You never quite know how a sketch is going to do in front of a live audience. That’s a recurring theme so many former Saturday Night Live cast members talk about. The bit might get great feedback from the other cast members and seem hysterical on the page, but if the crowd doesn’t go with it during the actual show, it’s not going to work.
Of course, why exactly they respond to something is a mystery. What works with one crowd during dress rehearsal may or may not work with the next crowd during the live show. There’s a long history of famous sketches that didn’t set the world on fire earlier in the day and went on to gain legendary status, most famously Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken’s iconic More Cowbell.
