When Alan Zweibel was starting to make a name for himself writing jokes and performing at the Improv in New York, he snagged his first two television job offers in the same week. One was for a hit show with strong Hollywood connections and a great timeslot. Zweibel chose the other one -- “Saturday Night Live.”
On Saturday, Zweibel -- who has been nominated for eight Emmys and won three -- will be honored with the Ian McLellan Hunter lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America, East. He spoke with Eric Estrin about his delicatessen training ground, his first "Weekend Update" joke and his natural talent as a performer (none).
I grew up in New York on Long Island, went to the University of Buffalo, and I actually just started writing jokes in college. I sent them in to columnists like Earl Wilson. Johnny Carson had “The Tonight Show” in New York at the time, and Dick Cavett had a show. … Carol Burnett, Mad magazine -- I would send jokes to all these places.
And when I graduated from college -- this was after I did poorly on the law boards -- it was like I really had no choice but to try to become a comedy writer.
I started writing for standup comedians in the Catskills. It was 1973, and the going rate was $7 a joke at the time. I’m 21 years old, and these guys are 40 and 45, and their sensibilities were just totally different. It was like writing for my parents. So eventually I took a job in a delicatessen in Queens. That was a real training ground; it was like Method acting for me.
I was living at home with my parents on Long Island, and I took all the jokes that those Borscht Belt comics wouldn’t buy from me, and I made them into a standup comedy act for myself. The thought was that I would go on stage with the hope that a manager or an agent or a producer -- somebody -- would like my material.
I was dreadful. I was horrible. I mean, I’ve gotten better as a storyteller, but back then, when guys like Billy Crystal would come through -- these were people with performing talent. I didn’t have that talent.
I was about four months into this when Lorne Michaels came in. He was putting together the staff for this brand new show that was gonna be called “Saturday Night Live.”
He liked my material, and I had a meeting with him about two or three days later, and I brought in 1,100 of my best jokes. That’s not an exaggeration. In fact, I still have the book here at the house.
Lorne read the first joke, and he was intrigued. That first joke, as a matter of fact, was used on the very first "Weekend Update" that Chevy delivered on “Saturday Night Live.”
