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05/19/2012: Mick Jagger (with Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters & Jeff Beck) [Season Finale]

Stick Figure Night Live! is a series of stick figure comic “recreations” of episodes of Saturday Night Live. Just as the show itself is performed live, the comics are drawn “live” while watching the show (with the occasional assist from DVR or some digital clean-up post scanning).

SFNL_05-19-12_

That one felt like a weird one as I was watching/drawing but upon reflection and looking over what I drew I’m standing by that. Not bad or good…just something funky about this episode. People talk about the DVDs of the first five seasons and how they were surprised by how much music and stuff was happening…maybe this had some of that going on? Or the shadow of this being the last show for (some) folks? I don’t know.

Some stuff related to drawing this week’s actual comic:

  • I’m not sure I’ve done “Secret Word” the same way twice…I always forget about the disembodied voice that says the secret word and find myself fitting it in somewhere.
  • There’s some weird balloon placement with the Karaoke sketch…not sure I sold it or did the sketch justice, but the sketch itself was very specific to it being about Mick Jagger with him playing not himself, etc, etc.
  • The musical spots gave me a run for my money…first with the chorus (the lack of “ladies and gentlemen, Mick Jagger…” threw me for a loop), second with the medley (sort of), and lastly I wasn’t sure if the song was a joke or not when it started with that intro (blues song about the election?!).
  • I did my best with Update and Stefon, but there’s no way to get it all down…plus I kind of thought there’d be another desk piece…anyway, there it is.
  • “So You Think…Music Festival?” – dancing’s tricky in these things.
  • And finally, one of the interesting things about doing this is trying to figure out what kind of panel to use for the sketch…I try to assess it as it goes but sometimes I make an assumption (if it’s a repeat sketch or whatever). In this episode, after the Jeff Beck song, looking at the clock I thought, well, the next thing’ll be the good nights. BUT, when it opened on a sketch I thought, oh, this’ll be a short one, and squeezed in a small panel to just jot down the highlight. Alas, it turned out to be the big farewell to Kristen Wiig (that Seth Meyers was IN the sketch clued me in that something was up)…needed a much bigger panel than I’d intended.That said, I know I didn’t quite capture that…truth be told I wanted to just watch it.And it was very sweet.

And while it was clearly all about Kristen, Amy Poehler’s a badass. She brought some dance moves to that party. In recent years there’s been the talk of “The Women of SNL” and the sorority that’s there and all, and she really seems to walk the walk of being a real booster without being…I don’t know, preachy?  (and if that ain’t enough, between SNL and Parks & Rec she put together a web series and web site “Smart Girls at the Party”, which is kind of rad, too)

Boy oh boy, I’m talkative this time out.

One last thing: This was the season finale. I’ve done this now for two seasons, drawing the show as I watch it, pausing only when absolutely needed (twice, I think, this episode), and doing my best to do right. The idea was always to pay respect to the show and the process by live-drawing…sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t…kind of like the sketches on the show.

One thing I didn’t expect was how it has changed the way I experience the show. I’ve found myself less watching it and more taking quick notes and more often than not only looking at the TV screen to take a mental picture of a costume or detail to throw into the drawing. I’ve also found myself NOT watching the show if I’m out somewhere and it’s on, because I “have to draw while I watch and go in order”, etc.

I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I’m not sure this is how I want to watch SNL.

So I have the summer to mull it over, but this might be the last SFNL comic. I don’t know. Maybe come next September I’ll bring out the ballpoint pen and inkjet paper and hunker down for another season…or maybe I’ll come up with some new take or way to approach it…or just chime in from time to time. But, if this IS the last one, thanks to everyone who’s been checking it out, thanks to those of you who’ve seen fit to comment, to Courtney who in the early days of last season reached out for a custom commission SFNL, to Fred for the e-mails early this season that were a total surprise but a real validation, and to Scott, who probably did more to make people aware of this little experiment/tribute/web comic than anyone, including myself.

Oof…that’s all very melodramatic, isn’t it? I guess that send-off sketch put me in a certain state of mind.

Next week…is a repeat…they’re all repeats…the season’s over. Good night!

[in the meantime, please check out my main web site (with comics, art, news, writings, portfolio, etc) and/or my podcast (about people in the world of comics and cartooning); thanks!]

2 Comments

    • Gregg

      Hey Eric,

      I think so. At the end of last season it was really starting to register with me how much my experience with the show was changed by doing the comic…from stressing over making sure it recorded if I wasn’t home (or not watching it if I wasn’t home with my clipboard, pen and paper) to some episodes barely even looking at the screen as I scribbled down what I could.

      I can tell you that this season has been much more…relaxing. And if nothing else I’ve gotten to see more of Bobby Moynihan’s facial expressions and takes, which are a highlight.

      So I AM still watching, just as an old fashioned quiet fan and not a cartoonist attempting to merge my interests and challenge myself. That said, there’s always a chance I’ll come up with some other goofy thing to try and merge comedy and comics…

      But thanks for checking in, “internet stranger fan”. I really, truly appreciate it.

      Gregg.

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