Synopses & Reviews
A hilarious look at what life was really like inside Saturday Night Live.
A dishy and often surprising memoir of Saturday Night Live by former cast member Jay Mohr.
When 21-year-old Jay Mohr moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought the first real job he'd land would be on Saturday Night Live. But, surprisingly, that's just what he did. What followed were two unbelievable, grueling, and exciting years of feverishly keeping pace with his talented cohorts, outmaneuvering the notorious vices that claimed the lives of other cast members, and struggling at all costs for the holy grail of late-night show business: airtime.
In Gasping for Airtime, Jay offers an intimate account of the inner workings of Saturday Night Live. He also dishes on the guest hosts (John Travolta, Shannen Doherty, Charles Barkley), the musical guests (Kurt Cobain, Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton), and of course his SNL castmates (Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, and David Spade). Refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny, this book will appeal both to fans of Jay Mohr and to devotees of Saturday Night Live.
In a truly inside story of this counterculture institution, you get the scoop on:
Makeup
--Jeff Daniels has part of his face ripped off when his prosthetic is
superglued to his cheeks.
Working with Roseanne Barr
--Roseanne Barr refuses to stop burping during a writers' meeting.
Humoring the Hosts
--John Travolta pitches the cast a few of his ideas for sketches -- such as playing a private detective who is a Hasidic Jew.
Shootin' the Bull
--Adam Sandler tells the story of when Mr. Belvedere sat on his balls.
Panic
--Jay has a panic attack and runs 40 blocks home -- in the middle of a show.
Rock Star Vanity
--Steven Tyler carries a woman's makeup mirror in his belt to check his look after each song, while TLC arrives with an entourage of 40 people, including one person whose job is to constantly adjust the knots on the sweatshirts tied around their waists.
Food for Thought
--Rob Schneider uses a jeweler's loupe to examine his sushi for worms; Norm MacDonald relates his bout with food poisoning from a suspicious avocado; and Jay and Michael McKean projectile vomit corn chowder that doubles as fake puke.
Review
"[S]elf-critical as well as vengeful....His descriptions of Al Franken, Rob Schneider, and Ellen Cleghorne as jerks and of an excellent fistfight between Norm Macdonald and a staff writer contribute to SNL bad-behavior legend no small feat. (Grade: B)" Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Mohr is unafraid to come off as nervous and a little grating....Despite stiff prose, an engagingly honest look at the crossroads of comedy and dysfunction." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[S]tilted but honest....He serves up mostly superficial dish...and offers unflattering self-revelations (desperate competitiveness, jealousy and sulking) resulting in a memoir that will appeal only to die-hard Mohr fans." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Gasping for Airtime is a hilarious, edgy, 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 cast mates 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 cast mates (Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers).
Synopsis
Mohr 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.
Synopsis
When 21-year-old Jay Mohr moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought the first real job he'd land would be on
Saturday Night Live. But, surprisingly, that's just what he did. What followed were two unbelievable, grueling, and exciting years of feverishly keeping pace with his talented cohorts, out-maneuvering the notorious vices that claimed the lives of other cast members, and struggling at all costs for the holy grail of late-night show business: airtime.
In Gasping for Airtime, Jay offers an intimate account of the inner workings of Saturday Night Live. He also dishes on the guest hosts (John Travolta, Shannen Doherty, Charles Barkley), the musical guests (Kurt Cobain, Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton), and of course his SNL castmates (Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, and David Spade). Refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny, this book will appeal both to fans of Jay Mohr and to devotees of Saturday Night Live.
Synopsis
Now in paperback, the revelatory and surprising memoir of life behind the scenes at Saturday Night Live, by former cast member Jay Mohr his insider account of the inner workings of Saturday Night Live provides the scoop on quirky guests, pitch meetings, fake pitch meetings, rehearsals, cast members, live broadcasts, and of course, getting airtime. Refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny, this book will appeal to fans of Jay Mohr, devotees of Saturday Night Live, and young comics yearning for stand-up stardom.
About the Author
Jay Mohr was a featured performer and writer on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1995. His breakthrough film role was in Jerry Maguire. Other film credits include Picture Perfect, Go, Pay It Forward, and S1M0NE. Jay often guest hosts Premiere Radio's Jim Rome Show. He recently produced and hosted a weekly comedy/music/sports talk show for ESPN, and he is the creator and executive producer of NBC's hit series Last Comic Standing. He lives in Los Angeles.