. What piece did you write when she hosted? Oh my gosh. That's a good, it's a long time. I know. I totally do get that. Yeah. Yeah. You wrote the Judge Judy pieces, correct? Yes, I did. Once again, saw Judge Judy and thought, oh, my gosh, this is a Sherry-O-Dairy piece. How surreal was that when Dan Aykroyd comes up to you and says, I want to do one with you. I want to be a judge. Oh, that's right. Oh, my gosh. That was the best. I forgot about that. Oh, my God. I mean, it was amazing.

Like, it was, yeah, that was the kind of thing where you go, is this really? happening. Like even even that far into into my my time there, I was like I was just yeah, it was an amazing feeling. Did you ever write a cold open? I know that usually that might have been Downey, but you never got one. It was Downey or McKay or like a lot of the guys did those. We just weren't, I mean, we did the odd one. I might have helped with a couple, but I never actually wrote one. That was usually the end of the week, according to the news, based on something that had just happened. In 1997, John Lovitz hosted, and he mentioned that he, but he didn't mean to, but he upset the writers in the cast, and at good nights, nobody would

come up to him, except maybe I think he said will, but he said that one of the writers, he thinks this is what happened. One of the writers came up to him and was pitching a sketch, and Lovitz was like, with a little act, it was like, that's not a sketch? There are any jokes and that that might have rubbed people the wrong way. Do you have any recollection of John Lovitz being there? No, no, I don't. I don't know. No, I didn't. I didn't have a lot. I don't have big memories of that week with him because I probably didn't get anything on. And I might have just written for, I can't remember what I even pitched for him. But no, I don't have any recollection of that. Did you know what, Norm MacDonald Bond about Canada at all? Do you have any Norm stories? Yeah. Yeah, he was really nice when I got there. He had seen my audition. He was very supportive and very sweet and very kind to me. So I, I liked him. He was a character. He never held back. He was always very, you know, said whatever was on his mind. And you'd be like, okay, Norm. Like, I don't, I can't think of specifics. But he was, he was always very, very, he was really cool with me. So I don't have any specifics. But yeah, nice guy.

Do you remember when him and Chris Katan were kind of going at each other? A little bit. I wasn't as aware of that, but I think a little bit. They would kind of, it was kind of in joking. But then I think they really didn't like each. I don't know. Maybe they didn't really like each other. Norm did this joke and he said it was a big mistake. And Lauren was right. But he did a weekend update.

They showed the Vietnamese napalm lady. Norm said in other news, Woody Allen is dating again. And the audience turned on him. I was told that several cast members, female cast members, were saying if that got in, that they weren't going to do the show. Do you recall that being an issue at all? Sorry to say, Mark. I don't remember that.

Yeah, I don't remember that. It was a long time ago. Yeah. Mike Myers hosted the show sick. And I don't know many people that hosted sick. Did you know he was sick? He was sick? That's what Marcy Klein said.

Yeah. Wow, I didn't know that. He was, no, he was very professional. And I had something right up till dress with him. Like I got it through the dress rehearsal, but it didn't get picked. But no, he was great. And that was a dream come true because really, the thing is, when I was 22 or 23, my mother showed me an article from the newspaper and said, look at this.

And I had taken one class there. And she said, look at this. And it said, Mike Myers from Toronto, Second City, this is years before I was in Second City, goes to SNL, blah, blah, blah. And it said he lives at, he grew up at this intersection where I grew up, where I lived. And it was the same, he lived in the same townhouses that I lived when I was a little girl. And I just thought, how weird is that? And I thought, could I do it?

Could I be just like him? Could I go to Asana? And it kind of clicked in my head as a dream. And I thought that is wild that we're from the same. So when he arrived to do the show, I was like, I was overwhelmed. I thought it was so cool. Do you have any recollection at all your first season with rage against the machine being thrown out after their, after their, I think, first song on air? because they were told not to have the American flag upside down.

And moments before, you have no recollection, they were thrown out. No, I was really running around. No, I didn't. Back then, they don't do it really now much anymore, but they had guest writers that would come in. Do you remember anybody that came in that was fun that was really, really good? Stephen Colbert was amazing. Oh, yeah. He did four episodes, yeah.

Yeah, he did. He was great, really funny, really nice guy, too. And there was another, oh, Jim Wise came. He was super funny. I think he went up working on the Tonight Show. And he was a, was he a groundling? I think he was a groundling. But yeah, we hit it off and had a fun time.

He was a really funny guy. And some older writers, too, some of the Tom. Tom Davis, Tom Davis was there. Yes, Tom Davis did it for a while. And Marilyn, we had her last name. She was an early writer as well. Marilyn Suzanne Miller. Yep, yep.

So, yeah, we always had. Every once in a while we had someone come through. I'm going to name some host, and if you've any recollections from them that week, Madeline Khan? She was quirky and funny and, you know, she seemed great. I didn't have a lot to do with her. I don't think I had a sketch on with her, but she was good. When David Allen Greer was there, I heard that Lauren asked him to join the cast, which he declined. But did you work with him at all?

I think I did I think I was helping someone with a sketch for him but I did yes I yes I did he was fun super funny and super fun I didn't know that Lauren asked him that's what I heard um Gabriel Byrne oh I remember Gabriel Byrne yeah yep

uh yeah we were all kind of crushing on Gabriel Byrne well not all but um okay maybe just me but uh he he was um oh yeah Well, I had a boyfriend at the time who lived in Dublin, and I kind of had an Irish thing going on. So he was, he was sort of, I don't know, just part of my, my, my, I don't know, my, my, whatever, he was just very, he was very nice, very charming. It was a great host. John Goodman.

He was. John Goodman. Yeah, he was fun. Yeah, he was great, actually. I liked him. Yeah, he was great. Nice guy. Any stories when Phil Hartman hosted the show?

Not for me. That's not one that I recall specifically with any details. But he seemed great. He was so used to, you know, he knew what he was doing. Can you discuss writing the monologue for Rosie O'Donnell when she hosted with Penny Marshall? Yeah, I think Cindy and I did that. I can't remember. Yeah, I think they sang, I got you, babe. I don't know if you remember working with them. She was a little, she seemed a little, not nervous, but she was kind of in her head that week. And she took work right down the hall. I mean, she was, her show was like on this, but maybe like 40 feet away, like from our studio. But she was great.

I mean, no, it was very, very smooth process. She was used to doing that kind of thing. Did you tell her that you snuck into her studio to watch Joni Mitchell? No, was it after that or before that? I can't remember. But that was, how did you? know that? I did research. I do as much as I can. Oh, you do amazing research because that is like, oh my gosh, we hid behind the bleachers and she sang Higira and I've been a lifelong fan of Joni

Mitchells and we just freaked out. It was five of us and we were hiding behind the last row and she came out by herself and picked up a guitar and sang a couple of songs, one obscure one. And then we just freaked out. And then I ran down the hallway with everybody. We were leaving. And she was walking down the hallway with her friend. And I just yelled, hey, Tony. And she turned around and came back and talked to me for quite a few minutes.

And I got a great photo with her. I was going to ask about that. That's great. It was amazing. Was there any other music guest at Saturday Night Live? Our host that you went back to get photos with or stuff signed that you really met something to you? Oh gosh, I'm sure. That was a big one now that I think about it, but well, nobody I asked to get anything signed by, but I loved Julianne Moore. She was like

one of the gang. She just hung out with us like she was literally part of the, you know, the staff. She was so down to earth and so cool. She was my favorite. And I'm trying to think of anybody else. say. Oh, well, oh my God. Alec Baldwin was, you know, he was there a few times and he was almost like one of the cast. I mean, he did it so many times after that that he pretty much became part of the cast. But he went out with us one night and we played, we went to a, I don't know if you read Molly's book. I think she talked about it in there, but we went to a restaurant late at night and we played

truth or dare about 10 of us, Marcy Klein and me and Molly and everybody were around the table and we were daring each other to do things and we dared him to, he had, we dared him to take off his shirt and go shirtless into the restaurant, in the back of the restaurant and ask the chef for more crushed red pepper. And he did it. He took up shirt or he ended up just like, because he had had just been in a movie where he was revealing his like swirly chest hair. So we were laughing about that. We said, we dare you to go. And he did it. So we had a great night like that. We went till the early hours of the morning, just having a great time at that restaurant. Oh, that's funny. Do you have any stories from the host pitch on Mondays when you meet the host?

Either the host can pitch ideas or I know Norm pitched the same sketch over and over again. Over and over. I can't remember what the sketch was, but he did do that. Some people, we all kind of did that. Yeah, we did that. Yeah, we were sort of, if you didn't have it, for the first year or so, you're like, oh, my God, I don't have a pitch. I don't have a good pitch. Oh, this is so awful. And then you realize, oh, it doesn't really matter what you pitch. You're just there to make the host feel comfortable. And it's good to get a laugh in the room, but it's also not good to get a laugh in the room

because then people know the joke of the sketch. And then when you read it two days later, when it's written, they're kind of expecting it. So you can kind of blow your chances there. But everybody, I was so once again a while ago, but I, I remember one of the writers, Stephen, he used to, dress up in different costumes. Yes, he was a groundline. Tellt, can you talk about that? I know that he dressed up like Mark Twain once and he had, he did really elaborate things for the, about the pitch.

He did. I think he was just starting to do that maybe when I was there, but he, it was really after I left that he was doing that. And yeah, I think he was just, I don't know what he was thinking, but I thought was pretty funny. And he was an extremely talented writer. I thought I loved his, his work. He made it look so easy and he was an excellent writer. Would you go to the after parties? Do you have any stories from those? Yes, I would. I would, Paul and I would go and, like, we would, I was always so tired.

I'm not really a party person, so I would go. And some of them were fun, but usually you're just so exhausted. And I know that I've learned since that there were parties after those parties, and I never, yeah, I don't even think they have much. They start at 4 a.m. So, yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, you need a password to get in. Really?

Yeah. I didn't even know that. Is that a new thing? Was that even back then? It's been, it's, I know it's that they've had passwords since probably maybe like 2003, maybe 2002 passwords. Wow. Just for the after after, which, yeah. I never heard about the password. So it must have started after I was there or it just wasn't invited. But there was actually, and I have, somebody gave me the number at the show. It was a hotline that you could, you would call to find out what the password was in the location. Oh, my gosh. That's so cool. Yeah, it was really strange.

I was going to ask you about working with Sherry O'Terry. A lot of the ladies have really gone on that you worked with, like Anna, a very visible working Molly Shannon and a lot of things. Sherry O'Terry said for whatever reason she feels like she is not offered a lot of work. Why do you think that might be? I don't really know. I mean, I thought she was so strong. Like, I thought she, we auditioned together.

I mean, I literally walked, walked to our callback together with her and Will. I didn't know them, but we were walking there together. And I had seen a little bit of what she'd done in the audition. And then when she got hired, she read out of the gate just, I thought she was so strong and perfect for that show. So I don't know why. I don't know why she should, as far as I'm concerned, she should be working all the time. What are one or two sketches that when you were there at Saturday Night Live that you wish you would have come up with that you thought this was genius.

Delicious dish. Oh, yeah. I thought that was so, because as a Canadian, sometimes I could be a little understated and maybe less, no, maybe as just me, I was less bold and I was a little bit, I kind of had to learn to be a little bit more quick paste in my things and jokey. And so I feel like that was so understated and almost Canadian-ish that I loved it. You know what I mean? It just had this elegance to it that I really,

That was so pure and relatable. What was it like writing the Gwyneth Paltrow sketch for her and Jimmy Fallon, Mindy, and Sky? It was fun. She was very shy. I thought she was very reserved. But I really wanted to write something for her because I thought she was such a great actress. And then I put the kiss in because I thought that would be hilarious for Jimmy Fallon to get to kiss, kiss Gwenith Paltrow. So that was fun.

That was really fun. He was really grateful. Was it an issue for some of the writers that Jimmy would break in Horatio sometimes would break a little bit and laugh or did that not bother you? I heard that, you know, that was a big rule when we got there that, you know, they weren't supposed to break. That was a big, big thing. But then when Jimmy showed up, he was kind of, he did do it regularly.

But I think he was, he's just so charming that people kind of went with it. And like it or not, we all, there's something about when people break that, you know, I know it's Carol Burnetti, but I think it's, it's human. And I think most viewers won it. Definitely the public, um, love. A sketch that you wrote that was really funny and you really wrote her well was Elle McPherson with her and Jim Brewer on a date and she's eating all messy. And I think at one point she's having trouble with her food and Brewer is improvising like a line

or two. But can you talk about working with her and with that? Well, you know, models are never that used to performing on that level as a comedian. So that's always a little scary. think, but she was, she was a gamer. She was just into it. And she had that kind of body, like, she was sort of, well, she was body, but she definitely has a body, but she also has that Australian kind of go for it, kind of, you know, she was up for it. She was game, for sure. So she, she had a great attitude. When TFA was made the head writer, I know that there were some

people that had been there longer than she had. And it was a little bit of an issue. Did you, Did you sense that at all, that there was a little tension? I think just coming from a female perspective, we were, I was, I thought it was awesome. Like I, I guess I knew immediately she just had what, she had what I wish I'd had when I arrived, which was like the belief in myself. And she was a writer. She, she was writing, I believe, even in the touring company at Second City. She wanted to be a writer.

She was very talented and probably knew it. And she figured it out. And it was astounding to watch someone of, you know, a woman at that age come in and so quickly take over as head writer. I was, I was all, I was a big fan. Could you notice Tina's influence right away with more sketches with women getting picked that would go to dress rehearsal? I think that we, I think Cindy and Paula and I were the ones that started that. I mean, hiring three, I don't think there were three female writers a year before that. So when we came in, our job not formally, but understood, was to help the females, you know, find a place in the show.

And I think we did a good job of that. I think we, I think those three women were incredible, Molly, Sherry, Anna, and even Nancy, she wasn't there for too long. Nancy Wall. She was great. Nancy Walls. Exactly. I think that. And then so we were able to, I think all together, we were able to really, really make headway there.

and show the women off nicely. Your first year, the episode that really popped was the finale with Soundgarden and Jim Carrey. That is really when the show is back. What do you recall of that week with Jim Carrey, the finale? You know, once again, a dream come true to work with Jim Carrey is perfect in that. I mean, he was amazing.

Like, he was the perfect host. I remember the party after he was super excited. Everybody was so high on that show because we knew, and we had just completed our first season together, so many of us were new, that we were all, hey, we did it. And man, I think we, I think we're back. I think the show is back. Like, not, I mean, there were highlights from the years before, but I think we had, as newbies, we had, we had done what we were there to do, I think. And I was a great, great feeling of victory. After four years, why did you decide to leave the show in 1999?

I, I had a really strong third year. And then I, negotiated a nice new contract for another three years. I did one of those years and just didn't feel it anymore. It was just hard for me to, I missed performing, but not enough. I was just kind of confused. I just, suddenly I was a writer and I forgot what I loved about it all. And I had done what I'd come to do. I had a consistent amount of sketches get on and I feel like I learned what they wanted me to learn, but it wasn't bringing me a ton of joy by the end. And I just, and it's a lot. It's a roller coaster.

It's a big, it's a big commitment. And it's an incredible job. And in some ways, you know, the only regret I have is that I didn't get to work with Amy and Rachel. And I think that next phase was an incredible one for women. And I, and Christian, I would have, and Maya, I would have loved to work with those women. So sure. No, I say that you went to the WB. There was a show called hype and I know that your husband, Jerry Collins, also wrote on that. It lasted six months. Was it a good experience? And could you tell that this probably was not going to last more than a season? No, I thought the performers were great. And I thought it would, you know, it would, it would last a little longer than that. But I was also on a show. I came to L.A. to headwrite a show called Ripe Tomatoes for the own network. And that's the one I thought. was going to be really cool because it was female driven. It was a female sketch show, but it didn't go. So that was my first introduction to how things work in Hollywood. You know, things come and go pretty

quickly. And hype was fun. But by then I also was like, you know, sketch writing. I wanted a break from sketch writing, I think too. What was it like going over to the Craig Ferguson's late late show? And can you tell people what you did on the show? Oh, yeah. I did. Oh, yeah. Hugh Fink was working. as a writer there. And he pitched, he was a headwriter there, I think, and he pitched a piece where he was having people from the audience asked questions of Craig Ferguson. So he said, can you do this as a Scottish lady or something? And I asked a question from the audience. And Craig, during the break, said, are you Scottish? And I said, no, I'm not. I'm Canadian, but he said, oh, my God, your accent, whatever. I totally believed it. So he had me come back and come beyond the show as that

character, Fiona the Scottish stalker. And I was on about six times as someone who's stalking Craig Burger's in. That's fantastic. That's really fun. It was really fun. Did you go to the 50th anniversary of the Saturday, Midline 50th? If so, can you tell us a story or two? Oh my gosh. Well, I can. I will tell you that Jerry and I, yeah, we wrote that is funny, the way that sketch I'm 50 came about because we had written it, you know, like at different time. I started it and he finished it. And we got into Rockefeller. And after all these years, we went into the gift shop to get some things for our kids.

And we looked on the floor and said, I'm 50. You know, they have a stars, these different stars. And one of them was I'm 50. And I thought, oh, my God, like, if it weren't for us and Molly, like, that wouldn't be here. And so it felt like we had a little part of the history, more than we thought we had you know there's so many people coming coming through that place that it was a really great moment for us and also the weekend was incredible and yeah it was just it was I went to the 40th and the 50th the 40th was great the 50th was unbelievable and it was very it was more like a

reunion a really heartwarming reunion were you ever connected all after you left the show with Lauren Michaels at all did you ever see him or did you at the parties I did I did um he was very kind when I was leaving. In fact, he was, he was, he was, he said, call me in a month. It's the end of the season. Like, you know, come back or call me in September. Like, just give it some time. And I was like, no, no, I think I really know. Like, so he was great. But I did do, Paula had written an NBC pilot called Thick and Thin and we, I got, I auditioned for that and got a part in it. So we were doing that for six months before they canceled it, before they, they, they, they never got to air. But, so he would come to some of those and I would see him there and, you know, so I did see him during that time.

And at the 40th. Lori Nassau, thank you for talking with us. I really appreciate it. I do want to give the podcast Ian Talks Comedy. I know Ian, he's a friend of the show and you were on his podcast. So that helped me with some research. But I really, really appreciate this. This was fun to hear about your amazing career.

And you, I mean, you did a film a couple years ago that won all those awards. What was it called? It was called Life Inside Out. I wrote it with Maggie Baird, who was Phineas O'Connell and Billy Eilish's mom. And Phineas is in it. We wrote that together. I'm in it as well. And Maggie stars in it.

It did very well. It was this really sweet little movie. Yeah. And King of the Hill and Bebas and But had the reboot. So yeah, you've done so much. So this was so much fun. Thank you so much. Thanks for all your research and everything.

It was amazing talking to you. You know so much. I love it. Thank you very much. Thanks for listening. Please subscribe so you never miss an episode. On Apple Podcasts, please rate it and leave a review. Be sure to go to late-nighter.com for all your late-night TV news,

and you can find my podcast at late-nighter.com forward slash podcasts. Have a wonderful week, and I'll see you next Tuesday.