Wally_Feresten

Wally Feresten

Wally Feresten

American cue card handler


Chris "Wally" Feresten[1][2] (born 1965 or 1966)[1] is an American cue card handler and supervisor known for his work on Saturday Night Live. He also does cue cards for Late Night with Seth Meyers and his private business, Cue Cards by Wally.

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Early life and education

Feresten was born in Fall River, Massachusetts to parents Mary Jo and Michael Feresten. Feresten attended West Bridgewater High School and, later, Syracuse University.[3] In 1987, he moved to Los Angeles. Three years later, he moved to New York City.[4]

Career

Feresten began working at Saturday Night Live after his brother, who worked at SNL as a receptionist at the time, informed him there was a vacancy in the cue card department. Feresten's first cue card handling job was in 1990 during a "Sprockets" sketch featuring host Kyle MacLachlan.[3] His first appearance on camera was in 1991 during a monologue featuring Steve Martin. Feresten had his first spoken lines on the show in 1993 during an Alec Baldwin monologue.[4]

Since 2014, Feresten has also been a cue card handler for Late Night with Seth Meyers. He has appeared on camera on the show several times including once as an interview guest when Action Bronson did not appear.[5] His increasing frequency of spoken lines and his popularity with the audience has caused guest John Oliver to joke that Feresten is staging "a slow-motion coup".[6][7]

In 2020, Feresten began Cue Cards by Wally, a private business wherein he creates personalized cue cards, mostly for SNL fans. He started the business while SNL was doing remote-recorded episodes and, thus, his cue cards were not needed.[4]

Personal life

Feresten lives in Livingston, New Jersey.[8]

Filmography

Television

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References

  1. Blake, Meredith (June 29, 2015). "'SNL' Still Takes Cues from Wally". The Los Angeles Times. p. A16. An unassuming, 49-year-old father of two with short white hair and glasses, he has played a vital but largely unsung role in one of the most enduring institutions in American pop culture.
  2. Schmidt, Stephen (May 24, 2018). "Live, from New York, it's Cue Card Wally". The World from PRX. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  3. Devitt, Phil (August 12, 2021). "What Seth Meyers says about Fall River's Wally Feresten, 'SNL,' 'Late Night' cue card guy". The Herald News. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  4. Squires, Bethy (May 21, 2021). "Obama's UFO Talk Won Late Night This Week". Vulture. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  5. Rosman, Katherine (October 20, 2012). "Live, From New York...It's All Eyes On the Cue-Card Guy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved December 19, 2021.

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