Many bits that comedians used in their auditions have ended up as iconic Saturday Night Live sketches, from Kristen Wiig’s overzealous Target clerk to Ana Gasteyer’s smooth operator voice, which landed her a role as a radio host interviewing Alec Baldwin about his famous Schweddy Balls recipe.

Pete Davidson, who was on SNL from 2014 to 2022, is not alone in his experience. Nasim Pedrad (2009-2014) also recalled “the dead silence of that audition,” and Cheri Oteri (1995-2000) said she was warned by another comedian just before she took the stage:

That’s how long Saturday Night Live auditions last. The high-stakes audition process for the sketch show, which celebrates its 50th anniversary on Feb. 16, is notorious in its own right. Comedians and writers who want to make it on SNL perform their best bits,

Early in his career, Jim Carrey auditioned three times for SNL, but never landed the show. He was just 18 during his first audition in 1980, the same year Eddie Murphy joined the