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Amy Poehler Tells Kelly Clarkson the Pre-SNL Ritual She Borrowed from Molly Shannon
The Inside Out 2 star looked back on her SNL days, saying it "like summer camp."
Actors in long-running productions are known to have pre-show rituals and lucky traditions they perform before they take the stage. Evidently, that goes for the cast members of Saturday Night Live.
For Kristen Wiig it was lighting a candle before she walked out in front of the Studio 8H audience. And for Amy Poehler, her tradition was one she actually borrowed from another SNL legend: Molly Shannon.
"You know what I used to do? When [original SNL announcer] Don Pardo would introduce everybody, I used to just take a moment when I heard my name and I would just close my eyes for about a split second," Poehler told Kelly Clarkson on Sept. 5.
"Because that's about all the time you have, just to take a moment," Poehler said. "Molly Shannon used to do that, she told me about it, so then I did it."
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Since Shannon was on SNL from 1995 to 2001, and Poehler's tenure was from 2001 to 2008, the two were never cast members together. Aside from borrowing Shannon's pre-show ritual, Poehler also took over her office.
"At SNL, it's fun because you have the offices that other people had that came before you. I had Molly's old office, and everyone would just leave their name like summer camp," Poehler explained while on The Kelly Clarkson Show. "You'd write your name on the wall and stuff, so it was really cool."
Though their paths didn't cross at SNL, Poehler and Shannon co-starred in the cult classic comedy, Wet Hot American Summer. They coincidentally share the same birthday, September 16.
Amy Poehler and Molly Shannon starred in a 2010 SNL sketch together
Poehler and Shannon did eventually briefly share the SNL stage on May 8, 2010 when television legend Betty White hosted the late night sketch series. The special Mother's Day episode reunited six former female cast members: Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch, Poehler, and Shannon.
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As always, Wiig starred in that sketch as well. As for Wiig's SNL pre-show ritual, the Palm Royale star admitted she "definitely did things the same out of habit, and out of fear" during her run from 2005 to 2012.
"There's the meeting between dress and air, and I would always sit in the same spot," Wiig said on The Kelly Clarkson Show on April 3. "And then the Monday night pitch [meeting], I would always sit in the same spot and I had a candle that I burned. It wasn't the same candle that I burned for seven years."
