Kelly and Zack had a blast at the Governors Ball
afterparty, only leaving after the staff turned on all
the lights — the proverbial signal to go home.
“People kept stopping me and saying that they
loved my speech and that they were going to dress
like an Emmy the next time they got nominated.
I felt like a celebrity the whole night — the belle of
the ball,” says Lyon, who reconnected with many
of her former colleagues from SNL, where she was
an editor for 11 seasons.
She met comedian Mike Birbiglia, who was
an executive producer on Alex Edelman’s solo
show Just for Us on HBO, which Lyon also edited.
Edelman also took home an Emmy for Outstanding
Writing for a Variety Special for Just for Us. In his
comedy special, which was filmed live during his
Broadway run, Edelman tackles jokes about his
Jewish identity, antisemitism and a Jew’s place in
the world.
Kelly and Zack flew back to Portland the next
day, arriving to a decorated house and yard filled
with balloons and streamers, compliments of their
neighbors and kids.
“I felt so loved and special,” says Lyon, who put
her Emmy on a shelf, right next to her 5-year-old
son’s medals from Olympics Camp this summer.
“But, of course, I was quickly back to mom duties
— preparing meals, drying tears and wiping butts
that aren’t mine.”
TINY DANCER
When she was 3 years old, Lyon started ballet classes
at the Jewish Community Center. She attended day
camp at the JCC and was a lifeguard there during
high school. As the years went on, Lyon added
jazz and tap to the mix at the Longacre House in
Farmington Hills.
“Dance was always a passion of mine. And it’s
interesting because you wouldn’t necessarily think
there’s a connection between dancing and editing,
but it’s all about rhythm and pacing. So much of
editing is about timing, especially for comedy edit-
ing. So, learning the rhythm of dance informed a
lot of my natural abilities as an editor because I had
this internal clock,” says Lyon, whose father, Barry
Brickner, is the former mayor of Farmington Hills.
It was 1999, senior year at North Farmington
High School, when Lyon had her “aha” moment. She
took an independent study class at the school’s pub-
lic access television station. Her project was to edit
the senior class video yearbook.
“
At that time, I had never seen video inside a com-
puter. I loved editing the yearbook. It was so fun for
me. It was like a puzzle, putting it all together,” Lyon
says.
“But you can’t do this as a real job,” she asked her
teacher, William Cobb.
“Yes, it’s a real job, and not a lot of women do
it,” Cobb insisted. “You should go out there to
Hollywood and give ’em hell.”
And that conversation set Lyon on her career path.
“Once I discovered this love of editing, I just pur-
sued it relentlessly,” says Lyon, who graduated Phi
Beta Kappa with a film and video studies major at
the University of Michigan.
NEW YORK-BOUND
After two summers of interning at MTV
, Lyon’s
plan was to edit music videos after graduating from
Michigan in 2003 and move to NYC. When a per-
manent gig at MTV didn’t pan out, she wound up at
a company that edited the parody commercials for
SNL.
“That was a dream because comedy was always
a passion. I loved watching Wayne’s World and SNL
when I was a kid,” Lyon says.
Over the course of 11 seasons, Lyon edited many
classic fake commercials and music videos along
with narrative shorts that featured Andy Samberg,
Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Aidy
Bryant and Jason Sudeikis.
SNL’s production schedule was very rigorous,
especially after Lyon moved to Portland. She would
commute back to New York weekly to edit spots
Friday night, through dress rehearsal at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday nights and up until seconds before the
piece would air live on SNL. John Mulaney started
on SNL after Lyon had already been there for six
seasons.
“Working at SNL is such an intense, crazy envi-
ronment where work has to be done so quickly that
you really build a rapport and trust, especially with
the writers. So, when John started in 2010, it just was
a good fit,” says Lyon, who quit SNL in 2016 when
she was pregnant with her daughter.
“Over the years, I’ve become a trusted editor for
John because we’ve known each other for so long. I
understand his sensibility, and we can work quickly
and have a shorthand,” she added.
“I love working with John because he’s an amazing
collaborator. He’s always looking at things from a
fresh perspective. He never wants to do the expected
normal regular thing. He wants to elevate everything
he works on — in a new way. He’s one of my favorite
people to work with.”
With comedy as her forte, in addition to Mulaney,
Tig Notaro and Alex Edelman, Lyon has edited
specials for Amy Schumer, Michael Che and the
Portlandia and Yearly Departed series. Lyon’s next
project is a standup special for comedian Rosebud
Baker. And she hopes to work on SNL
’s 50th anniver-
sary season, which just premiered on Sept. 28.
“My family has always been silly. We always like
to joke and laugh. But I’ve never been a perform-
er where I’ve had aspirations of being a comedian
myself,” Lyon says. “But editing comedy, when it
became an opportunity for me, well that was so fun.
It became the perfect fit.”
To watch Kelly Lyon’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards acceptance
speech, go to: f.io/oaeTQgJR.
ARTS&LIFE
TELEVISION
“A winner’s
dinner” for Kelly
Lyon at 2 a.m.:
pre-packaged
PB&J sandwich.
continued from page 43
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