Wally Feresten, iconic cue card writer for shows like SNL and Late Night with Seth Meyers, Explores his craft's artistry and his journey during the pandemic. He shares how he adapted to the challenges, starting his successful business, Cue Cards by Wally, and the joy of bringing personalized cue cards into people's lives globally. Wally also reflects on his relationships with hosts and performers, stressing the importance of rapport and discussing the unforeseen inventiveness brought about by navigating COVID-19 restrictions. The conversation rounds out with insights into the supportive and creative environment of his work and the significant but often overlooked role of cue cards in live television production.

https://notrealart.com/snl-cue-cards-wally-feresten

Episode Contents

00:00 Wally is a lovable, funny, cue card writer.

07:33 Discussion of various dimensions of sign painting.

12:44 Discussing tradition, design, and obsession in conversation.

21:25 Building trust and relationships for successful collaboration.

24:03 Building trust with SNL hosts every week.

29:50 Grateful for long-lasting job on TV show.

36:33 SNL returns with COVID restrictions, logistical challenges.

39:24 Wife entrepreneur rejects personalized cue card idea.

46:41 Christopher Walken hosts SNL, asks for card.

51:39 Sharpies, Power pilot pens, and old markers.

57:18 Meeting artists and celebrities can be challenging.

01:00:42 Talent, hard work, and kindness matter most.

01:05:13 Endorsement for custom cue cards by Wally.

Topics Discussed

Introduction to Wally Feresten

- Introduction of Wally Feresten as a guest on the Not Real Art Podcast.

- Explanation of Wally's role as a cue card writer for notable TV shows like SNL and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

- Mention of Wally's personal life, including his family and recreational activities.

Cue Cards and Artistry

- Discussion on the artistic aspect of writing cue cards.

- Comparisons made between Wally's work and famous sign painters.

- Reflection on the history and evolution of cue cards in the entertainment industry.

Business Ventures and Adaptations During COVID-19

- Exploration of Wally's business "Cue Cards by Wally" providing personalized cue cards.

- How the pandemic influenced Wally to start the business.

- Transition to remote work and adaptation of the business model during COVID-19.

Operational Details and Employee Management

- Insight into Wally’s operational and billing practices for shows.

- Discussion of employee status transitioning from independent contractors to full-time staff with benefits.

- Wally’s approach to maintaining a good work environment, highlighting the importance of being nice.

Impact of Cue Cards in the Industry

- Highlights of famous cue card writers and their contributions.

- The preference of cue cards over prompters by traditional hosts.

- Story about Wally's mishap during a live show and handling different personalities.

Creative Side Projects and Personal Stories

- Wally’s involvement in creating cards for various personal events and celebrations.

- Mention of his sons’ careers and personal projects.

- Story about Wally’s interaction and relationship with fans and other industry figures.

Reflections and Philosophy

- Wally’s reflections on the stability and changes in the entertainment industry due to strikes and other disruptions.

- His philosophy on work ethic and the advice of being nice as pivotal to success.

- Scott and Wally’s shared experiences and appreciations for behind-the-scenes work.

Conclusion and Further Engagements

- Summary of the episode’s discussion points.

- Promotional mention of Wally's forthcoming book.

- Encouragement for listeners to visit Wally’s business website and explore his offerings.

- Closing remarks thanking Wally for his contributions and a nod to the viewers to stay creative.

Quotables

Longevity in Television Careers: "You're not supposed to work on the same TV show for for 34 years and plus and still going. You know? Like, how lucky is that too?"— Wally 00:30:00

Pursuing Creative Careers: "You need to make a decision. You need to leave cue cards and really focus on writing if you wanna really do that or commit fully to cue cards."— Wally 00:09:54

Wally Feresten Links & Bio

Meet Wally, a seasoned television professional whose career spans various high-profile productions. Wally's primary responsibilities are with two iconic shows, "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers," both of which are conveniently located on the same floor, allowing him to seamlessly manage his duties. In his role, he adeptly coordinates and supervises the integration of these shows' elements, ensuring everything runs smoothly.

Apart from his core commitments, Wally also oversees a small, efficient team dedicated to "The Tonight Show." He describes this team as being on "automatic pilot," attesting to their competence and his trust in their abilities to handle responsibilities with minimal intervention. This allows Wally the freedom to engage with diverse projects beyond his day-to-day tasks.

Adding variety to his career are the special assignments that take him around the country. Over the summer, Wally found himself in Miami for a shoot, and he also traveled to Toronto to work on a commercial featuring none other than Ryan Reynolds. These projects serve as exciting deviations from his routine, infusing his regular schedule with fresh experiences and challenges in the dynamic world of television production. Through it all, Wally remains enthusiastic and passionate, continually embracing the "spice" these opportunities bring to his professional life.

• https://cuecardsbywally.com/

Warning. The NOT Real Art Podcast is intended for creative

audiences only. The Not Real Art Podcast celebrates

creativity and creative culture worldwide. It contains material

that is fresh, fun and inspiring and is not suitable for boring old

art snobs. NOT, let's get started and enjoy the show.

Greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters. Welcome to

Nottingville Art, the podcast where we talk to the world's most creative people.

I am your host, faithful, trusty, loyal, tireless, relentless,

stubborn host, Sourdough, coming at you from Crewest Studio

in Los Angeles. Man, do we have a fun show for

you today? We have,

like, a one of a kind character, complete

iconoclast. You know, I I like to say we talk

to the world's most creative people, but then there are creative people behind the creative

people. Right? And and Wally Feresten is one of those

people. Wally Feresten, is a legend

in entertainment, especially late night in comedy. He

has been doing cue cards for

the Saturday night live show since 1990. He has

been doing cue cards, for,

any number of late night shows, not the least of

which is the Seth Meyers, for example. And you're gonna hear

all about it in one second, when we get into this interview

with Wally, which I so love and I'm gonna talk about in a second. But

before I do, of course, I wanna thank you for tuning in. We do this

for you. It's all about you. And so I'm so grateful for

your loyalty and your support. Thank you so much. I

want, of course, as always, to encourage you to go to our website, not REAL

ART dot com, and check out all the good healthy stuff we've got for you

there. It's all free range organic. No pesticides

or antibiotics or steroids were used in the making of our content.

But on our website, you will discover amazing ART and art, that

will inspire you and, and just really,

lift your spirits. Of course, check out our monthly online art

exhibition, 1st Fridays, which drops every month on the 1st

Friday of the month. So check that out. We have some incredible

shows of, featuring some incredible art and Crewest. So check it out.

Also, check out our exclusive video series remote

with the one and only, Badir Badir McCleary, who takes us on

a tour of public art in America and tells us what it all

means, or at least what it means to him, and it is a wonderful,

series. So check that out remote on our website, ART.

Okay, people. Without further ado, we have the one and only

Wally Faerson here with us today. And I REAL you what,

Wally has been, the head cue ART guy

on Saturday Night Live for the last 3 years, and he's

been, playing an offbeat bastard version of

himself, you know, on TV and film.

You know, he's been behind the camera, but now he's kind of in front of

the camera. He's becoming a bit of a character, a bit of a celebrity

himself. He holds the cards for Seth Meyers,

and Seth Meyers has had him on the show. And he's you know, over the

last several years or many years, he's become, just a

beloved feature and character on these shows. They turn the camera on

Wally because he's such a, you know, lovable,

smart, funny, human who does this incredible

thing. He writes the cue cards,

that, comics and creatives and artists like Seth

Meyers read from. And, you

know, Michael Che from Saturday Night Live, Colin

Jost, on and on. He's

he's, holding the cards for these guys. And you've

probably seen him, on late night or on Saturday night live

because they turned the camera on him. And I had discovered him,

in part because, they did a article or there was a

story on TV about his about his company,

that and and and I just thought, my god. What a cool I mean, how

do you get that job? How do you get the job to write the cue

cards, for a a show? I mean, what you

know? Because, I mean, there was you know, there's a, you gotta be a good

your penmanship's gotta be good. What kind of materials do you use? What kind

of markers? And and and people have gotta be able to read it. And and

what is there, a an apprenticeship? How do you learn

this skill? How do you learn this talent? You know, and I was so interested

to learn, about Wally, and I wanted to have him

on the show. And then I discovered that he has,

a a company, whereby you can, you know,

order, you know, a cue ART,

from him, for a birthday or for a wedding or, you know,

a special gift of some kind. And, you know, he has this

company called, cue cards by Wally. You gotta check

out cue cards by walley.com. And, you know, for a very

very affordable price, he will not just write a cue card

for you, but he will create a video, and you can send it as a

special gift, what have you. And so and I did that. It was a

wonderful, service, and, so I definitely

encourage you to check it out. So without further ado, let's get into this and

hear from the 1 and only Wally Farris.

Wally, welcome to the NOT REAL ART podcast. Scott, thank you so much

for having me. Appreciate it. I am honored. I'm so you

know, I was trying to remember how I first

got the idea well, how I just how I came to

know you or or how I discovered, you know, the the the the the

the infamous WALL E. And and it must have been, you know, watching a late

night show or something when, you know, they turn the cameras on you or something.

And then somehow, some way, I realized that you were doing,

you know, the custom cards and everything. And and I said, man, I wanna get

Wally on the podcast because we love talking to what we like to

say the world's most creative people. But you have such an interesting

job and an interesting life. And and I know our audience is just gonna love

hearing from you, and hearing about how Wally became Wally.

But, I mean, just to to just to level set a little bit, I mean,

you know, you you you work for SNL. Right. You work for

Seth Meyers. Correct. What other shows, are you working on right

now? Well, I have, you know, I have 2 companies. The one you talked about,

the personal cue cards I started in 2020. We can talk about that later. Yep.

New York New York City cue cards, which is, the company I'm

a vendor to these TV shows. So right now, we do

Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Those are the REAL main shows that I have. They're all in the same building.

They're all within 2 floors of each other. Seth and SNL are on the same

floor right next to each other, which is great because those are the shows I

work on. But I have 3 guys that work on the tonight show, and, I

just kinda supervise them. They're pretty much an automatic pilot, so I don't really have

to worry about them. And then there's shows that come little one offs that come.

I was in Miami shooting something over the summer, and then I was in Toronto

shooting a commercial, with Ryan Reynolds and things like that. Those little

shows pop up every now and again just to, you know, add some spice to

the to to the business. That's it. But the main shows are those 3.

You know, there's so many different dimensions and facets to to to what you

do, that that, you know, I'd love to try to touch on as many

as we can because, you know, I'm a I'm a Chicago guy, you know,

born and raised in the suburbs. And,

you know, I recently had a guy on the podcast named, Che, Che

Ches Perry. And Ches is, kind of a

famous sign painter in Chicago. You know? He he studied,

sign painting and sign making as an apprentice, you know, 30, 40 years

ago. And, you know, he's kind of become a bit of a legend,

you know, there, you know, doing what he does. And, you know, there's such

an artistry. You know? I think a lot of a lot of artists might or

a lot of people may not appreciate the artistry. And what I loved about, you

know, chess's story is that he was, you know, I mean, he he he's a

master at his craft, and so are you. You are a master of

your craft. And, you know, and I I I I guess I could've

guessed, you know, how, you know, a sign painter becomes a

sign painter. But I I I could never guess how a cue

card writer becomes a cue card

writer. I mean, how the hell, Wally? You got a

PhD in in cue ART? No. I mean, you know, there's there's, you know, guys

that work for me that it's just a normal story. They're taking the job as

their first job getting into business, and they wanna do something else.

I I I didn't even know what cue cards were. I went to school. I

wanted to be a writer. Ever since the 5th grade, I wanted to write. I

wanted to write for TV and film. I was brought up in a funny family.

My brother's a famous writer. He wrote for Seinfeld and for Letterman and stuff. So

K. We grew up in this family that wanted to do this, and

I took the job as a KUKA guy to get my foot in the door.

It's my first job after college. 3 years, I went to Syracuse and went to

Newhouse and, you know, just wanted to write. So I took the job to

just make some connections and write. And I started writing jokes for Norm McDonald for

weekend updates and started doing stuff like that. So I'm like, this is great. I'll

do this for a little while, then I'll start doing some more writing. And I

did, and I started getting you know, I wrote a Space Coast Scott to coast

episode. I started writing some stuff for celebrity death

match and, all these other little shows, but it was never enough to pay the

rent. You know? It was never enough to quit the cue cards and

do that full time. And I started getting better and better at cue

cards. And my brother who was writing, I think, probably for Seinfeld at the time

was like, you need to make a decision. You need to leave cue cards and

really focus on writing if you wanna really do that or commit fully

to cue cards. And I did leave

for for through 4 months. I took some time off, and I went to LA,

and I took meetings. And it it's you know, the we know what

Hollywood's like in LA. It's like they take meetings and they're like, yeah. Yeah. Those

are great ideas. Come back and then nothing ever happens. Right. So I just got

married and went back to doing cue ART. And and, you know, I I was

basically running running the show 3 years in in 93. I started in

90. I was running the show, and then I just got really, really good at

it. There's something about it. Not so much the writing, which is the art you

talk about. We'll talk about that later. But the the holding and all the other

things that go with it and the temperament dealing with celebrities and pressure, For

some reason, that didn't bother me. It was just I looked at it as it

was pressure, and it was, you know, stressful, but it was fun. It was a

fun thing to do. And, I just got so good at it that I

became the person. You know? And, I started my company in

2004 when the company we were working for, were was

where they were bouncing our paychecks, and we couldn't order stuff because they weren't paying

the the suppliers. And, I just basically started out out of

necessity. I didn't wanna own a company. I knew nothing about it. Thank NOT I

have a wife that, like like was an entrepreneur and like to start ART,

so she helped me a lot. And it was just something that, for some reason,

I don't know why I was really good at it. But my penmanship was

terrible, It's still not great. I mean, the the

the the irony of my career, if you look at if I when I tell

you this, every single report card I got growing up from

1st grade to when I graduated high school was great

grades, great kid, worst handwriting we've ever seen. And

now I make my living with my handwriting.

Fuck you, missus Smith. That's right. Every teacher I had.

Well, it by the way, I love the fact that you just told that story

because I was gonna I had a question here. I was just gonna, you know,

goofball question. I was gonna say, Wally, does this mean that, you know, in in

your professional life, your penmanship is perfect, but in your personal life, your penmanship

is shit. And I guess it's Nope. If I got a letter from you, I

couldn't read it. But if I get a cue card from you, no problem. Yeah.

No. You know you know, it's different. You know? That's the thing. You know? I

I do print when I print when I write with my when I write with

a pen, I print capital letters like cue cards. Right? So it does look deater.

But the the pens we use I can show you the the pens we use

here, these thick pens. Mhmm. You know, you're you're printing. You're not writing. You

don't use your fingers. You use your hand. You move your hand back and forth

and up and down and around. So it's different. It's something that can be taught.

It just needs to practice it. And, you know, I get good at it. I

get good enough, obviously, that I kept my job, and I was, you know, the

top person there. So, and then, you know, my my my printing

is what I taught everybody else. So everybody's printing may look neater, but

it's basically a copy of what my is. You know? So,

but but there but but but the cue but the tradition. Right? I mean, you

know, like like like and I wanna go back to that. I mean, there's so

many things, you know, because I want, you know, I wanna have a

conversation about, you know, about all these layers because, obviously, on one hand, this

connects to, you know, topography design and and and, you know, all that,

you know, sign ART stuff that we talked about. And and and, you know, there's

gotta be a type a OCD component, obsessive compulsive

component to that. You know? Yeah. You know? And I have a buddy of mine's

son is a phenomenal topography designer and I REAL, but

he's just like a mad scientist. Right? You know, he's that. Yeah. Yeah. But then,

you know, so there's so there's the you know, because art Scott, design school

track. But then, of course, I'm guessing there is the more of a a

trades trades like journey, of

apprenticeship and things. But but but, you know, cue cards as I understand. I

don't know the history. I wanna ask you. I mean, obviously, teleprompters didn't exist.

Cue cards existed far before teleprompters. So go back. You

know, help me understand the history of where cue cards started in the

tradition and the legacy that you're continuing. Yeah. So, yeah, before

prompters were a thing, before they were invented, you know, TV shows, most a lot

of TV shows were live. So they used they used cue cards, Bob. Hope

relied on them. A lot of the shows use cue cards. So they had in

house cue card ART. You know, that n b all the networks, NBC had

1, CBS, they all had them because they were shooting these shows live or, you

know, live to tape, and they didn't have enough they didn't have the time. So

it was all in house. Then the prompter came along. I'm not sure when.

And when a prompter came along and simplified that, that they could talk right to

camera, then they prompt the cue cards went

out of house to, like, you know, vendors like myself. Mhmm.

And prompters took over. And then, you know, cue cards slowly

probably started fading because, you know, prompter was better. But some

shows still use cue cards. The variety shows use them, and the talk shows use

them, because it was just something, you know, that they were used to, I think.

Yeah. And, and plus, if you want if you're gonna do sketches like Johnny Carson

would do sketches, you know, he would have his monologue on ART, but he could

do that on a prompter if it had it. But he does, like, you know,

they did sketches. So they want cards on either side. You know? So it was

Mhmm. It was just something he was used to, so he used cue cards. And

I think that's the majority of it. The people that I do cards for now,

Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, you know, Conan, I did cards

for him. It's all people that came from Saturday Night Live

that learned how to do things with cue cards, not a prompter.

So that's why they kept it. They were they were happy with cue cards. They

were familiar with it. They liked the rhythm of it, and, they got used to

it. Yeah. But that's the history that I basically, you know,

know right now. So yeah. And I'm I guess right now, I'm the biggest coupon

company in the I I could say the world, but that's pretty that's pretty audacious

to say that. I say the country. You know? Well but it'd be but, you

know, perhaps, yes. Maybe you are likely the biggest company in the

world, but but but I I'm guessing you're probably one of the most famous

cue card writers to ever exist because, you have such a great

personality and you're funny and one way or another, they turn the camera on you

and people you know, you've delighted people. That's amazing. So

so were there other famous cue card writers and, like, were

there any, you know, sort of legends of the craft? Sure. Well, Tony

Mendez do you know Tony Tony Mendez, trained me on SNL

and then went Power. He was he was David Letterman's cue card guy. Inky, they

called him. Tony you know? He was he was on camera all the time. He

had his own he had his own show after the show. It's like a 5

minute, Internet show that he had. He had a billboard in Times Square. So he

was pretty big. He was almost like kinda like, oh, I kinda wanna aspire that

maybe. But, again, that wasn't his choice. It was Dave putting him on

camera and him, you know, having fun with it. You know?

There's some other older guys. Barney McNulty is one of the most famous. I think

he did Bob Hope's cards and stuff, but I don't think he was on camera.

I don't think they you know, he was just he was just, like, the biggest

guy back in the sixties in the you know, in in that time. So,

REAL, I think Tony and and myself, and I can't really think of anybody else.

Kevin k, who who was whose uncle owned the company when I

started, he was Letterman's first cue card guy, on the

show. I forget what his what they what Dave called

him. Maybe because it's just Kevin the cue card guy. That's I knew him from

watching the show. Right. But, yeah, he was on as well a little bit too.

But Yeah. They yeah. It's such it's so fascinating. Such a

fascinating world. Yeah. And and, you know, I'm

remind I'm reminded of that music documentary, you know, 10 feet from

stardom. I don't know if you saw it right by the back. It's like it's

like, you know, the cue ART, Wally, the, you know, is is NOT

10 feet for stardom, but you are literally, becoming a star unto

your own as, unto your own, and and that's just

amazing. You know?

Right. So so there's a tradition, a legacy. There were there were legends

that, you know, you know, made the craft, you know, I guess, what it

is. Yeah. And and and you're and

you and you pass down these skills to some of your other employees. I mean,

how many employees do you have right now that are that are working? I think

it's right around 14 or 15. 14 or 15. Yeah. They

work they work on the REAL shows. Right. So so

so right. So okay. So, I

REAL, yeah, I guess, I I mean, there must be you must have a an

army kind of, right, to to to the volume and the the the changes

in the constant, amendments. Right? Yeah. You you need you

need it. Like, you know, for for Seth, we have 5 people that work

on Seth on closer look days because that's so long. We we get it really

late in the day. So we we had to add a couple people to help

us print that. It's usually about 25, 30 pages sometimes. So

we need to print that in, like, a half an hour. And then Fallon has

3 people full time. And then, on

Thursday, I've got 3 people working. On Friday, I've got 8 people working. And

then on Saturday, I've got, 9 plus

myself, 10 people working on, on Saturday. So and a lot of those people, like,

that work on Seth will work on SNL, and a lot of people that work

on Fallon, they work on SNL as well. So everybody's I'm kinda, like, moving moving

people around where I need them. So and and, you know, tell me to fuck

off if I'm asking business questions that are confidential. But, like so

are these employees, are they, like, full time staff employees, or are they, like, independent

contractors? Is it like a Well, I mean, I like I said, I up up

until last year, I was a vendor Mhmm. And they were you know,

some of them were full time and some of them were part time. Yeah. They

were all w fours. Right. But they unionized

last year, and I really can't talk about that, but we just came to an

agreement after a year of negotiations pretty much. Well, not a lot went

under the strike, but now they're so now all my employees are in, local one

I Etsy. And, we just have a trip we just I just signed the

papers today, actually. So, they'll all be union.

They'll be getting more money. They'll be getting health benefits, which I never had because

I was a small company and REAL that I couldn't afford that with them.

Right. I had a 4 zero one k. I had profit sharing. I did, but,

you know, they wanted more. And, you know, the my company was based on,

you know, come in, do cards, but, you know, make some money, and then find

what you wanna do and and leave. You know? Right. Right. Right. People, you know,

I guess, to my to to as a I guess, it's like, you know, a

good thing. People like the job, and they they wanted to stay, and they have

fun doing it, and they like working there. And so, it became more of a,

like, oh, I need to make more money to survive. So I understand it. Like

I said, you know, we came to agreement. It was all it was very good

negotiations. Very nice. And, so now and, again, some of

there's only I think there's only 6 full time and then the rest are part

time, just because there's not that many hours, especially s and l's, know, only

21 weeks out of the year, and they don't shoot the other years, the other

days. But, yeah, it's a mix of both. Yeah. Well and and thanks for all

that. I appreciate all that that, information. I mean, you know, because I was gonna

I wondered, you know, to what extent your your guys or your shop

was union versus nonunion or whatever. I mean Yeah. We just

my wife and I couldn't sell our house last year because the writers and the

actors were striking their all of our buyers. You know?

So so so I you know, we were we were over the strikes. Let's not

strike anymore if we can avoid it. So I'm glad you closed your deal.

That that's great. And then and, again, tell me to fuck off. I'm just curious.

Like, so how then do you bill the shows? Like, are you billing

them per card? Are you billing them per I wish. Per

person, like, hours? Is it, like, a project rate, a show rate, an episode

rate? Like It's a it's a show it's a show rate. Like, you know, for

SNOW, I I bill them a certain amount, and then I pay my employees, you

know, from that, and I pay all the I I buy the supplies and, you

know, whatever expenses I also have. For Seth and Fallon,

I bill them, you know, weekly for how many shows we do in in in

the same kind of thing. But, you know Right. Yeah. That's basically it that I

pay the I pay the guys. So, I mean, these guys work with you because

they they they trust you. You're a pro. They like you.

Maybe they probably didn't have to don't have to like you to work with you.

But but the fact that they like you, they they you've you've you've you've you've

known each other for years maybe in many cases. You've worked together. But, I

mean, how do you have to adjust? So whether you're working for

Seth or whether you work for SNL or well, not let's not use SNL because

SNL is, like, slightly different. But, like, I just you know, if you're doing talk

shows, like, if you're doing late night talk shows, just for example, you

know, do do do the do the host have different

idiosyncratic, kinds of needs and wants from you, and

how do you adjust and manage that? Yeah. Well, I mean so

I you know, when Seth was on SNL for, I think, 11 years, something like

that. Mhmm. I held you know, I held most

of his cue cards. He taught people ask him, you know, why ART use cue

cards and stuff like that. He and he tells and he's probably right. He's like,

I probably held up 90% of his cards since he's been on

TV in 20 years between SNL and and Laine. When he

started when he took over late NOT, I was only working 3 days

a week in SNL. I was having a nice cushy job. I was off for

the summers. You know, I spent it with my boys. We're younger, so it was

good. I get to see them a lot. And then, he started the boys were

older, and I could and I I went to them and I said, you guys

gonna use cue cards? They said yes. I was like, well, I'd like to do

cards for Seth. I'll be the lead on the show. You know, what do you

guys think of that? And they they jumped at it. They were so happy.

Because, Seth, I just wanted them not to worry about cue cards. I didn't

wanna throw a new person in there that didn't know his rhythm and that didn't

know Right. And he knows me. I wanted them to be able to focus on

the writing and all that other stuff that goes into producing a new show. And,

yeah, I know Seth's rhythms, and he knows my rhythms. If I, you know, if

he reads too, I we just we have a connection. It's like a dancing partner.

You guys are REAL dancing. Exactly. Like, if he screws up

something, I can pull the card back or if he he takes a pause at

the end of a because when you're pulling a card, I'm pulling the card on,

like, the 3rd or 4th, the last word of the card because they've already got

it in their head. Mhmm. But if he takes a pause on that word, and

he might he might forget those maybe the last sentence. I gotta grab

it back from the guy I just gave it to in time to Yeah. Get

it to him sometimes like that. So, yes, we we have each other. We I

know his it is like a dance. Like, I know his rhythms. He knows my

rhythms. He knows you know, he he trusts me, and it's all it's all our

it's a it's it's a REAL, and it's Crewest, really. The trust is the

thing. Right. It's like, are you gonna catch me when I fall? And and and

you do. And and that trust is built up over years. And and,

right, wow. What a what a what a special relationship you have.

Yeah. And, well, with Seth especially, but, you know, I get to do that every

week too. You know, I I'm in charge of the host of SNL every week.

So I meet them on a on a Thursday, and then I work with them

for 3 days. And I build up this relationship with them because they're fully trusting

me, and it's all about, again, I'm trying to gain their trust Thursday Friday so

that they can relax on Saturday. And I I've had made some really, really great

people and have some really, really I consider them, you know, new friends because of

that trust that I build with them, especially if they come back and host 2

or 3 times. You know, they know the they know the process. They can relax.

We just get to know each other. It's just it's a wonderful job to have.

It really is. Well, so so I I wasn't gonna mention this till

later, but it dawned on me as we I was I was thinking about our

talk today that, indeed, if you are,

holding the the the cards for the host, and if

indeed you held the cards for Quinta Brunson when she

hosted, I was in the room that night. So we we

literally were in the same room together. Oh, that's awesome. Of

course. Yeah. That was amazing. Like, I was so blown away

at seeing that dance. Talk about dancing. You know? This this

this you know, clearly, everyone in the room, many of those folks. I mean, like,

the the the cast, you know, is like or the young bucks in the room

because it feels like everybody behind, you know, you know, behind the camera, so to

speak, are, like, multiyear veterans who be could do this in their

sleep. I mean, just the dance that you guys do in that small space,

it's incredible to watch. Yeah. Yeah. You'll never you'll

never watch the show the same on TV because you know what's going

on, like, during that commercial break. You know what's oh, the madness and the moving

around and and the stuff. Yeah. It's it it is truly amazing, especially I'm glad

you get to see it because REAL is gives you a whole perspective on what

the show is. And were you watching us do cue cards as well as

watching the actors do the sketches? Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I

mean, little did I know that we would be doing this. You know? Like, but,

you know, but I was just so amazed at all the the moving parts. Right?

And Yeah. And, of course, on TV, the studio looks so much bigger than

it actually is. Right? And then, you know, and then to see this dance,

but then also to appreciate the fact that wait a minute. You guys go

from 0 to hero in 6 days. Like, you know, like Oh, yeah. That

shows that show wraps on that that Saturday night. And then

on Monday, you start again with a blank sheet of paper, and you build sets,

and you do all this stuff in the 6 days. Like Yeah. They don't they

don't start building the sets till till Wednesday night. They don't start building the Scott.

Wednesday night. You know? The all the creative stuff is that, like, Monday,

they talk to the they meet the host. Tuesday, they do the writing. Wednesday is

the read through. Then Wednesday night, they pick the sketches, and then they start building

the sets. We don't rehearse till Thursday afternoon, like 4 o'clock in the

afternoon. Crazy.

What a grind. What a grind. There's there's times on Saturday

night at, like, 12:45, and we have 50 minutes to go,

maybe one more sketch Studio, where I just I look at the mirror, and I

was just like, I don't know how we get here every week. Like, every week,

like, I'm I'm amazed. And I've worked there for 34 years. I'm still amazed

that sometimes we put the show on that we put on. It's it's crazy. It's

it's wild. And and it was so fascinating also to watch

Lauren kind of walking around as he does, you know, with his

hands behind his back and his suit. I mean, he's just the Yoda,

you know, kind of figure. It was it was just amazing to watch.

Yeah. I was so charmed and delighted and and grateful that I got the opportunity

to be in the room. That's great. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. So who was

your was who was your first big,

show or or celebrity that you worked with? Was it SNL? Is that where you

got your your first That's that's where I started.

Yeah. So, I mean, you know, I wasn't running the show for the 1st REAL

years. I know Tony was running it, and he was just putting me in stuff.

But, you know, I the thing that I was like I said, I was not

a good my handwriting was not good. And I think he wanted to get me

fired, so he put me in really hard sketches to

start. Like, I would never like, I don't sometimes let somebody hold for

a year. I like, you know, and especially SNL. You know, I'm not gonna take

a chance that they're gonna screw up on live TV. You know? He he was

giving me these hard sketches the 1st week, and and

I really think he wanted to get me fired. But for some reason, like I

said before, I was really good at the holding. The the the it's a lot

of hand eye coordination. I and I played baseball and tennis and golf, you know,

growing up. Right. So I think maybe that helped me. I don't know. For some

reason, I took to it. It didn't scare me. I was good at it. And

he saw, like, oh oh, this guy can be a really big asset to this

to this department. And, you know, he worked with me on my writing, and we

got NOT we got that up to speed. And then I'd be you know, I

was I was like the top holder be be you know, behind him. And then,

you know, 3 years in, he decided to leave, and, the show

picked me to run it even though there were, like, REAL guys that were

had 5 years more experience than me. But because of my,

calm under pressure, that's why they, you know, they picked me to run it because

that's what they're looking for. They need something. They can't have somebody that freaks out.

You know? Turns out you're a ninja. And and in in

another life, you were either a ninja or special witnesses or

whatever, and collected,

under pressure. Right? Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I

and, you know, and that's the thing too. Just that, you know, I mean,

to to just bring come back to the SNL example. I mean, you

know, that was one of the things that, you know, again, I so

appreciated about being there is that, you know, it is,

you know, it's, there are so many moving ART, and and it is

there's high pressure and obviously. And but

to see pros do their job. Right? You know? Yeah. Just, you know,

get it done and do it with a smile. Have fun doing it. Love the

pressure. You know, it's it's you're you're part of a

all star world class group of super athletes on

a certain level. You're you're absolutely right. It really is the best of

people were doing their job. And, you know, you're not you know, I start

I started this job when I was 25 years old. I'm 58 right now. You're

not supposed to work on the same TV show for for 34 years

and plus and still going. You know? Like, how lucky is that too? Like, you

know, I was like, you know, I had friends that were were starting a job.

They'd have it for 2 years, and the show would go off the air, and

they have to find another job. And it's like, how lucky I am to be

in that position where my show just stays on and on and on. It's crazy.

Right. NOT. SNL's gotta be one of the longest running shows on television right

now. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Wow. Talk about job security.

You got job security in, and, in a time when there seems to

be no job security. I know. It's crazy. It really is

crazy. Wow. Wow. Well, you know, I was gonna,

I was gonna ask a stupid question about so who did

you get your, good handwriting from? Your mom or

your I don't yet. Since you've already established

that you had shit handwriting. I can I can tell you who I blame it

on? My my grandfather was a doctor, so I blame it on his, you know,

doctor's famous. We have really bad handwriting, so I blame it on him. There you

go. There you go. I know. I I I I could have been a doctor

based on my handwriting, but I couldn't have been a doctor based on my grades.

Yeah. It's just not gonna happen. Yeah. Oh,

man. So, I mean, what does,

what does a, cue card writer like

yourself, Wally I mean, what keeps you up at night, man?

I mean, like like, it it seems like you have so much fun. I mean,

I know there's stress. You're you're but you're calm, cool, and collected. I mean,

you know, it sounds like you you're a family man. You got kit your kids

are grown. I mean, you well, I it kinda sounds like you have

an ideal life. Maybe nothing keeps you up at night. I don't know. Yeah. No.

I mean I mean, this whole the whole the negotiations with the union for

last year, that was that was stressful, but, you know, and just it's

it was, you know, it's just it was just more work, you know, and and

it's I have to just now I have to really be on my game because

we're doing a whole thing where I have to keep make sure the guys take

meal breaks at a certain time. So I gotta stay on I gotta kinda get

more involved in that aspect of the company, which is the stuff that I hate.

Yeah. Right. I just wanna I wanna write the cards and hold them up and

get the laughs and have fun. You know what I mean? Right. That's why I

do it. Yes. Yes. So that maybe this little bit of the stress on that.

But, yeah, you know, like I said, like I said, my my one son graduated

from, SCAD down in Atlanta with team Houston major.

So he's he's right now working on an, SNL 1975

movie as a production assistant. He got the job. So he hits his

first job out of college. He's really happy down there. He's living with his buddies.

My sec my youngest son is graduating from UT Austin in May, and,

he wants to move out to LA things. So I think he would be, like,

good maybe TV production, but I think he would be good, like, a movie

studio executive, something like that. Uh-huh. Right. He's got a good

business sense and wants to run business. And he's really not sure what he wants

to do yet. But, so yeah. And then, you know, we just get a dog,

which we never had before because I was allergic. But for some reason, I grew

out of it. So my wife and I get a dog. We don't have a

lot of stress. We have a beach house down in the Jersey Shore that we

go to in the summer Nice. That we bought during the pandemic because we didn't

think we'd be traveling a lot. And it's that has been, like, the greatest thing

we ever did. It has a pool, the backyard. We have the bay across the

street. That is just instant relaxation. Right. You walk through the door, and it says

you relax. So NOT a lot of stress.

Yeah. Well, that view I mean, god bless you, brother. I mean, you know, like,

let let's keep it that way. Right? And, I know. But but,

obviously, 2020 for all of us was stressful. My god. What a

unprecedented crazy year. You know, as I understand

it, cue cards by WALL E was sort of born during

the the pandemic. Yeah. I wanna talk about that in in one

quick second. But, you know, as

COVID shut down the shows and what have you been, how

did, how did that really impact impact you in direct ways?

Did you just have to go home and like everybody else? I mean, were you

trying because I know they were trying to do some production maybe from remotely.

I don't know. Like, what happened to the cue card game during So yeah. So

the show shut down. They didn't know how I mean, I think you remember, like,

it when it when everything shut down, at first, they thought maybe a couple weeks.

You know? They weren't really sure. Yeah. So, the shows were

actually paying us, off this off the

beginning. They were the NBC was allowing them to still pay the employees because they

thought it was maybe gonna be a week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. Then as it

get to be a month and they saw this isn't gonna end.

Then NBC said, okay. We're not paying we're not paying you guys. We're not paying

the employees anymore. Right. So, Seth actually started paying

people out of his own pocket. Wow. You're kidding me.

Nope. Nope. So I was still I was still getting,

I was getting paid, and then I was paying the employees or they were paying

the employees directly. I forget how it works, but he was paying them out of

his own pockets. He did that as well during the writers' strike.

Did the same thing. What an incredible what an incredible gesture

of of Yep. Humanity and empathy. I did I did

also you know, like I said, my wife was good at business. I got a

PPP loan, and I pay was able to run 4 4

big payrolls for my and for the employees, during that time as well

Yep. Which which which helped out. And then the show started going

back remotely. Seth went remotely, Fallon did remotely, but they weren't using cue

cards. Once in a while, I did cards,

and they wanted to try it. It actually worked. I did cards over Zoom for

Seth. Seth Amazing. Seth and Amy were Amy was in

LA. Seth was in New York, and they were having trouble syncing up the prompter

that they use. So they said, let's try cards. So the director worked with me.

I put the cards in front of the camera, and I just had to scroll

and kinda we figured it out. And they were both able to read them at

the same time, and it worked out perfectly. So we did that a couple times.

It was the first time I ever did cards in front of a Zoom camera

for somebody. Amazing. Amazing.

Amazing. But, yeah, it was it was only, like, 2 times. So so once he

started going remote, then we weren't you know, then, you know,

I wasn't no one was still we still weren't working. You know? It was still,

like, kinda some of the the writers were working and people were working, but we

weren't. So it was it was frustrating. It was very frustrating. But then but then

the shows kinda came back with no audiences. Right? Like, it was just bare bare

bones. Yeah. Is that, like, maybe

September ish? Maybe up the end of September. Alright. Yeah. I

remember yes. And, Seth yeah. That's where I kinda started getting a lot of

airtime when there was no one in the studio. No. You know, it's just me

and Seth. You know, they had limited cameraman. They had no band.

I don't think they had the band. Maybe they did. I don't

it was just a limited thing. It was a weird time. It would really it

was weird to do it that way. SNL,

you know, that's a different, you know, that's a different animal.

You know? I mean, you know how you saw how many people were working on

that show. You know? Yep. With all the COVID restrictions, I remember Kenny Amon, the

producer, called all the studio all the department heads in in August

to a meeting in in 8 h. And he said, okay. We're coming back

in October. He was like, we could only have this amount

of people in the, in the studio, and that's including audience.

And he was like, there's no way we can do a show with with that

with with the number of people that we can have work in the show. There's

no possible way. Right. But we're all of us here, we're gonna figure out

how we're gonna do it. And it was just like he was like, well, there's

no way we could do it, but let's talk. Let's figure it out. Let's brainstorm.

It was really cool. It's really, really neat. And it was just like, oh, man.

So we just started people just started coming up with ideas, and and eventually, you

know, they worked it out. And, we put on shows, which

was, you know, I'm wearing a I'm wearing a face mask, and I'm wearing a

face shield. Right. That's where the sponge I don't know if you know my sponge

story. I lick my finger when I pull it. I lick my finger when I

pull cards For sure. Before COVID because they stick sometimes. You know? We have to

get a grip on them. Yeah. When COVID hit and I'm wearing a face mask

and a shield, I can't lick my and plus it's COVID too. I can't lick

my finger. Right. So I had the props guy get a sponge and glue it

to my face shield and wet it so I could

so I could wet my finger. And a whole new

product was was, was Whole new product. Marketed. Yeah. Yeah.

We REAL like, I need that for the supermarket. We know when you put the

open the bags, you couldn't open the bags. We know how you look like your

finger. You can't do that. But Seth, of course, talked about it. It was a

whole thing on Seth Show and Amazing. Sponge became really famous.

Nice. I had it on necessity, but, you know, they made fun of it and

got comedy out of REAL, which is really fun.

Now now people with glasses everywhere have a little sponge attached to their glasses in

case. Right? Oh my god. That's amazing. That's amazing. So

okay. So so you're figuring it out, and and people are

collaborating and and problem solving and firefighting and innovating blah

blah blah blah blah to get the shows made great. Meanwhile,

though, of course, you know, you're at home. You know, you're thinking about all

kinds of things. Obviously, you know, making money's gotta be one of

them. Yeah. And somehow, some way, you decide

to launch cue cards by Wally Yeah. And,

custom cue cards for real people like me, which by the way

Now let's see it. Oh, yes.

There it is. There it is. There it is. Made it safely.

Love it. Love it. And it was a lot of words. See, it is. But

this is the intro to the podcast on our record, and you'll get a kick

out of it, I hope. But, anyway

anyway, so so take us back

to the origin story, the inspirational moment where you REAL this was a thing.

This is a it's a really good story. Like, I told you, my wife's an

entrepreneur, and she likes she likes to start businesses that she she's in

marketing and corporate America, but this is like a little side thing. She ART, you

know, New York City cue cards, and she started helped her dad's company and her

brother's company. So a year before COVID, so

2019, I came up with this idea of cue cards by Huawei where it was

gonna be personalized cue cards for people. And she was sitting at the dinner

table, and I said, hey. What do you think of this business idea? You know,

personalized coupons for people where I, you know, write what message they want on them,

and I mail them to them. And she she she not even a second, she

thought. She was like, nope. Nope. And I was like,

really? She's like, nah. I'm like, alright. So I so

I let it go. And then COVID hit. And for 2 months, I was sitting

on a couch while she was working from home, doing nothing, gaining weight, not working

out, kind of depressed because I wasn't able to work. Of course. And she said

she said she said she said, I think I wanna start another company. I was

like, how about cue cards by Wally? And she was like, yes.

Now is the time to do it because people don't have gifts to give their

friends. They can't go to weddings. They can't go to birthdays. They can't go to

anniversaries. She's like, yes. Let's do it. So we we talked. We

kind of planned, and I was like, I just wanna do it really easy. I

don't wanna do a big business plan. I don't wanna have to do this. She

was like, okay. We'll do a minimal viable

product. Have you ever heard of that? MVP. MVP, minimal viable product. I had never

heard of it. I had never heard of it. She was like, we'll we'll start

an Instagram account and a Venmo account, and that's what I did. And then I

did a couple SNL podcasts, and I launched, and I started

getting orders. And, New

York, local New York news, did a story on me. They saw they

saw they saw it somewhere, and they did it, like, a little story on me.

And that and that helped with that. But it was I was getting, like, maybe

5 or 10 orders a day, something like that, which is good. It was keeping

me busy. So NBC, the local NBC does a story on a Monday

night. Tuesday night, my wife wakes me at, like, 9 in the morning. She was

like, you better get up. And I'm like, why? She said, you have 350 emails.

And I'm like, what? I go,

what happened? So I find out I did I used to do cue cards for

Carson Daly when he was on last call for Carson Daly when the first REAL

or 4 years. He saw the story at NBC and decided

he wanted to do 3 32nd ads for my company,

basically. 8, 8:30, and 9 or 7. Like, every on the Power,

every half hour, REAL times, he talked about my company, what I was offering,

and it just freaking blew up. It was blew up. It was I was

like, oh, no. Because I was doing all myself. I was answering emails. I was

writing. I was like, oh, no. What am I gonna do? And then I

started then interview interview. I was gonna be on Access Hollywood. I was gonna be

this. I was everybody was, like, wanted to talk to me. And, I started

doing some interviews, and then Lauren Lauren was like, okay. You

know, we're letting you do this. Let's not have too much WALL E camera time.

You know? Like, let's not go crazy. So I I didn't do any which which

was good. If I had done more interviews, I would've got I would've get inundated.

I wouldn't been able to, you know, fulfill the orders, which would've been a bad

with bad business. Yes. Yes. That really just kept me going for, like, the next

couple months, then we started working again. But it just the

the feedback, from the

customers was what really got me through COVID because, you

know, I I was talking to my wife about this. It's like, I don't know

about other companies, but, like, since we launched, we're over 3 years now.

I haven't had one person say, you know what? This isn't what I really thought

it was gonna be. Can I have my money back? NOT one person. So a

100%, you know, likability. Like, they love the product. You

know? And, yeah, people are like, oh, I couldn't go to my cousin's wedding, and

this really this they flipped out over this. And, you know, they this is the

best gift I've ever given, and I'm gonna give a I'm gonna order again. I'm

gonna order again. It was just so nice. It It was just so so nice.

And then the videos I do, you know, I did a video for you as

well. Yes. You know, those are really fun. That way I can I can have

fun with the with the customer? I can I can riff and I can joke

around Yeah? And they really love people really love those. So too.

So it's just been a joy to me to see the joy that I brought

other people, and it really helped during COVID. It helped them, and it really helped

me as well. It's such a beautiful story, man. I mean,

you know, it it really is. And it it it's it's because it's

such a well, at its core, it's a it's a human story. There's so many

layers to this. Yeah. And, you know, and that's

what resonates. And, yes, I love my video, by the way. And when I post

this episode podcast episode on the website,

in the show notes that I'm gonna have, the video that you made me

Right. With the photo and you know? I, you know, I I I hope, you

know, I hope, people, hear this and and and

throw orders your way. So on average, I mean, like like,

because you're right. I mean, the best parties are the ones you can't get into.

Right? So the idea that you have a limit in terms of what what you

can do and how you could do it. Like, how many are you doing now,

like, on a on an average month? NOT. It it it it it varies. You

know? It it I what I notice is when SNL is off, like, we're off

for these next 2 weekends, I don't get a ton of orders. Mhmm. But as

soon as the show comes back on, I I'll get, like, maybe, you know, 4

or 5, you know Sure. 6 a week, which is fine. It just

keeps me busy. Right. It's just people watching the show

and, like, oh, yeah. I wanna get that card. Or, oh, oh, there's Wally. Oh,

great. I wanted to get that card ART my friend. You know, that kind of

thing. And, I mean, I get a lot of repeat business. I get a lot

of it's just it's just, like, you know, I think I've sent cards

to 15 different countries and maybe every state now in the

in the in United States I've sent cards to. It's just really

cool. You just see where the SNL fans are, the late night fans are. Yeah.

It's really, really neat. It's really, really fun. Well, in in in that,

I have to ask. I mean, is there an it's like a secondary aftermarket

for the the the used cards that you write for Seth or

SNL? Like, do they what are they what happens to the cards after they're done?

No. That's a good question. Like, years ago, I had that you know, I think

and I wasn't the first person, and people keep on pitching it to me. Oh,

you should sell them and give the money to charity kinda thing. You know? Because

people would want these, and they do want them.

But, you know, I didn't you know, I think I you think I know a

little bit about the businesses that I already have. Charity business is a whole different

thing and all these different rate rules and regulations you have to follow. And, you

know, someone said to me, there's a lot that goes with that before you wanna

pitch be able to take that on. So, I was

advised not to not do it. But, you know, once I write NBC's words on

that, it's not my property anymore. It's Oh, right. There's that. Yeah. It's NBC's

property. Once they once they're when they're blank, they're buying. When I write MB a

script, you know, joke on there, it's NBC's. So some of the

writers come and get ART. We give cards out to, like, staff people that are

leaving or, you know, when the host hosts, I'll ask them if they want souvenirs,

and most of the time they do. So I'll give them their whole monologue in

on the cue cards. Nice. And then, like, 3 or 4 cards from every sketch

they were in, they love and they love that. But for the most part, they

get put in a big pile back in the studio, and the scenic ART use

them to catch paint when they're painting the sets the next week. So

one week, they're comedy gold, and the next week, they just catch paint on the

floor. That's amazing. And and by the way, like, it's

it's at that point that I would love to get one and frame it and

call it art because of the journey, you know, from The paint with

the paint with the paint specs on it? Yes. Yes. Yes. I have a great

story I have a great Studio, and it's gonna put you you're gonna be really

excited that you said that. Well, let's hear it. Alright. So

Christopher Walken is hosting, and it's, like, maybe his 5th time hosting. Okay? That

would and probably 4 with me or 3 with me. And we're walking

out to a set, and he sees he looks down, and he sees cards on

the floor with paint speckles on him from the and he's like, what's that what's

that card from? I'm not gonna do a walk in right now because my voice

is a little bit crooked. And I said, well, that's from a sketch we

had last week. And he's look you can he's, like, looking NOT it and he's

eyeing up and down. He's like, can I have that? And I was like,

yeah. You can have it. So he didn't pick it up. He went I thought

he was, like, fucking with me. Right. REAL. Really? Because it's Christopher Walken. He has

that kinda wrist position. Yeah. So so we we

rehearsed a sketch. He's still talking to somebody. I leave, run

back to my area, and I tell my guys, guys, look down this

hallway because he's gonna be walking down there. If Christopher Walken NOT holding a

cue card, I've got a great story for you. And he walks by and he's

holding the cue card with the thing on it. And they're like,

what? So I told him that story. So I see

him at the ART, and we're talking and he's thanking

me. And he I was like, so I go, did you get that cue card?

He was like, I did. He was like, I just hope you know. I hope

you get to keep some too. I go, he's like, what you're doing is art.

And I saw that card with the last week's jokes and the speckles of

paint. He's like, and that is art. He's like, I'm gonna frame that and put

that in my apartment because I hope you get to do that too. Because it's

it's art that you do, and I hope you can appreciate that. And I was

blown away by it. That's exactly what you just said. Or you think

like Christopher Walken, which I don't know a big or a bad thing.

It's a real thing. That's all. How about that? How about that first story? Is

that pretty cool? That's amazing. That is so great.

And, yeah, it it's it's because it's yeah. I mean, there's just, again, so

many layers to it. I mean, the the the humanity and the hands and the

craft and the creativity and the ingenuity and the and

just the evolution and the, you know, I you know, but the the the

creative destruction dies and, you know, re reborn again. And I don't know, man. That's

that's so cool.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great story. I've got probably, a

thousand of story stories like that that I can't we can't we can't tell you.

They're gonna be in the book. You have to buy the book, Scott, to read

the other ones. Oh my god. When is the book coming out? Let's plug it

in. When I get when SNL goes off the air. Right. Right. Right.

Right. But I'm I'm writing these down ART retelling them enough so that I'll remember

them. Got yes. Right. Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Well, Yeah.

Because there's a good there's a good I'll tell you the ending of that story.

There's a good ending to that story too. That's on top of that. So he's

talking to me and talking to me, and his wife taps him on the shoulder.

And she said, Steve wants to say goodbye. And he looks,

sees that it's Steve Martin. I look and see that Studio ART, and he

goes, tell him to hold on a second. And he continues talking to me, and

I'm like, oh, now I'm scared because, oh, no. Steve Martin is waiting to talk

to him, and he's talking to me. I'm like, oh, go talk to Steve. He's

like, no. No. Wait a second. I wanna say one more thing.

And I was like, okay. I gotta go. It was so great seeing you again.

I was like, oh my god. He put Steve ART on hold to finish talking

to me, which was like Oh, that's pretty that. Oh, I love that.

That is cool, man. Cool. Wow. You

must you must, have to pinch yourself sometimes. I I

really do. I mean, it's just I'm very, very fortunate to to for what I

do and and, the people I get to work with. It's really nice. Well

and it's just you know? And, again, one of the reasons why I wanted to

to have you on the show and talk is just because it's there are so

many jobs, vital jobs,

that exist in the world, let alone in the arts or in entertainment,

whatever, that most people

don't know about. Yeah. Right? And an unsung hero,

so to speak. Right? The you know? And and and that's what one of the

things that I love doing and why I REAL the podcast is to create a

space where we can honor, you know, those creative professionals who are

who are who are making it all work. You know? Yep.

Yep. Yep. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of hard

work, but it's it's worthwhile. And you see a product at the end of the

day, you see the you hear the laughter, and it's just so

it's just it's just it's just so great to see the these young cast members,

you know, grow up in front of the camera right in front of you, and

you're helping them out. You're helping, you know, a a celebrity out every

week. Help them make hopefully, make them look good and have fun. It's

just a great job. It's really, really fun. So I have a weird question for

you. So, obviously, tools of the trade, you know, paper and

marker. Okay. Fine. But, clearly, like any artist or

professional, you must have tools that, you know, your preferred

toolbox and preferred set of tools. Are there specific

kinds of paper specific that that that that that work better

than others? What kind of markers do you like to use? It feels like

this would be a great marketing opportunity for a Sharpie marker

to spot for you and and pay you We use we we do use

Sharpies to to label the cards and stuff like that. But the main the main

thing we use Power pilot pens. And, actually, when the when

Carson did that story on me on the Today Show,

they saw me using a pilot pen and then tweeted out

to me, we see you all using our product, and we like it. We said

he they sent me some gifts. They sent me free pens and sent me some

some stuff. And I, you know, I I was like, hey. I'll do an endorsement

deal if you guys want, but they never get back to me on that. But

we used to use these old metal markers, ART 99 markers,

that were leaky. Your hands were all you you always get ink

on your hands. They were hard to use. And, one of my

workers that went to California and came back they came back with these pilots. So

there's 2 sizes. There's a there's a thin one, which I like. Mhmm. And there's

a stick one, which everybody else uses. I've started using this a

little bit. And they don't REAL, and they don't smell as much as the other,

you know, markers. And they're you can still refill them. But when the tip you

know, when this tip runs out, see how it's getting worn down a little bit

there? Yeah. Right. Right. When it gets worn down, you know, you throw it out

and you open up, but you get another one. So, you get another you get

another, head. Yeah. No. You just get a new marker. You just throw them whole

marker away and you you get it because they're disposable. They're disposable. As long as

you can, and then you throw the other one. Got you. And that's why they

don't leak because they're not rechargeable or REAL refillable. NOT. You can refill them. You

can refill them, but it's just it's just not there. It's not it's a bigger

it's a it's just easier. It's easier less less you get less ink on it.

You still get ink on it once in a while when you're filling them, but,

it just made things so much easier and and streamline things. And then

the cards, we used to use, white cards on the

front. They're they're, and then, like, a gray on the back,

like a real cardboard color kind of thing. Mhmm. But we could

never control the quality. Like, you know, I would my supplier could

never get it from the same batch of now they were recycled,

but sometimes they would be they would be too thick and they would bend they

would as you're holding them, they're bending backwards. Sometimes they'd be too thin, and they'd

be wobbling a little bit. That it just it was it was annoying. Just never

knew what you were gonna get. And then, like, I don't know. Like, maybe 5

or 6 years ago, I was like, how can we get, like, the same card

every week so that I'm happy that I know? Because that's a really big part

of it, holding these cards. Yeah. And he was like, well, you could do the

double white, the white on the back that you can't write on the other side,

but, I I could get that same stock every single time. So I was like,

great. Send me some samples. He sent them to me. He's like, they're more expensive.

And I was like, I don't care. I want that I want that, you know,

the sameness every week. Yeah. And, they they ended up being great. I've been using

those for 6 years, and it's just it's revolutionized. I don't have to every time

I get a stat stock of 10,000, I don't have to look at them and

say, I can't use these. They're too thin, and they're wobbly. Right. I know they're

gonna be the same cut every single time I get them, and, I can just

start using them. I don't have to check them. So that has been a really

big, change in things. And, but, yeah, that's it. We use

tape, we use pens, and we use the cards, and that's pretty much it. So

are the cards is is the writing surface, is it coated, or is it

uncoated? It's coated. Yeah. It's just yeah. It's coated that we write on. Yeah. Because

if it wasn't, you know, the the ink would seep into the card and,

and eventually would REAL, really fade. And you only write on the one side. You

don't write on both sides. Correct. Right. Correct. There's only the one side is

coded. Correct. There's some there there are

double coded cards that's, you know, they're they're twice as expensive or maybe, you know,

like, half of expensive. Yeah. But you could write on both sides. But with

SNL, you don't wanna be holding a card, you know, with writing on the other

side. You know, it just would get way too confusing. And, you know, like, you

know, sometimes they use a side and they would put a big x on it.

Like, no. Okay. We already did that side. We use the other side. My employees

are not gonna do that. They're gonna end up throwing it out. It it's just

gonna be a waste. So the one side is good enough. Yeah. It would seem

yeah. It would seem way too risky to try to be juggling, you

know, multiple sided cards and Yep. I know. Oh my

god. Where'd the punch line go? Exactly. Exactly. Like, oh,

shit. What is the worst thing that's ever happened to you when it comes

to, you know, to to you know, being, your co cue

ART, people? You know, ART, I've never dropped a card in 34

years of a during a during a show, so I'm very proud of that moment.

I have you know, you pull slow and then, you know, it ruins the joke

or you pull too fast and it ruins the joke or a card sticks. You

know, we tape we tape over lines when we're doing changes. So if you don't

if you tape over the over the edge of the card, it could stick to

the next card. So that happened that happened with,

I was holding, a a joke for Norm Macdonald when he was doing weekend update,

and the card stuck. And I went to go pull it, and I couldn't pull

it. I completely ruined the joke. Completely ruined it. So you read the read the

setup, never read the punchline. It was just it was just

awful. And this is Norm McDonald. Yeah. I don't know if you know a lot

about Norm. No. He does not. Yeah. He would he doesn't care.

Right. REAL, I I mouth yeah. I'm sorry. Like that, I

mouth to him like that. This is the live show. And he goes, it's okay,

Wally. Don't worry about it. On live TV.

And I'm just like, oh, you just made things 10 times for us. NOT. But

thanks. He didn't care. He didn't care. You know? And if I and if I

screw up on Seth, Seth makes a joke of it as well. You know? Like,

he instead of why get mad, turn it into comedy. Turn it like, Wally, what

happened there? What what's going on? You know? Totally. So, it turns into a fun

thing. So yeah. Well and that says a lot about him. Right? And and, you

know, and and For sure. The the the Canadian

part of him maybe as well. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Because, you

know, the egos are REAL, and I'm guessing that depending

on who it might be, you you might have it might have ended differently.

Right. Yes. You're you're you're not wrong. You're not wrong. You're not wrong.

Yeah. You're not wrong. Nope. Oh, man.

That must be quite interesting too, right, to sort of meet be

so up and up close and and personal with with not just artists,

these performers, these comics, and we we all love them, but we also know

that, you know, many of them are, you know, damaged human

beings at some level, and I mean that in the best way. Yeah.

But but then, you know, a list celebrities coming through and, you know,

the egos that come through and, you know, knowing how to tap dance around

that. And and it must just be like a breath of fresh air when you

have, like, the Christopher Walken story or whatever when you meet somebody who's just, like,

really cool and human and down to earth and just fun to Oh, right. NOT.

Yeah. It's it's it is. Yeah. That I mean, I think that's why

I've lasted so long on this job, because of my

personality and because, yeah, I I I'm

not nothing if someone's gonna get get, you know, be mean to me or not

mean to me, but just, like, you know, being in there. NOT nice. Right. You

know, when I'm there helping them out, that's fine. My job is to help them

out whether they're nice to me or not. You know? Right. You know, 99% of

them are nice, so it's not a it's not a problem. But you get somebody

like Quinta Brunson, the show you saw. Yeah. I walk in to say hi to

her on Wednesday to see what her how her eyesight was. That's the first thing

I talked about how the how her eyesight is. And, I was like, hey. I'm

and she's like, I know who you are. You're Wally. And she was like she

was like she's like, ask me how I know who you are. I was like,

how do you know who I am? She's like, my my 95 year old

grandmother sent me an article that was written about you last week. Said I had

to read this. This is the person you're gonna be working with in in in,

on SNL. So, I mean, she was just a joy.

I was like, REAL, we're gonna have to get her a cue card. She was

like, really? I was like, yeah. Of course, we're gonna get her a cue card.

She's a fan of mine. You know? So we got her a cue card. I

wrote I autographed it for her, And she just every time she comes back, she

was like, my grandmother loves you. She says to say hello. She comes

it's it's just so nice. You know? Like, like, you get to you meet these

people and you see how they are. And she, yeah, she just came back and,

was I think she was here for the IO IO, at a bio

show. Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I think I was on her show, right,

once. Right. Right. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I'm I'm getting changed after the show. I'm

tired. I don't I was trying to decide whether to go to the party or

not, I think. And I hear she I REAL, wowie. Wowie. I was like, who's

yelling for me? And it was Quinta Brunson yelling for me. Like, I wanna say

hello. I ART a picture with you to show my grandmother. I was like, I

mean, how nice is that? That's amazing. How nice is that?

Wow. Yeah. So I get a 1,000 stories like that that are just

so nice. You know? Really, really nice.

Boy. Oh, boy. No wonder you smile all the time. You NOT a guy, mate.

You're a lucky lucky human. And and by the way but it

takes 2. Right? Like, clearly, you purse your personality,

your temperament, your mentality, your mentality, your your your your outlook on life,

you you know, is is is half of is at least half of it. Right?

If not more, because, I mean, it takes 22 to tango. And if you were

a jerk, you know, it wouldn't matter. You probably wouldn't even survive if you were

a jerk. Because you are who you are, not only you're

surviving, you're like the guy. Yeah. Yeah. It's

great. Yeah. I mean I mean, Seth talks about it a lot.

You know, when kids kids ask, you know, what do we have? I just graduated

from college. I wanna get an engineering business. What what what advice do you have

for me? And he was like, be nice. He was like, be nice

because you have to be so, so, so talented if you're an asshole to

be hired in this in this business. Mhmm. And there are assholes in the

business. We all, you know, we all know that. But you have to be so

talented. If you're nice and you work hard, you're gonna get a job and you're

gonna do fine. That's those are the people that they wanna hire. It's like, we

had the we they they had the the he's like, they the best thing they

had when they started the show was they get to pick who they wanted to

work with Yeah. And and set the environment. And they set the greatest it's the

greatest, most fun show to work with. We just celebrated 10 years.

And every day I go NOT work there, I don't I don't I'm looking forward

to it. I I know everyone's gonna be nice to me. Everyone's gonna be nice

to each other. It's just a pleasure to be there. You know? And that's the

cool thing about it. You know? And that's the way it should be. Be nice,

and you'll do well. These guys are proving it. It's so true. It's so true.

I mean, I've I've hired a lot of artists, over the years for

various jobs or projects and things. And and, you

know, and I've I've had ART, very talented ART, ask me, well, why didn't I

get the gig? You know? Because I you know? And I was like, well, honestly,

you didn't get the gig because your attitude isn't Yep. NOT.

Or or you you know, you you know, I high I hired somebody who was

equally talented, but they were nice. Yeah. No NOT ego, you

know, or whatever. Right? And, and it's true. It's true. What

what how much of our life is work? And, you know, why why would we

wanna work with assholes? No. You wanna work with people that, of course, make you

feel good. Of course. You don't wanna run into somebody like, you NOT, you like

like, you wanna run into somebody in the hallway. You wanna be able to say

hello to them. You wanna be like, oh, no. This guy. You know? You're responsible

for hiring them. You know? Well and especially when you're in an industry and let's

face it. I mean, there's a lot of glitz and glamour around TV and film,

but at the end of the day, it's pretty small business. Yeah. I mean, you

know, we're we're, you know, word travels. Your reputation is is is gonna,

you know, people are gonna know whether or not you're a asshole or a good

person or whatever. All it gets Scott. People know. People talk.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Wally, man, I could I talk to you for another

hour. I mean, it's 11 o'clock on the East Coast, 8 o'clock here. This has

been a gift. I'm so grateful for you, man. And I've got so

many things on my mind. I'm gonna circle back with you and and Yeah. Let's

do it again. We'll do it we'll do it on the road again. I love

it. I love it. And, I'll let you know when the episode's

gonna drop so you can have a listen and, you know, but

it's it's such an honor having you here, man. Thanks for classing up the joint.

Keep doing what you're doing. If I ever get a chance to, be

in, in the studio again at SNL, I will, I

will heckle you from the, bleach receipt. NOT. Let me know. Did you did you

get to go to the cash party when you came to the 1st party? I

did. Yeah. It was it was, it was pretty cool. It was funny because we

were, we were there, and, and,

if, you know, I I saw I was like I was like, why ART why

is like, there's a couple, like, kind of, like, really serious

dudes, like, in suits, like, standing around. And then

I realized, oh,

of, oh, the Obama daughter was there that night. Oh, right.

Right. Yeah. What's her name? Not Malia. Was it Malia? It was

Malia Obama. It was the older one, I think. Older one. Yeah. And I'm

Sasha Whoever the older one is. Whoever the older one is. The

youngest one. But yeah. Anyway, I was like Yeah. You don't know.

You don't know. I was like, oh. Know who's gonna show up at this party.

And and, you know, she was like, of course, she was at Lauren's table. But

you know? Of course. So alright. So you you're tied into somebody at

the show or NBC. So you're if you went to the show and the party,

then you're tied in, Scott. You're My my, to be to be just

really specific, my my, wife works with Quintin.

And Oh, okay. So when she was, when she was gonna be

host of the show, we got invited to to to to come and, you know,

jumped at the opportunity. Yeah. She was the best. I loved her so much. And

it's usually like, I don't watch Abbott Elementary. I heard it's great. I think I'm

gonna start watching it. I REAL it's the host that I don't know a lot

about sometimes Yes. That I have the best experiences with because I'm just

meeting them fresh. I don't know their I don't know their their track record. And

I go in there, and they it's always the ones that I love the most.

You know? I don't I'm not expecting anything, and they're always the like, so great.

And so La Quinta was just so nice. I love her so much. She's such

a sweetheart. Her and her husband, Paul, they're just great REAL people. I have Paul's

number. He's we keep in touch. He when he every award she wins, I send

him a little text. I'll quit. I say congratulations. Nice. They're great.

They're really good. That's great. Well, I'll tell you what, Wally. You're great too, man.

And I tell you what, thank you so much for this. You know,

we'll we'll be in touch and, thank you for coming through. Thank you for all

you do, and just keep keep on trucking, brother. My pleasure. If

anybody wants a cue card, cue cards by wally.com. Exactly. So let's

let's pause there for a second because I will absolutely promote it

even before, but you're a 100% right. Guys,

check this out. So so Wally does custom cue cards

for for special gifts, occasions, you know, friends, family,

whatever it is. I just love it. I actually bought one because

I wanted to have him write up the intro to this

podcast, an Outworld Power, and how I kind of open every

episode with my greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters.

And I jumped at the chance to to get one of these custom cards by

Wally, and I love it. He made me a video to go with the card

as he's signing it. He's he's he's teasing me. He's talking to me in the

video. It's just great. I get this card delivered to me. It was

it was completely safe. Not I mean, it it arrived intact. I

couldn't believe it. And Me too. And, in the

Studio, and it's just such a fantastic gift for for for

anyone special in your life or special occasion. Wally, the website

is cue cards by wally.com. Right? Correct. Correct.

Yes. Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. And, any

anything you wanna add to that? What did I miss? No. That's it. You know,

lately, I've been doing a lot of, wedding proposals. People ART like they're having a

wedding, but the guy's gonna, you know, write what he's gonna say to his to

his to his, you know, to his girlfriend to propose to her. Love that. And

then I'm doing I'm doing weddings where they hold the card and pose with all

the wedding party. It's fantastic. It's such a cool thing. So

any fans of SNL or late night or even, you know, late night tonight show

with Jimmy Fallon. You know, anything like that? You wanna, you know, propose to your

girlfriend, or you wanna put it in your wedding, or you wanna just give it

as a gift. It's great. Oh, man. I'm happy to do it for you. Fun.

How fun is that? That's great, man. Really fun.

Well, Wally, you're the best, dude. Thanks so much for this.

Go, it's Miller time for you or whiskey time for you. I don't even know

what you do at 11 o'clock. Go grab a drink. Sleep well, my friend.

Appreciate it, Wally. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to the NOT art podcast. Please make sure to like this

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Not REAL Art is produced by Crewest West Studios in Los Angeles. Our

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