after the Sept. 11 attacks and ended it after
the election of Barack Obama.
“Politics during that run was often
really touchy,” she says, “especially
early on, when there was terrorism
and giant tsunamis and nobody could
really make fun of the president. So the
release of being able to do really juicy
political stu; during the 2008 elec-
tion was so satisfying. And there were
women at the forefront of it, which
made it doubly exciting.”
In a much-anticipated sketch for
the season opener in September 2008,
Poehler’s Clinton joined Fey’s Sarah
Palin for a joint message denouncing
sexist campaign coverage. America had
been clamoring for Fey as Palin’s doppel-
ganger—but Poehler was equally rivet-
ing as a podium-gripping Clinton barely
able to contain her furious frustration at
losing. A final rejoinder from Poehler’s
Clinton said it all: “In conclusion, I invite
the media to grow a pair. And if you can’t,
I will lend you mine.”
Her media savvy made collaborat-
ing on “Weekend Update” especially
rewarding, Meyers says. They usually
held long prep sessions on Friday nights
before the show.
“We’d read like 500 jokes together,”
he says, “and since everything was about
something current, we’d often devolve
into discussions and arguments about
di;erent things in the news. That’s the
time with her that I miss the most.”
Poehler also had a skill for smell-
testing material, according to Meyers,
and if you went ahead and tried out a
joke on an audience against her advice,
she would have no choice but to laugh
at you as you proceeded to smack into a
wall. Meyers recalls such a stumble during a dress rehearsal one Saturday night
a few years ago.
“There was this one we did about how
the investigation into Princess Di’s death
had found that there was no foul play,
and uh, my joke was to say ‘So it looks like
we got away with it!’ and then we high-fived.” Meyers cracks up at the recollection. “The audience literally booed at us.
Amy looked at me with this grin that said,
‘I told you that wouldn’t work!’ ”
Baby Mama as Action Hero?
“I miss the people a lot,” Poehler says of
her former late-night stomping grounds.
“And there’s no other feeling than when
it’s 11: 15 p.m. and the show is about to
start. It’s so exciting that you can’t really
replicate it.”
But she’s glad to have traded in the
grueling pace of a weekly live show
for a little more humane production
schedule with Parks, she says. That’s
particularly true as her family expands:
Poehler and her husband, comic actor
Will Arnett, welcomed their second son,
Abel, into the world last summer. Their
first child, Archie, was born in the fall of
2008, shortly after an epically pregnant
Poehler delivered an instantly epic Sarah
Palin rap performance alongside the real
candidate, who was making a cameo on
“Weekend Update.”
Amy’s
Greatest
Antics
UPRIGHT CITIZENS
BRIGADE (1998-2000):
Poehler, as Colby, her Upright
Citizens Brigade handle on the
eponymous Comedy Central
series, broke out in sketches like
“Big City” and “Bucket of Truth.”
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
(2001-2010):
From Kaitlin, the excitable
pre-teen, to Amber, who
rocked one leg, Poehler is
one of SNL’s all-time great
players. In addition to her
original characters, her
unforgettable impressions
include Sharon Osbourne
(right), Hillary Clinton, Christo-
pher Walken and Kim Jong-il.
ARRESTED
DEVELOPMENT
(2004-2005):
Poehler’s stint as real-life
husband Will Arnett’s
temporary wife is just
another reason long-su;ering, die-hard fans
continue to wish for a
movie version of the show.
Upright
Citizens
Brigade
