Last weekend I was invited to have the chance to visit SNL: The Experience in New York City.  Always a favorite show of mine, I loved the opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at Saturday Night Live as a production.

Let me tell you, it is so much more involved than you could EVER imagine!  I came away from the exhibition with a whole new respect for the writers and performers of the famous sketch comedy tradition that has influenced our world for decades.

Walk into the exhibit and it takes you backstage to experience a week in the life of a Saturday Night Live employee from Monday to Saturday the week of each show.  Every week, the show is created from scratch….literally!  There are only a couple of permanent sets on the show–the main stage and the performing stage for the musicians!  Other than that, sets are built off-site for every single sketch and brought to  Studio 8H.  Hours upon hours of writing, meetings, rehearsals, costume designing, set building make up the week that lead up to that Saturday Night broadcast that brings Americans many laughs.

The SNL Experience is very eye-opening and enjoyable.  Along the way, you can see props and costumes that have graced television screens over the years.  Some of my favorites?  SNL commercial products (“How do you know so much about Oops, I crapped my pants?  Because I’m wearing them…..and I just did!”) and Chris Farley’s Matt Foley costume from the days of living in a van day by the river.

This exhibit was a blast and I highly recommend going to see your favorite highlights of the show.  It’s a great way to spend some time reminiscing!

You can visit SNL: The Experience in New York City now for a limited time.  You learn more about the exhibit and purchase tickets online at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition.

*we were invited to visit the exhibition to facilitate a review, all opinions are my own.