Chapter 15

LIVE FROM NEW YORK—IT’S JAMIE AND FRIENDS!

That Saturday, the most amazing thing happens.

Seems Uncle Frankie entered some kind of lottery (not the one with the lady popping the Ping-Pong balls out of the tubes) and actually scored four tickets to—drumroll, please—Saturday Night Live!

“An old yo-yo teammate of mine works on the show. Now,” Uncle Frankie says with a twirl of the yo-yo and a twinkle in his eye, “I need to find three people to go with me. Any ideas, Jamie?”

Faster than a land shark delivering a candygram (a classic Chevy Chase bit from the very first season of SNL back in 1975), I say, “Pierce, Gaynor, and ME!”

This is the biggest, coolest surprise ever! When I was in the hospital, I watched every single episode of the late-night comedy show—going back all the way to 1975.

Since I’m in my chair, we get tapped by the NBC staff at 30 Rock for “floor seats.” We’re herded onto an elevator and whisked up to Studio 8H on the ninth floor.

The show opens with a funny bit about Santa Claus wrestling the Easter Bunny, and a cast member shouting, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

The special guest host is one of my all-time favorite comedians, Steven Wright! His opening monologue has everybody—not just me—rolling in the aisles.

“There was a power outage at a department store yesterday,” he says in his deep, sleepy voice. “Twenty people were trapped on the escalators.”

A little after midnight, three of the female cast members put on ridiculous green costumes and do a skit that makes me feel like I have a solid start on my material for Boston. It’s called “The Real Godzillas of Tokyo” and totally reminds me of my Godzilla the Garbageman bit. Theirs is a spoof on The Real Housewives of New Jersey and all those other reality TV shows where rich women get into fights and throw drinking glasses at each other.