Aidy Bryant — best known for her quirky niche characters on Saturday Night Live — chatted with The Daily Gamecock this week about everything from ostrich hot dogs to Beyonce’s newest jam. Bryant performed in the Russell House ballroom Thursday night courtesy of Carolina Productions.

Daily Gamecock: What question do you hate to answer?

Aidy Bryant: Oh god! No, you know what, people always ask, “Who’s the worst host?” or “Who’s the meanest?” and I’m always like “Everybody’s nice.” I dunno, it’s an annoying question to me. Also, even if they were really mean — I don’t want to tell ya, you know?

DG: What’s your favorite question to answer?

AB: Ooh, tough question … I came up in Chicago, so I always like when people ask about my Chicago days before SNL. Is that a good answer? –laughs—

DG: No, that’s great! So tell me about your Chicago days, like before SNL.

AB: I see what you did there, very sneaky. –laughs— They were good, I performed at several different theaters there and they all had training centers and I took classes at all of them. The iO is one, the Annoyance and then Second City, and Second City is where I was performing and writing. That’s where SNL came and scouted me out, and took me away. But yeah, it’s just, like, super fun. (It’s) a super encouraging comedy community there, with a big focus on just being as good as you can and working really hard, not so much about auditioning and trying to get jobs, more about getting better. Which I like!

DG: What’s it like going to SNL after there have been so many strong female comedic superpowers, like Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler … What’s it like to follow in their footsteps?

AB: I mean, it’s super cool, and of course, those people that you just mentioned are people that I was obsessed with, like, watching the show from afar. And they’re great role models to follow after, and you know, I think we’ve been really lucky. It’s a great group of girls right now and we’re all super strong and we’re all really different, but we all work together and we like each other, and that makes a big difference, and that kind of makes it easier. So maybe the pressure that there would be to … be as amazing as those amazing women is a little easier when you have a good group to hang with.

DG: What’s the dynamic on the show? In between sketches, is it as goofy offstage as it is onstage?

AB: It’s super goofy and super silly, but I think the main thing is, we’re on such a tight time schedule that the closer it gets to Saturday, the more professional it gets. (It’s) more focused and serious, taking comedy super-seriously and doing the best we can to make it the best show possible by Saturday. So, even though it’s super fun early in the week when we’re writing and goofing around and coming up with ideas and jokes, I would say by the end of the week it’s a little more focused and serious.

DG: What is the timeline, from Monday to Saturday? What’s the process?

AB: Monday you come in and pitch ideas to the host, and that’s the first day you meet the host. Tuesday you write maybe one of those ideas, a different idea, a couple ideas … You write all night long, until 8 or 9 in the morning.

Then Wednesday, early afternoon, we read everything that we wrote, so that is a day that can sometimes be a 48 hour work day, which is wild. We read everything, all the sketches that were written, — that’ll be about 40 sketches — and then after we read all of those with the hosts and everybody, and once with the host and Lorne [Michaels], usually some producers and some top writers go into the meeting and they decide which 10-12 scenes were the best of that 40. They choose those shows, they put out a list, you look at the list to see if your scene was chosen.

If that happens you go to meet with design, which is hair and makeup and wardrobe and all the set design and the director, and you talk about what you want and what you have in mind and what they can help you with for costumes or whatever. That’s the most amazing part to me — they don’t even find out what they’re building or what kind of wigs they’re making until Wednesday night, and then all day Thursday and Friday, they build that stuff and make that stuff happen out of nowhere.

Thursday and Friday we do rehearsal basically, on-camera rehearsal to figure out where we should stand and what’s the best way to make certain things happen. And then Saturday, we come in and run through everything once. Then we do an 8 o’clock dress rehearsals and between the dress rehearsal and the live show we choose what scenes are going to stay and what scenes are going to go and we do the live show. It’s kind of a whirlwind, y’know, but it’s super fun.

DG: With a lot of your sketches you’ve created a niche for yourself. Is there one that’s just really comfortable for you to do?

AB: Gosh, I love to do it all. I love anything we do with music, I think that’s super fun. Girlfriend’s Talk Show is really fun for me to do, it’s super easy, I’ve known Cecily [Strong] for a long time, so it’s fun and easy to do something with a friend … Anytime I’m on the show feels like a treat to me —laughs—

DG: What does your five-year plan look like? Do you think you’re going to stick around SNL for a little while? Maybe break into the movie scene?

AB: Oh, man. I feel like I just got to SNL, so I’m not really dying or trying to get out of there; obviously I want to stay. So yeah, I don’t really have a five-year plan. I’m taking it one day at a time.

DG: What’s your advice for college freshmen?

AB: Well, you’ve made it out of high school, so congrats. Now comes the fun stuff, where you get to do your own thing and try different stuff, and figure out who you are. So, live it up!

LIGHTNING ROUND

Worst thing about living in New York?

Trash.

Pancakes or waffles?

Pancakes.

What’s your favorite emoji?

Oh god, this is the hardest question

for me. I’m going to say the little meat

with the bone, the little weird chicken bone with meat on it.

Best tweet you’ve ever tweeted?

Oh my god, I don’t know.

All my tweets are stupid on purpose …

I tweeted once that my life is just a string of

moments between chicken sandwiches, and I think that’s true.

Favorite song off of Beyoncé’s new album?

I’m thinking “Partition.”

Harry Potter or Twilight?

Can I say neither?

Best college memory?

When I was in college, I started touring around

and doing comedy like all around the country, so I’d say touring.

Best place you’ve gone touring?

Probably Edinburgh, Scotland.

Why?

Super cool city, and when you stay there

you’re right next to a castle and you do a bunch

of shows for all of these cute little Scottish people, so it’s great.

Song that’s been stuck in your head most recently?

I don’t even … There’s a Katy Perry song,

but I don’t know the name of it. It’s a very digital

alien kind of song, and that’s the song that’s stuck in my head.

That’s not a good description. I don’t know the name of it. Sorry!

Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

I’m kind of a baby about food …

Once I had an ostrich hot dog.

Favorite letter of the alphabet?

Probably Z.

Why?

Because I love to catch them when I’m falling asleep.