Gasping for Airtime: Two Years In the Trenches of Saturday Night Live

GASPING FOR AIRTIME is a hilarious and often moving memoir by former Saturday Night Live cast member Jay Mohr. When twenty-year-old Jay moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought he’d land his first real job on Saturday Night Live. But he did—and what followed were two crazy years of trying to keep up with his talented castmates and get on the air as often as possible (a daunting feat for a rookie cast member). Jay offers an intimate first-person account of the inner workings of Saturday Night Live—the audition process, the first week on the job, what goes on at the pitch meetings, and how skits make the final cut of the show. Jay also dishes on the guest hosts (John Travolta, Shannen Doherty, Alec Baldwin, Charles Barkley), the musical guests (Kurt Cobain, Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton), and of course his SNL castmates (Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers). You’ll learn which cast member was told off by guest host Sally Field, what happened when Janeane Garafalo told the New York Post that the show was biased against women, and why the show’s opening monologues are often not funny. Finally, Jay writes candidly about his insecurities and frustrations on the show, and why he made the decision to leave after two years. Refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny, this book will appeal to both fans of Jay Mohr and fans of Saturday Night Live.

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