| Comedian and actor Jay Mohr has lately been seen as the host of NBC’s highly-rated reality series Last Comic Standing. He is the veteran of about 20 feature films, including Jerry Maguire, where he played serpentine sports agent Bob Sugar opposite Tom Cruise. Mohr also was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live for two years in the mid ‘90s, alongside such notable alums as Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley and Phil Hartman.
This is the portion of Mohr’s performance resumé that is likely to trip people up. You see, even the most ardent watcher of SNL would have a hard time recalling one of his sketches or even an episode he appeared in. An inability to seize the limelight on the venerable star-making series forms the dramatic centre of Mohr’s recently released book, Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live.
The book is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the politics and infighting that has been part of SNL since the show debuted in the mid-‘70s. It also tells the tale of Mohr’s diagnosed panic disorder, an affliction that became prevalent in the show’s chaotic development atmosphere. In one recalled incident, overcome with fear and his pulse racing, Mohr fled SNL’s studio during dress rehearsal to sprint the 42 blocks to his home.
Mohr’s anxiety would come under control once he started taking medication, but that didn’t help him feel more connected to his TV work. Regularly, his best sketches would not make the Saturday Night Live performance lineup, or were cut at the last minute by guest hosts such as Shannon Doherty and Marisa Tomei. Mohr also found that being one of the new guys on Saturday Night Live can be a surprisingly lonely existence.
Promoting his book on radio’s Jim Rome show, he explained the cast dynamic, "It’s like you’re a freshman and you walk home with the seniors – you’re in the conversation, but you’re not really in the conversation. That’s the way it was with me because (Adam) Sandler, (Chris) Farley, (David) Spade, (Rob) Schneider and Tim Meadows all came up at the same time four years before I got there." Not being part of the senior-cast-member clique led to feelings of alienation for Mohr who instead befriended members of the SNL technical crew and support staff.
The accomplished stand-up performer realizes now that if he had weathered the storm for more than two seasons he could have eventually moved up to headliner status on NBC’s premier live comedy showcase. As he admitted on the Rome show, however, "I didn’t want to wait my turn."
Gasping for Airtime seems to be an accurate reflection of Mohr’s manic personality. The book jumps from story to story, with some anecdotes feeling over-explained and others seemingly incomplete. But it also reads with an honesty that is much coveted in any bio tome.
Mohr takes much responsibility for his lack of success on the show and admits to ripping off the stage act of a veteran comic to put together a sketch. He additionally writes with great affection and humour of his time spent in the company of the now late comedian Farley, who he describes as the funniest man he ever met.
Gasping for Airtime is flawed but enjoyably frank. Mohr paints an intriguing picture of being locked into a gig that has all the trappings of a star-making opportunity, but is in reality a no-win scenario. |
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