Flavorwire: Thanks for answering the phone, Tom. Let’s just start with what everyone always wants to know. How much of those first years of SNL were written on loads of mind-shattering drugs?
Tom Davis: My heroes are Laurel & Hardy and Bob & Ray, so obviously those guys weren’t high when they wrote their best stuff. But then again Ken Kesey and Jack Kerouac were on speed, Bill Burroughs was on heroin, and I thought, maybe I should try that! And the Grateful Dead — which as you know is a huge influence on me and my work — they’d be blazing, the audience would be turned on, and there would be this amazing exchange with the band and their fans.
FW: I think the same thing happened with SNL, except through the TV screen.
TD: Yes! One day I took LSD and tried to do one of my hand-written drafts, political satire. My hand-writing was illegible. That was the biggest problem. The material was usable, but the process was less productive. Now, I do my best writing in the morning, really around 1 to 2 p.m., by 3 p.m. I’ve started cooking and drinking and then the day is shot.
FW: It’s hard to write drunk, I agree, or even hungover.
TD: Hungover people are people, too. They’ve fought in every war and served in the Congress of the United States, in both Houses. As for what I call WUI (Writing Under the Influence), good writing whenever, however it happens is a blessing, whether you’re on drugs, straight, or hung-over, good is still good. I remember one time, it was during Watergate and Nixon’s final days in office, and we were desperate to find the material, but we just couldn’t get through this writer’s block. We had one last chance, so we took LSD and as the sun was coming up, it just kind of wrote itself. Of course, I never got a thank you. The main thing if you’re going to write a television show and be on drugs, is to have at least three dealers, because, you know, drug dealers are flaky and you can’t keep your colleagues waiting when there’s work to do — that’d be irresponsible. So you have back-ups.
