Michael Patrick O'Brien is well into his fourth season as a writer for Saturday Night Live, a job he landed after spending years honing his comedy skills at Chicago's iO and Second City theaters. In addition to SNL and working on an upcoming sketch comedy album, O'Brien also hosts the popular web series "7 Minutes in Heaven," where he does bits and locks lips (or awkwardly tries to, at least) with stars such as Ellen Degeneres, Tina Fey, and the Insane Clown Posse. We had a chance to catch up with him about this season of SNL, specifically his appearance in the recent "Five Timers Club" sketch and [...]
There is a surprising will-they-won't-they tension to this edition. There are a few false starts, but nothing can keep their lips apart – not a sandwich, not an armpit named Chuck, not Darth Vader, not very different schedules, not a straw – nothing.
Fans of the addictively uncomfortable web series Seven Minutes in Heaven finally have the information they crave on the origin of the series, its mission, and most importantly, the juicy gossip on whether Patricia Clarkson or Tracy Morgan is a better kisser. This interview with SNL's Mike O'Brien gets into the nitty-gritty of why awkwardness is funny. "I think you build up potential energy whenever something is awkward, and then it releases the next time something funny happens," he says.
O'Brien also talks about why he prefers performing in Chicago to NY, learning to write for other voices than his own on SNL, and blah blah blah just [...]
