{"id":736167,"date":"2026-04-18T06:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/736167\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:55:19","slug":"interview-snls-michael-longfellow-will-never-go-to-a-water-park-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/736167\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: SNL’s Michael Longfellow Will Never Go to a Water Park Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Michael Longfellow joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2022, his dry, sharp wit earned immediate comparisons to legends like Norm MacDonald and Bill Hader. Best remembered for his Weekend Update appearances\u2014threatening to \u201cdo a terrorism\u201d if forced to get a REAL ID and portraying a cigarette advocating for the benefits of smoking\u2014he left SNL last year after three seasons and will make his debut at the Den Theatre on April 24 and 25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We talked with Longfellow about how he almost majored in creative writing, YouTube comments about his appearance, and why his mother demanded a rewrite on SNL.<\/p>\n

What have you been up to since <\/strong>SNL<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned how to play golf and got into paintball. Work-wise, I\u2019ve been touring a lot, getting back to why (SNL) hired me, which is my standup, and working on a special. I wrote a movie I\u2019m trying to make, and then a couple other things\u2014all the stuff that everyone\u2019s doing. Wrote a show, wrote a movie, doing the audition self-tapes, got a couple of things coming that I can\u2019t say yet. But doing a lot of the standup act is really\u2014the touring, the standup act, and getting a special or two out pretty soon, because I\u2019m already on to my second hour.<\/p>\n

What should someone who only knows you from <\/strong>SNL<\/strong> expect when they come to see you at the Den?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the shows in Chicago, come see the reason Lorne (Michaels) let me on his sketch show. Come see standup that he liked enough that he let me on his sketch comedy show for a few years. I think I\u2019ve only done Zanie\u2019s downtown in Chicago, which is an amazing club. It is. I mean, it\u2019s got so much history to it. But I\u2019ve heard of the Den. I\u2019m excited for the Den.<\/p>\n

You mentioned a few projects you aren\u2019t allowed to talk about yet, but I\u2019d love to know about the movie and show you said you\u2019re writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The movie is sort of\u2014the idea was what I would have done if I never really found comedy, which is work a menial job probably 10 minutes from my mom\u2019s house, specifically at a gas station. I like gas stations. I don\u2019t know why. A gas station at night, one of my favorite things. I kind of always wanted to work at one. So basically, it\u2019s me and my friends in Arizona if we were all just sort of the aimless, video game basement at mom\u2019s house still. I work at a gas station. We come up with an idea to rob it while I\u2019m working, because that\u2019s an easy plan. A guy doesn\u2019t know it\u2019s a fake robbery, ends up going a little haywire, and then we got to get out of the trouble. It\u2019s a funny movie that I wrote because I want to be able to do action scenes.<\/p>\n

Gotta live out your dreams.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also funny, yeah. So just my life without comedy, probably.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Arizona, I want to make sure I understand this correctly. You wanted to major in creative writing at ASU, but you ended up\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

I did major in creative writing.<\/p>\n

Ah, ok.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For four years, until my thesis. I was doing comedy so much. I was trying to drop out, and I was so into\u2014I was writing creatively, joke-wise. I forgot my thesis was due. I remembered I think two days before. I wrote it in one night\u2014I think 20 pages of an etiquette for people that just died on how to haunt appropriately. It had spelling errors. It had no cover page. I think I stapled it a couple times in the corner. I remember throwing it into the pile and just seeing everyone\u2019s cover page, and I was like, I failed this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just off the spelling errors alone, they\u2019re like, \u201cThe idea is good, there\u2019s good writing, but it\u2019s just technically not\u2014we can\u2019t pass this. So you can do it again next year, stay a fifth year and get your creative writing degree, or just do literature and get out of here.\u201d I was already so into comedy that it\u2019s like, \u201cGet me out of here. Literature degree. Either way, it\u2019s a liberal arts degree from Arizona State University. I\u2019m probably gonna have to make it on my own somehow.\u201d So yeah, I got out of there. I finished online because I was like, \u201cI\u2019m gonna need to travel for comedy.\u201d Then I didn\u2019t go anywhere for like a couple of years, but still.<\/p>\n

Have you ever incorporated any of that etiquette guide into your act?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, I haven\u2019t. There\u2019s so many things that I\u2019ve written that I forget about and could do. A lot of my jokes that I even have in my act\u2014it\u2019s like an old friend from Arizona will be like, \u201cI like that one that you did.\u201d And it\u2019s like a throwaway. I remember, I do a joke about Yelp and how Yelp\u2014I wish it was just a sound again, you know? Remember when \u201cyelp\u201d was just a sound? I forgot I said that. Years later, my friend was like, \u201cI like that joke.\u201d And then I a five-minute bit. My girlfriend will do that all the time too. And my mom she\u2019ll be like, “This was funny when you said this.”<\/p>\n

So no, now I probably will. Come see me in Chicago. I\u2019m gonna start writing on that tonight.<\/p>\n

I hope to be in the audience when it debuts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope you are too.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your usual writing routine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think after a certain amount of years of comedy, you sort of get out of a routine. I think we\u2019re all writing all day, thinking. You just write it down sometimes. So I think I naturally just kind of get little ideas in my head while I\u2019m walking around, doing whatever, and then if I believe there\u2019s something there, I\u2019ll sit down later and write on it, usually a few hours before a show. I\u2019m a big procrastinator. Pressure helps. I write on stage a bit. In the beginning, it used to be turning on an album without lyrics and not looking up until the album\u2019s done. Now it\u2019s sort of\u2014I don\u2019t think sitting there and creating an idea is necessarily the easiest thing to do. I think you get an idea from standing in line at Starbucks\u2014who knows why or how\u2014or you\u2019re trying to go to sleep and you think of something, and then you sit down and write on that idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I just try to write what I think is funny. If I look at the page and I can smile, as opposed to writing what I think they think is funny, which I think I did as a newer comic\u2014yeah, if I can smirk at the page or make myself laugh kind of, then I think it\u2019s worthwhile. So I write all day just by thinking\u2014just write it down sometimes.<\/p>\n

How do you get past that feeling of writing for an audience versus writing for yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it naturally happens just after years and years\u2014if you do comedy every single day, you do something every day, you don\u2019t want it to be this exhausting. Eventually it can be. The first few years I\u2019d have good sets and jokes, but in my head offstage I\u2019d be like, \u2018These are so much funnier, the things I\u2019m just thinking or saying offstage.\u2019 And then I think at some point you just have the confidence to just start saying that stuff onstage, or you\u2019re just too tired to keep trying to think of what they would like. So it\u2019s like, this is funny. I think it\u2019s funny. I\u2019m gonna convince you. I think it just naturally happens through either necessity, through exhaustion, or just you naturally find your voice. Who knows, though? Yeah, that\u2019s a good question.<\/p>\n

I always tell people that comedy is one of the only things that I take seriously.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So embarrassing how we take it so seriously, dude. I love that about standup. I like improv too. Standup was always my thing, but I did improv, and so I ran out of money in LA. And I love the idea of not preparing all day, or thinking of one line all day, or one word in a line\u2014\u201cDo I say \u2018attorney\u2019 or \u2018lawyer\u2019? Which one\u2019s funnier?\u201d We take it so seriously. How serious I could be at SNL dressed as a cigarette, and I\u2019m in the wings just sweating, like\u2014this is it. It\u2019s what Obama felt probably when they were doing the Osama Bin Laden mission or something. It\u2019s ridiculous. And I totally recognize that, but I stand by it. I find few other things worthwhile taking so seriously, I guess.<\/p>\n

Who were some of the influences that got you into comedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dane Cook\u2019s probably the first comedian a lot of us ever heard, right? It was fifth grade, my stepbrother\u2019s iPod, listening to Dane Cook. And then Steven Wright is the one that blew my mind. I think the first time I was in a car with my mom and SiriusXM radio or something, one of the funny stations, Steven Wright came on, and it was just like, \u2018Who the hell is this?\u2019 Demetri Martin, Daniel Tosh\u2014who I think is very underrated standup these days. Blue Collar Comedy Tour was always on. I never saw SNL in my house. I found it later on YouTube. I knew of it because I loved Anchorman and all the people on SNL, but as a kid my parents never turned it on. Chappelle\u2019s Show was always on Comedy Central. All those Premium Blends too. Reno 911\u2014great show.<\/p>\n

Once I really got into comedy, I would say my biggest influences were Rory Scovel, Nate Bargatze, early Chappelle, Louie C.K. Louie\u2019s Live at the Beacon, I think it was, blew my mind. And then I started finding all of the Bill Hader SNL stuff. A lot of comedic influences are just like kids I knew at school or my family and stuff.<\/p>\n

When you first started at SNL, I think Norm Macdonald was the comparison that came up a lot, but to me it was Bill Hader.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norm\u2019s probably my favorite. I think he\u2019s an influence of every comic, or should be. The Norm YouTube rabbit hole\u2026<\/p>\n

Love going down that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But almost not even standup, it\u2019s everything else. He only has a couple specials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then also a big influence in comedy was every other job that I had. Man, how miserable. People think comedy is\u2014people are like, \u201cHow do you do that?\u201d And we get too much credit, I think. I think we have the best job, and I don\u2019t know how. I think it\u2019s amazing that everyone else does these jobs that they don\u2019t like, but they do them every day. And for some reason that just seemed like a death sentence to me. And I had no grades anyway, so I wasn\u2019t sacrificing a medical career or anything. Like John Mulaney says, I don\u2019t know why everyone doesn\u2019t want be a standup comedian. It\u2019s the best job ever.<\/p>\n

Making people laugh, or just having a little more fun than seems to be allowed. All my friends, and even my wonderful girlfriend, they were amazing. They got scholarships, 4.0s, great jobs, and hate them. Not my girlfriend, she loves her job. It\u2019s not as risky to do the shit you wanna do, I don\u2019t think, if you do it intentionally and actually really try to do it. I don\u2019t know, though. I don\u2019t wanna steer anyone into comedy and ruin their life. But I do think you should do what you wanna do instead of going the safer route or something.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m not saying that comedy is a better job. I think it\u2019s more noble to be going into a thing and doing a job that you don\u2019t necessarily care about, but you\u2019re providing for yourself or your family and stuff. I just didn\u2019t wanna\u2014I worked really hard to not work, in my mind. You know what I mean? To not do real work, whatever I consider that.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s gotten you pretty far. I know that when you first started out, you thought the pinnacle would be an appearance on <\/strong>Conan<\/strong>. You got to do that in 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was all I wanted to do. I can\u2019t watch this set, by the way. I thought it was great at the time. And I hope this always happens, that every couple of years I look back at myself and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my gosh.\u2019 I never wanna look back and be like, \u2018Man, it was good.\u2019<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the way it should be.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I stand by the set. I think it\u2019s a good set. It is a good set\u2014for the time. For right now, but I\u2019m much\u2014 yeah, I know what I\u2019m doing much better now.<\/p>\n

I wanna read two YouTube comments from your Conan set. One is, \u201cLooks like a young version of Johnny Depp.\u201d The other is, \u201cLooks like a 29-year-old lesbian sportswriter.\u201d Which do you feel is more fitting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You wanna go Johnny Depp, but who likes a guy that says that? Probably the other one. I used to have a joke that says I look like a lesbian that just missed the team, and that would do well. I saw someone say I look like a 32-year-old high schooler. I think that\u2019s funny. I get Ben Shapiro sometimes on my worst days. It\u2019s weird. It depends on\u2014I think sometimes I look very young, and then sometimes I do look like a mid-30s sort of Rachel Maddow\u2014whatever. But I don\u2019t know. Which one do you think is more?<\/p>\n

I mean, I gotta be the flatterer and say the Johnny Depp one rings true.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good man. Good interviewer. I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n

Of course.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll take Johnny Depp. I think I look like I got my mom, probably.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what your mom looks like, so I can\u2019t vouch, but\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

She\u2019s on SNL for a second, Mother\u2019s Day episode, just for a second. Went right to her head immediately. She declined the first line they wrote her. She was like, \u201cIt\u2019s not funny enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you remember what the line was?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first line was something about her thinking Colin Jost was hot or something. And then she was like, \u201cI have a boyfriend, I can\u2019t say this, it\u2019s not funny enough.\u201d So then they wrote another one, and I think the line we did was, everything I do on this show or in comedy is for my mom, except the stuff that bombs\u2014that\u2019s for my dad. And then she was like, we should give a thumbs up at the end. So we give a little thumbs up at the end. It was unwritten.<\/p>\n

What does your mom think of your comedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

She thought comedy was impressive for a month, and then a month in, she\u2019d come to every show and be like, \u201cYou look tired, you didn\u2019t do that one right.\u201d It\u2019s like, stop coming. She\u2019s too supportive.<\/p>\n

What makes Chicago such a great city for comedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived in L.A. and New York, and I love both of them, but Chicago feels more like it\u2019s still based a little bit in reality. Like it\u2019s more salt-of-the-earth, real people. So I think audiences are better, because L.A., you get everyone that\u2019s trying to also be an artist, and New Yorkers have seen everything. New York has probably the second-best audiences of all time. New York\u2019s the best city in the world for comedy, but Chicago is up there too. It\u2019s one and two, and the gap is not very big.<\/p>\n

If there was industry in Chicago, it could probably be just as good of a spot, and it still is in many ways. You can make it out of Chicago\u2014 it\u2019s impressive. It\u2019s like if I could\u2019ve moved to Chicago after Phoenix, that would\u2019ve been awesome, because it feels like the big dogs are there, the funny comedians are there, so you get to do it with all of them, but without the idea that there\u2019s gonna be an industry and an open mic that\u2019s gonna have a first impression of you. You need a place to learn, and it feels like you bomb in a small scene, get funny there, like Phoenix, and then you can go test how funny you really are in Chicago, and then finally make the move to L.A. or New York. That would be, I think, the most ideal if I had the funds or the time to do it. I just moved to L.A. because it was close to Arizona. Someone helped me. But yeah, Chicago rips, dude. I don\u2019t know why, but I love it. And the city too\u2014the streets are just a little bigger. It feels a little more roomy.<\/p>\n

You probably get asked all the time about the best advice for up-and-coming comics. I want to flip that around. What is the worst advice you can give someone pursuing comedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anything rule-based, any sort of rule. There are a couple techniques that are good, like put the mic stand behind you. That’s just a good up-top beginning. Just put it behind you. It makes you look like you know what you’re doing, and also it’s distracting if it’s in front of you.<\/p>\n

Other than that, man, the worst advice I’ve gotten\u2026get a business card, probably one of them. Really, the best advice is don’t listen to any advice. The worst advice is\u2014even if it’s good advice\u2014I think people that say, “Don’t do this on stage, don’t wear shorts.” I’ve never worn shorts, but I disagree with saying it. “Don’t look at your notebook ever.” I think there’s a way that the notebook can be a tool. Maybe not throughout the whole set, or if you’re opening, just for professionalism. I don’t think if it’s funny, anyone actually really cares.<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s different than when I started back in my day, but I don’t think anyone should post anything for, like, five years. I think now there’s a lot of advice of, have your socials ready, bring a camera to open mics and stuff. I think, even if you think a set is good\u2014even if it is good\u2014in a few years you’re going to hate it.<\/p>\n

The only thing that matters is the act, and it’ll be a slow return. It’s the long way, but you’ll develop as an actual comedian for the right reasons, as opposed to getting a lot of followers by doing the algorithm stuff, and then having people that follow you\u2014but you’ll change as an artist. Five years in is a huge difference. Ten years in is even bigger. So you don’t want people following a version of you that you’re not even that thing any more.<\/p>\n

Just care about the jokes and the act, and eventually, when that’s ready, if you’re funny\u2014if you’re undeniable, as they say\u2014stuff will happen. And then you’ll have good stuff to post, and by the time people follow you, you’ll be ready. People come to the shows and you’ll have a great hour for them, as opposed to people coming to the shows and you’re still kind of figuring it out. I don’t know. But that might be new.<\/p>\n

Also, I mean, I do listen to advice if it’s from someone bigger than me that I value, but there’s not much really. There’s not too much advice in comedy. Go do it as much as possible, and stuff will work itself out. We all kind of know what to do deep down. It’s just a matter of applying it.<\/p>\n

It’s always bad advice in comedy. It’s always from, like, the crazy guy that’s 50 at the open mic, God bless him, but he goes by a name that’s not his name. It’s like a character name (and) no one knows if he’s got bodies in his car.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last question: I want to get your definitive, legally binding answer in writing. If you die at the top of a water slide, do we have your blessing to let your corpse slide down and splash?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. Well, if I’m dead, it’s not really mine to care what happens any more\u2014yeah, push me down a slide, man. It’s not going to happen, by the way. I grew up in a water park. The one I worked at was where my aunt worked my whole life. That’s where my mom would dump us off every day in summer. It’s kind of like a daycare almost, because my aunt would work there and then everyone became lifeguards. It’s what you did. So I’m fine on water parks. I’m fine on swimming. Arizona\u2014everyone has a pool or an outdoor pool or something. It’s not just the rich kids in Arizona. There’s water, and you go to it, and that’s what you do.<\/p>\n

So I’m done swimming. I’m wet in the shower, and that’s it. You’re not going to find me dead at a water slide. And if I’m close to dying, I’m probably not going to a water park, unless it’s sudden. But yeah, push me down. Send me backwards. Send me the way down the slide that you always want to go down it. Just forward, throw my head in first, surf on me, whatever you want, and then set me on fire. You’re going to set me on fire anyway, so it’s like, do whatever you want. You could cremate me while I’m sliding down the slide.<\/p>\n

Michael Longfellow performs at the Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave., on Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, at 7:15pm and 9:30pm. Tickets (starting at $22) are on sale now<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Michael Longfellow joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2022, his dry, sharp wit earned immediate…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":736168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-736167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116424404798752909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}