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Bossypants

Things I Learned from Lorne Michaels

by Tina Fey

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Producing is about discouraging creativity. Your job is to police enthusiasm.

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The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.

  • You have to try your hardest to be at the top of your game and improve every joke you can until the last possible second, and then you have to let it go.
  • You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute. You have to let people see what you wrote. It will never be perfect, but perfect is overrated.
  • (Messing up) is painful, but it doesn’t kill you. No matter how badly an improv set goes, you will still be physically alive when it’s over.
  • You can’t be too worried about your “permanent record”. Yes, you’re going to write some sketches that you love and are proud of forever - your golden nuggets. But you’re also going to write some real shit nuggets. And unfortunately, sometimes the shit nuggets will make it onto the air. You can’t worry about it. As long as you know the difference, you can go back to panning for gold on Monday.

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Don’t hire anyone you wouldn’t want to run into the hallway at three in the morning.

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Never tell a crazy person he’s crazy.

  • Lorne did not do what I would have done, which is to say, “You’re being crazy. Get back in here. Everyone else is here. Do you think you’re more important than everybody else?”
  • He also didn’t coddle me, which is what I would have done if I were trying to overcompensate for my natural sternness. “Are you okay? If you need to take a couple days off, I’m sure we can manage, blah, blah, blah.”
  • Instead, he found a way for me to slip back in the door like my mental breakdown never happened. “We’re ordering dinner. What do you want?” He knew how to get the eggs.

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Decide not to decide. Sometimes if you have a difficult decision to make, just stall until the answer presents itself.

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