Originally Posted by
bundabergdevil
That's the right observation. I don't think folks understand how much of a surprise it is whether and when an audience laughs --- or reacts in any fashion --- to the players. You get a pretty good sense of things in a broadway show, night after night, but every audience is different and when you're doing something like SNL, you have no idea what's going to work because it's a one-off. You could get crickets or comic magic, you really don't know.
The SNLers (and late night hosts) doing remote work are having a time of it because they're used to real-time performance ratings. Most of them cut their teeth on a stand up stage or an improv troupe like Second City with an audience. This is new territory for them and I appreciate it.