When Dan Aykroyd was a 23-year-old nobody in Toronto he heard about an open cattle call audition for a new comedy show called Saturday Night Live.
So he drove to New York, planning to perform a song as his audition piece.
But when he got there, he was at the end of a line of hundreds of people.
It was 3 o’clock and he figured he wouldn’t have his shot til 7 o’clock and by then no one was going to care about his song.
So he cut the line and busted into the room.
He walked up to Lorne Michaels and said, “Well, I’m here.”
Then launched into a 5-minute improvised bit and got out of there.
It landed him the gig and the rest is history.
I love this story because it’s an example of how even in a world with gatekeepers, it’s usually the people who find their own creative way around and through the system that ultimately make it.
I can’t help but wonder how many other people in that audition line had enough talent to land a spot on SNL, but they didn’t have the determination or willingness to bend the universe to them in order to make it happen.
Who knows what their life could have been like if they did.
Sometimes you’ve just got to cut the line and bet on yourself.
When you wait for opportunity to come to you, it rarely does.
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