‘What are you waiting for?’: The resurrection of the SNL standby line
A New York staple, the revival of the SNL standby line signals a return to normalcy for its fans, who have made long-lasting friendships on the corner of 49th Street and Sixth Avenue.
By Nicole Chiarella
For Rys Bloom, “Saturday Night Live” was a childhood staple. She grew up watching Seth Meyers dominate the Weekend Update desk; she loved that segment so much she honored it with a tattoo of the desk on her thigh. However, she never had the chance to watch a live taping of the show. That is, not until the finale of SNL’s 46th season.
In May, SNL tweeted that fans would have the opportunity to participate in the standby line to possibly receive a ticket to the first show at full capacity with a fully vaccinated and masked audience. This tweet resurrected the SNL standby line, which had been shut down the entire season due to Covid-19. Bloom, 23, was one of the lucky fans who received a ticket to the season finale’s live show, hosted by Anya Taylor-Joy — after waiting for ten hours on 49th Street. For Bloom, who cannot remember a time when she wasn’t watching SNL growing up, it represented the culmination of her childhood dreams.
“I did cry the first time I saw it, which is a little embarrassing,” Bloom said. “I’ve been watching this show my entire life, so it’s so insane to actually be there really watching it happen — not through a screen anymore. It’s indescribable.”
Before the pandemic hit, the SNL standby line was the only known way for the public to get tickets to the show — aside from entering a digital lottery open only in August. The second wave of the pandemic coincided with the start of SNL’s 46th season, so the standby line was shut down. SNL revived the standby line at the start of season 47, requiring vaccinations and masks to participate and watch the show.
The standby line has existed for years, though it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact start date. The process prior to the pandemic would begin with a line on 48th Street and 6th Avenue. At 7 p.m., it would move to 49th Street where production assistants officially check everyone in.
At 7 a.m. on Saturday, attendees receive an SNL Standby Card for either the dress or live show. There is no guarantee that you will make it in — regardless of your standby number — unless you are sitting inside of Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
While the standby line process for season 47 bears some similarity to previous years, it changes almost every week to ensure the safety of fans. Recently, SNL implemented a virtual reservation system for the line — although fans still had to spend the night in-person on 49th Street.
Bloom has done the standby line six times, attending shows hosted by Owen Wilson, Rami Malek, Jason Sudeikis and Kieran Culkin. Doing the standby line has become part of her weekly routine, and she plans to do it for the two December shows that will close out the first half of the season.
“It’s still as exciting as it was the first time,” she said. “The novelty hasn’t worn off. I still get that excited, nervous feeling. It’s still so exciting and fun for me.”
Another fan, Aiyannah Lewis, has also done the line multiple times, watching shows hosted by Kim Kardashian West and Simu Liu. She said getting back into the studio with a fully masked and vaccinated audience signals a return to normalcy.
Lewis was at the front of the standby line on Nov. 19 — the day before Simu Liu would take over as SNL host. She arrived at 9:45 a.m. Friday and sat in a camping chair with her mother and sister for nearly 24 hours.
“I’m a lover of the arts, so it’s a nice place to see everything combined,” Lewis said. “You have sketch comedy, and then you have awesome musical skits, so it’s a place where everyone’s able to show off their versatility. That’s what I love about it, and the live experience is a great feeling.”
The two friends at the back of the line at around 8:30 p.m. share Lewis’ sentiment. Emily Bartosek, 25, and Kelly Paschall, 24, were about 94 people behind Lewis, but kept up high spirits and positivity about making it inside.
“I just feel like it’s fun,” Bartosek said. “There’s nothing like it on TV. It’s fun to see actors and other celebrities in different elements getting to do this kind of thing.”
After another interruption by a passerby asking what they were waiting for, Bartosek recognized that waiting in line for 12 hours could result in nothing more than the memories of a fierce November cold.
“It’s an experience,” she said. “I know it’s a gamble but I’m excited to say that we did it.”
“Come back at 4 a.m., and I might have a different response,” Paschall interjected.
Tesla Bias, 19, also cannot quite explain why she decides to do the SNL standby line nearly every week. She said she does not like the feeling of missing out on a chance to watch SNL in the studio, though she has also experienced what it is like to not make it inside after spending 12 hours sleeping on 49th Street.
“I don’t know if there was one reason why it was sad, or if it was because it was a giant waste of time,” Bias said. “Pretty much everyone I knew that came to the show was there, and I was alone crying on 51st.”
Yet, this didn’t stop her from returning the following week. Bias, who discovered SNL during her sophomore year of high school, has seen shows hosted by Adele, Jonathan Majors and Billie Eilish to name a few. Now a sophomore at Marymount Manhattan College studying Film and Television, the thrill of the standby line is a gamble she’s willing to make.
“Once you’re in the studio, and you sit down and you’re waiting for the show to start everything is worth it,” Bias said. “It doesn’t matter how cold you were — you forget about it.”
SNL took on a special importance for Bias after Covid-19 hit during her senior year of high school. With her senior year completely online, SNL became the one constant for her.
“The SNL At Home period was very important to me because I was stuck at home in Ohio,” Bias said. “I couldn’t have a normal graduation so I just wanted one thing that was normal to me. Then SNL came back, and even though it was so different and so weird, it just meant a lot to still have that around.”
For Bloom, SNL became a way to make friends forever. Bloom, a Canadian who moved to New York, made friends with people who came to the show and who went to barricades afterwards — a set up on 49th Street where fans can meet the cast. She now does the standby line and watches the show with friends she has met at barricades, like Bias.
“When I moved to New York in the middle of the pandemic, I didn’t have any friends,” Bloom said. “But I met people coming to the show and coming to barricades, and they’ve become my friends here. So it’s been a way to connect with people. It’s also just something that makes me happy.”
