An NBC studio employee rolls a bowl of candy on a trolley down the sidewalk at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. Behind the half-height metal bars, those waiting put their books and computers aside, push themselves out of camping chairs or dig their legs out from under blankets to help themselves. Someone asks in passing what they’re waiting for, but instead of answering themselves, the employee directs the question toward the curb: “Come on, guys, tell him!”
A group of young people leaning against a tree about five meters behind me have now rehearsed a little choreography for the occasion: “Live from New York”, one of them shouts with his arms outstretched, whereupon the others join in after an effective pause: “It’s Saturday Night!” Sometimes when they stand up straight so that their feet don’t fall asleep, they even jump up and down. It is the legendary opening line of the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, SNL for short. We’re waiting here to hear it in real life and not just live on TV. Or like in Germany only days later, where you can usually look for this type of humor with its contemporary, malicious and at the same time hilarious jokes for a long time without finding it.
