I’ve done sketches for 20 years, so it’s a format I don’t necessarily need to write again. I like the challenge of writing, so any form I haven’t done, I want to try.
SNL WRITER TURNED COMEDIAN MOVIE
I’m not a great movie writer, I would say. Steele: Right now I like the challenge of movies.
I didn’t write for Kristen Wiig much at “Saturday Night Live,” just once or twice, I think, and I wanted to write for her so bad that I asked her to do a bunch with me and I’ve gotten the chance to work with her a lot since “Saturday Night Live.” It’s sort of me chasing the people I find interesting.ĭI: Do you have a favorite format in which to write - movies, half-hour or hour television shows, short skits? If there are interesting people out there, I try to write for them. I can write really well for Will Ferrell because I know his voice very well. Since all my time at “Saturday Night Live” and getting to know certain people, I can write for certain voices. Steele: I really try to look for people that I’m interested in working with. But I have to be inspired by something - that’s the only thing that gets me going.ĭI: In finding performers for your work, what do you look for? I’ll try to write, sometimes, for specific actors, and that gets me inspired. I get very excited about who’s going to act in the work. It’s very important to know who’s going to be involved in the work I’m writing. If someone’s paying me, I guess I can be less sparked, but I have to find something in the project. Steele: Again, I’ve got to be sparked by the idea. I don’t write very measured I write as quick as I can when I have to.ĭI: What do you look for when taking on a new project? That’s kind of what it’s like, when you’re up until 8 in the morning writing sketches. I think it was Robert Smigel, one of the “Satuday Night Live” writers, who told me it was like your term paper was due every week. A lot of times you’re worried what you’re writing is terrible, but you push through and it turns out it’s not terrible, you’re just being self-conscious. If it’s something someone’s paying you for, you don’t have a choice and push through. Steele: That’s why I like deadlines so much.
SNL WRITER TURNED COMEDIAN PROFESSIONAL
I don’t have a professional program, the way I write.ĭI: Do you have any tricks to kick-start a project that isn’t coming easily? Deadlines are very helpful for someone like me.īut I don’t wake up and write from 8 to 12 or anything. If someone is paying me, it’s the same, but I’m thinking about what they’re asking for and there’s a deadline. I try to get a page down, at least, then it stews in my mind for a long time. Whether I’m working on a project or I haven’t got one, I use that to get the lightning bolt of an idea. I’ll walk through flea markets and thrift stores and see things. I’m a bit of a collector I collect a lot of junk. Steele: Boy, I don’t know if I’ve really qualified what that process is. I don’t like to fail in front of people, obviously, but I’m more comfortable with that as a writer.ĭI: Walk me through your writing process. In all my time at “Saturday Night Live,” I learned to fail and have gotten pretty comfortable. It’s more work than people think, to be in front of the camera.ĭI: Why are you not self-conscious about putting your writing out there? At first, I think wanted me to give a talk, and I steered it in the direction of a panel because I’ve always been somewhat self-conscious. I get pretty self-conscious, whether in front of a camera or on a stage. Daily Iowan: You’ve written for and with some of the greatest comedians of the era why have you stayed behind the camera?Īndrew Steele: I’m not much of a performer.
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