Michael McKean’s Monologue


Michael McKean’s Monologue

…..Michael McKean
Voice of Audience Member…..Larry David


Michael McKean: Thank you! Thank you very much! Ohhhhh, that is so invigorating! Thank you very much, and thank you, “Saturday Night Live”, for having me on the program! For an actor.. for an actor, this is the best of all possible worlds. I’m working in New York – it’s my hometown. I’m doing live television – which is a little terrifying, but wonderful. I’m working with the whole “Saturday Night” gang, and they’re just the best. All this – and Chaka Khan, too. Huh? [ audience applauds wildly ] It’s a rhetorical question now – what more could an actor ask for. And I say “actor” advisedly. I’m not really a monologist, I’m not a stand-up comic – I do comedy, yes, but uh.. it’s really not all I do. And, uh.. I’d like to break the ice a little, if I may now, with something kind of different. This is an 18th Century Scottish a capella dirge.. and I hope you enjoy it.

[ singing ]
“Ohhhhhhh, Lord I have seen the daaaaayy..”

Voice of Audience Member: [ interrupting continuously ] Hey, Lenny! .. Yo! Len-ny! .. “Laverne & Shirley”! .. Hey! How’s your short friend Squiggy?! .. Hey, where’s Squiggy, Lenny?!

Michael McKean: [ stops singing ] No.. I’ll handle it, Bob. Sir? Sir, whoever you are.. do you know anything about performers? Performers are human beings, sir! If I don’t deserve your respect, at least I deserve your attention! I apppreciate that you know me as Lenny – that’s fine. But.. d-did you see “Spinal Tap”? Did you know as “This Is Spinal Tap”? The actor-musician? “This Is Spinal Tap” received marvelous reviews and did great business!

Voice of Audience Member: No..

Michael McKean: Do you know me as the actor who worked in 1969 at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Foundation Conference?!

Voice of Audience Member: Yeah, I’m familiar with that..

Michael McKean: Do you know any of this, sir?! What do I have to do to get your respect, sir?! Doi you want me to do Hamlet?! I’ve done Hamlet! I did Hamlet! And, frankly, I think my Hamlet would be wasted on you.

[ sings ]

“Ohhhhhhh, Lord I –“

Voice of Audience Member: Hey, Hamlet! Where’s Squiggy?!

Michael McKean: [ stops singing ] I’ll talk to you later. [ to the audience ] Thank you very much – have a good time, in spite of him.

SNL Transcripts

Author: Don Roy King

Don Roy King has directed fourteen seasons of Saturday Night Live. That work has earned him ten Emmys and fourteen nominations. Additionally, he has been nominated for fifteen DGA Awards and won in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

4 thoughts on “Michael McKean’s Monologue”

  1. I together with my pals ended up digesting the excellent ideas found on the website then before long got a terrible feeling I had not thanked the web site owner for those techniques. The boys had been for this reason happy to read them and have seriously been enjoying those things. Thanks for truly being really helpful as well as for opting for varieties of magnificent subject areas millions of individuals are really wanting to understand about. Our own sincere apologies for not expressing appreciation to you sooner.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *