I have been watching-- before we introduce you,
you sitting with your precious doggy.
What is your dog's name?
My dog's name is Penny.
She's licking something, you know.
But yes, she's here with me.
And oh my God, Ellen, it's so nice to meet you.
It's nice to meet you, too.
You have become one of the highlights of SNL,
and I'm really happy to have you on.
You started in-- you started in 2016, right?
Yes, I started the season--
yes, I forgot--
42, maybe?
Season 42?
Yes.
Yeah.
I only know because I do the research.
You don't need to keep counting.
I'll do that for you.
But you auditioned over 10 years ago,
and I heard that in your audition,
I was one of your impressions.
First of all, what happened, and--
look at that doggy.
Come on, that's a cute dog.
Oh, that's Penny.
I'm trying to pay attention to you, too,
but it's just a cute dog.
All right, so what happened in the audition?
Well, that audition-- the first one was great.
And yes, you were in there, Ellen.
And I don't remember the bit I did.
But I think it had to do with ABC--
the Jackson 5 song.
And I was like, I'm Ellen, I know all the words--
ABC.
I love dancing, and that was it.
That's all I remember, and I'm sorry, it's so bad.
It's been a while.
That's all right.
But then, you didn't get it.
I wasn't ready.
I was 21.
No.
I wasn't funny yet.
And now you appreciate it more, probably.
Yes.
Well, I'm sure you were funny.
But yes, the more we do anything, the better we
get at it, right?
Mm-hm.
So you started doing stand up really early like, 16, 17?
Yeah, I did.
15-- I started doing the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp.
And I'm fortunate to be out here from LA.
So right after high school, I told my parents,
you better drive me to the Open Mics.
Well, there I am.
Oh, man.
Did you do mostly impressions, or did you
write material because it seems like you
do a lot of impressions.
Yes.
So, that, for the longest time, was the only thing
I had in my standup that was--
it was the main thing-- all the bits surrounding impressions.
But now, it's gotten to a really beautiful mix, where--
because I got mad.
I was like, the crowd needs to know me, too.
I'm special, you know.
And I want to share my story.
So now it's a mix of--
yeah, a little bit of me, my family, my parents.
I imitate my Abuelita, my great-grandma,
who talks like [SPEAKING SPANISH]..
That's her voice.
And then, it's like mix to celebrity impressions
and singing, and it's all very personal.
And that's it just makes it--
it's just very fulfilling and cathartic.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, that's the great thing
about being able to write and get humor out of it
no matter what is going on in your life.
Do you remember the first sketch you did at SNL?
Yes.
It was a Family Feud, and I played
Sarah Silverman-- oh my God.
And I was really nervous about that.
I remember shaking before they countdown to going live.
And I thought, oh, no, I can't do this every week.
No.
Like, yeah, that was my first one.
Yeah.
And do you get-- are you nervous anymore,
or is it easy for you to do every week, especially
because you all have great musicians and guest hosts?
It's gotten easier.
But if there is someone that I get starstruck by like JLo or--
oh, man, one time, Robert De Niro was there and--
that's crazy to see them in person.
And I remember seeing De Niro in his dressing room.
I walked by, and we made eye contact.
And I was like, oh, and I ran.
I said, oh, no, he saw me.
And then Heidi told me you could go talk to him.
You're a cast member.
And I marched back, and I was like, Robert, I'm Melissa.
Nice to meet you.
And he goes, hey, how you doing?
And he was really nice.
And I have to talk to myself sometimes like, Melissa,
they know you.
I did that with Paul Rudd, too.
I was like, Paul, Melissa.
Yeah.
But it's crazy.
I mean, seeing JLo, Tom Hanks, too.
That was my first season--
Tom Hanks-- he did David S. Pumpkins that season.
And yeah, he just marched in my writing office
and ate all my almonds.
Hey, you're hosting the Independent Spirit Awards
next week.
That's going to be fun, right?
I know.
It's going to be [INAUDIBLE] pre-taped.
It's going to be fun.
The pieces we've written are really silly,
and I hope people like it.
Yeah.
First time hosting anything, too.
Oh, you'll have so much fun.
You're going to love it.
It's standup, and it's just with a bunch of really cool people.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're going to be great.
All right, Melissa, we have to take a break.
More with Melissa after this.