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 44 | OCTOBER 10 • 2024 J N