Sarah Silverman’s SNL monologue with an audience member, who wasn’t an SNL cast member or paid actress

The highlight of Sarah Silverman’s first time hosting Saturday Night Live undoubtedly came early in the show, during her monologue.

Silverman not only engaged in some next-level meta fun by acknowledging her past — two decades ago as an almost-forgotten featured player in the SNL cast, relegated to roles as an audience plant to ask questions of other SNL hosts, now turning the questions onto her future self in the present here and now in 2014 — but also took advantage of live TV by walking into the audience and spontaneously engaging an unsuspecting audience member in jokes and conversation.

And this woman was no audience plant.

Her name is Lindsey and she drove up with her husband from Virginia after winning two seats in the audience through SNL’s annual ticket lottery.

This being 2014, Lindsey told her side of the story on Sunday via Reddit:

Last night was pretty much the most insane night of my life. As I told you guys a few weeks ago, we won tickets via the ticket lottery. We arrived at 9:15 (had to be in line by 10:15). I hadn’t heard about this, but there are multiple lines when you arrive. The standby line, the lottery ticket holder line, friends/family line, and the “sales and marketing” aka beautiful people line. We were in the lottery line.

At 10:45 they started ushering us in. We went through the metal detectors and headed up to 8H. We waited in line for another 15 minutes or so while the sales and marketing line went ahead. At 11 we were shown to our seats, which were in the top center section, far right (if you’re facing the stage). I told my husband I was kind of disappointed and he told me not to be jelly, haha.

Fifteen minutes before the show started, a woman came and asked us if we wanted to sit downstairs. Umm, YEAH!?! We were ushered down the steps and into the hallowed back halls of SNL. Then we were taken to the freaking FRONT ROW. We were beside ourselves and trying hard to not fuck it up by even moving wrong (we were super nervous).

Before the show, Michael Che came out and did a few minutes of standup. He asked my husband and I questions about being married (what!!), which might have been feeling me out for being on camera too. Then Kenan, Vanessa, Kate, and Cecily came out and did a song, and the band played. Before we knew it, it was 11:30!

I had absolutely no idea that I would be on camera. NONE. I was not prepared at all, and my family said that it sounded like I might cry. Nope, but I was SO nervous. It seemed to go ok though, and I had the experience of a lifetime!! Afterwards we probably could have hung out, but I was worried about getting back to our hotel in NJ so late, so we just smiled and made our way past the cast.

Holy shit, I still can’t believe that happened! So /r/livefromnewyork, ask me anything!

Her own top comment, though, reveals just how much of an SNL fan she is: “Oh, forgot to mention – after the monologue, Lorne walked by and SMILED AT ME!! My life is complete.”