Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

by Tom Shales

I do remember a very valuable Lorne lesson that I still use today. I remember him really clearly in one meeting saying he always hated the funny-name joke, you know, when a character had a funny name, like a punny name. That kind of thing. It’s such an indicator of an amateur.

But they knew it was going to be good and they knew they thought it was funny. And that’s the biggest thing here: if you feel like something is funny to you, chances are a lot of other people out there will, too. AKIVA SCHAFFER: