No matter how big celebrities become, they all had to start somewhere. Ferrell's start is his audition tape for SNL, and you might even recognize one of the sketches. The "Get Off the Shed" sketch got a few tweaks and ended up actually being performed on the show, but it's undeniably strange seeing the raw performance. That sketch was one of a few Ferrell did, and when he talked to The New York Times about the whole process, he said for the first part of the audition, he was asked to do any character, a political impression, and a celebrity impression. He did a stand-up bit as Ted Kennedy, the shed sketch, and Harry Caray reading a play. After meeting with Lorne Michaels and being asked to do an entirely new audition, he came with the idea of offering Michaels $25,000 in fake money and just walking out. "But it was not a joking atmosphere," he said, so he never did it.
Instead, he did the shed sketch again, a Bill Clinton impression, and another sketch where he played a businessman in his office, rolling around on the floor playing with cat toys. Everything was met with silence. "And I'm thinking, "Oh, it's over. It's just over now."
It wasn't over, and he got the job.
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