“Saturday Night Live” enthusiasts are well-acquainted with Mikey Day, a talented performer who frequently appears in various sketches each week. He often portrays memorable characters, such as a father engaged in animated traffic disputes characterized by exaggerated gestures and signs, or his well-known impression of Donald Trump Jr.. His versatility keeps audiences entertained and engaged throughout the show’s runtime.
However, behind the scenes, Mikey Day is increasingly recognized as an invaluable asset who helps elevate the performances of various stars, including Kate McKinnon and Tom Hanks, often leading them to viral moments. This aspect of his talent remains largely unrecognized by the average viewer of this long-standing comedy showcase, yet it is crucial to the show’s ongoing success and popularity.
Without the creative contributions of Mikey Day and his writing partner, Streeter Seidell, iconic characters like David S. Pumpkins, the quirky Halloween figure who made his way into an animated special on NBC, and Miss Rafferty, the unusual woman often abducted by aliens, would not exist. In the previous season, Day conceptualized a hilarious sketch in which he portrayed a character strikingly similar to the famous animated figure from MTV, successfully eliciting laughter from SNL regular Heidi Gardner during their performance.
“It’s fascinating how ideas materialize,” shares Mikey Day, now 45 years old, during a recent interview. He has been a part of SNL since 2013, initially serving as a writer for the first three years. “Sometimes, you can catch a glimpse of something on television that sparks an idea, or you might see a commercial that triggers a thought. However, more often than not, I find myself uncertain about the origin of these ideas.”
Mikey Day is currently on a quest to broaden his comedic repertoire. One of his recent sketches involved him humorously disrobing behind the “Weekend Update” fake-news desk, as his character frantically attempted to eliminate imaginary spider webs. “I haven’t really engaged in this type of performance before, where the comedy heavily relies on physicality,” he explains. “It was just a platform to unleash my creativity and truly go wild with the concept.”
Mikey Day anticipates making his return to the show when the next season kicks off in the fall, quelling any social media speculation about potential cast departures during the summer hiatus. “I aspire to continue my work on SNL for as long as possible,” he expresses. “I want to be a part of it until it becomes bittersweet.”
Day’s journey on SNL may have initially surprised some. He joined the show in 2013 exclusively as a writer, having been recommended to producers by former cast members and classmates, Nasim Pedrad and Taran Killiam. After several years filled with creative sketch ideas and brief appearances, Day received unexpected news from SNL executive Lorne Michaels. He was promoted to co-head writer and cast member for “Maya & Marty,” a summer sketch comedy showcase that Michaels was producing featuring Maya Rudolph and Marty Short. The opportunity took him by surprise.
“It’s very typical of Lorne to casually drop such significant news,” he remarks.
Day quickly began to stand out. Following the conclusion of Maya & Marty, he earned a spot as a featured cast member on SNL. By his fourth episode, he had a major breakthrough with Seidell when they created the now-iconic “David S. Pumpkins” sketch, featuring Tom Hanks as an eccentric character surrounded by dancing skeletons performed by Day and Bobby Moynihan, who repeatedly appears in a haunted amusement ride.
According to Day, the sketch drew inspiration from a Disney ride, the “Tower of Terror,” which surprises visitors with sudden drops while revealing eerie scenes in a vestibule. He fondly recalls his childhood visits to Disneyland. Additionally, he has a fascination with “quirky, flashy, ridiculous costumes,” which became a defining characteristic of the character he portrayed. Tom Hanks, during the sketch, had some inquiries. “He was a bit like, ‘Who is this character exactly?’” yet he brought the unique charm that only Tom Hanks can deliver.
The most remarkable aspect of that now-legendary sketch is the uncertainty surrounding its success, says Day. “There aren’t really any conventional jokes; you know what I mean? It’s just a bizarre fusion of elements. The fact that it resonated with the SNL audience and the studio audience felt like a small triumph.”
Mikey Day continually seeks fresh comedic concepts, according to his primary collaborator, Streeter Seidell. Day is “constantly attempting to create new moves that the audience hasn’t witnessed,” Seidell shares. He is often willing to lend his humor to enhance another performer’s moment on screen. “He’ll write a showcase sketch for a new cast member and give himself a minor role in it. Surprisingly, there was one occasion where he crafted a showcase sketch for a new cast member without participating at all. I can’t recall another instance of that happening.”
Day and Seidell have developed around nine different “Miss Rafferty” sketches featuring Kate McKinnon as a woman abducted by aliens. These sketches typically showcase McKinnon discussing bizarre physical entanglements she has experienced with her captors and have become so popular that even Meryl Streep participated in one, which aired during the program’s 50th anniversary special this year. “That was another instance where I had no idea if it would actually work,” reflects Day.
As for Streep’s involvement? Even the writer seems astonished. “Incredible.”
A recent successful sketch took years to finalize before it appeared on the show. Audiences reacted enthusiastically to a sketch from last season featuring Day and Ryan Gosling as two characters reminiscent of Beavis and Butt-head, the animated MTV duo. However, the internal development of the concept took an extended period.
Day and Seidell refined the idea over a span of about five years. They contemplated whether the dialogue between the two characters needed to be more serious and less shocking. They also considered adjustments to the set. They previously attempted the sketch during an episode hosted by Jonah Hill, but Day recalls, “the sketch itself wasn’t quite ready.” They tried again with Oscar Isaac as the guest host, but it never made it to the dress rehearsal due to the expansive set requirements during a week filled with numerous sketches. “We were all about to abandon it,” says Day, until Ryan Gosling returned for another hosting appearance. “He changes our lives each time he hosts,” he adds.
Day expresses that SNL consistently pushes him to evolve. Each week, he has the freedom to experiment with new ideas. “You can truly write whatever your mind conjures up,” he states. The show is “very much engineered to cater to my ADD brain,” he notes.
However, he has learned not to overanalyze the ideas that spring to his mind. “When it clicks, it just kind of clicks.”
