Page 68 - Midas Touch

show, or their order, until about half an hour before the opening credits
start rolling.

One of my favorite skits, where I played a romance novelist, was cut, and I
found myself with five minutes to learn the lyrics to a new song that was a
last-minute addition. But the real challenge was a brand new running order

and pretty much zilch time to get ready for it. I know my adrenalin was
running and, because of that, I had a strong sense of focus. It was down-to-
the-wire time.

One thing that helped is that everyone at Saturday Night Live, from the
writers to the crew, from the dressers to the performers, are all top-flight
professionals. They were supportive and fun and always got me to where I
needed to be for the entrances and exits on the set. When it finally came

time to do the show, I felt excited. I turned the television on in my
dressing room for a while to watch some golf and keep the big picture in
mind. Things would go well, I was focused, and I wanted everyone to have
a good time.

And that’s what happened. I didn’t even mind wearing the yellow polyester
suit and performing with the singing and dancing chickens. In fact, that
became a favorite skit, and the evening became a wonderful memory, as

well as a great lesson. The power of focus definitely came into play for
this one. And am I glad I took the risk? Absolutely. It proved the power of
focus and gave me a great amount of respect for anyone and everyone who
works on that show or on live television.

I think risk runs in my blood, or at least the quest for big challenges runs
in my blood. Since I was a child, I knew I wanted to build skyscrapers. In

fact, I built them with my building blocks, and I would borrow my little
brother’s building blocks to make my buildings even higher. The problem
was that I would glue his blocks all together so he never got his building
blocks back. Building skyscrapers was definitely a goal I had from an
early age.

One building that is famous now, the Trump International Hotel & Tower
New York, is a building that has won many accolades, including the

coveted Mobil Five-Star Award. Its reputation as the number-one hotel in
New York is well known, but few people know the history of this building.
It’s an interesting story and also represents a lesson in focus because it