Tuesday, October 23, 2012

IF YOU CAN SEE WALLY AND HIS CARDS YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE:  A recent WSJ A-hed profiles Wally Ferensten, who has been responsible for SNL's cue cards for the past 22 years, and does answer the question of why a show's still using cue cards following the invention of the teleprompter.

related:  With Louis C.K. set to host SNL in two weeks, Splitsider recounts his 19-year history with the show, from his audition to his frequent contributions to TV Funhouse. (Yes, there's video.)

3 comments:

  1. If you don't know and love Tony Mendez, Letterman's cue card boy, you should. He does an online show.

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  2. Jordan12:53 PM

    Since they tend to edit the show on the go, I think the margin for error is much higher with a teleprompter. Think Clinton's 1994 State of the Union as the worst case scenario. You just seem to have more control with the cards.

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  3. The performer also gets to set the pace with cue cards in a way that they can't with a prompter. Because of how the Stefan sketches are written/rewritten (often, Hader hasn't seen the punch lines until he's reading them, in order to draw a reaction), prompters wouldn't work. You also have much more mobility with a cue card man, which I suspect is very important in a live show.

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