Nicholas Lutsko

Failed SNL Audition

Added 2021-11-19 15:42:03 +0000 UTC

Hello all,

Today I'm sharing a secret tape I was asked to put together for SNL last year. They reached out a few days after I released "I Wanna Be At The RNC." It was only a month before the new season was starting and they basically needed something in like 3 days.

They asked for something that was "shot live" and highlighted my characters and impressions. Since it was such short notice they said I could include some pre-taped stuff at the end. As many of you know, I'm a musician first and foremost. I've never had aspirations of being on SNL or performing non-musical comedy for people. But it was such a surreal request that I felt like I had to see where it went. Tim Heidecker was gracious enough to chat and give some advice that was essentially "be yourself" rather than trying to become an impressionist in three days.

I watched it for the first time in a long time this morning and its a little cringey, but I felt okay about it at the time. My wife discovered she was pregnant a few weeks later and I can't even imagine how insane our lives would have been moving to a new city while pregnant during a pandemic to pursue a career in *checks notes* sketch comedy.

But really, this moment was a major sea change for me. It was a transition point from "goofing off online" to "okay maybe I can make a career out of this." I remember having a conversation with Cowboy Jon after receiving the rejection email and saying something along the lines of "I'll just pretend twitter is my own SNL and I'll try to out-viral them week after week." Obviously in jest but it was a serious motivator to start putting things out consistently.

And it's wild to think of all that came after. Gremlins. Spirit Halloween. Desmond. Nick Jr. Don Jr. Mel. Big Pizza. Men in the Tunnels. S&L.

And there's a lot more in the pipe! Exciting stuff I can't talk about just yet. It's truly a blessing it didn't work out. And seeing James Austin Johnson and Sarah Squirm killing it only confirms that. I couldn't do what they do in a gajillion years.

In other news, I should have Songs on the Computer #2 artwork ready to share soon-as-hell.

TGIF!