Will Ferrell has looked like he was 45 years old his entire life.

Makes you realize how helpful it is to have a responsive audience. Parts of that were really gutsy with just hearing crickets.

His audition was so good they made full skits out of each part. GOAT

That business man playing with cat toys bit was genius. Who thinks of stuff like that? Unreal. God I love Will Ferrell

This kid has promise, I can feel it.

Ha. Not an ounce of hesitation. He knows his material and act is gold.

Amazing how quiet it is. Must be terrifying.

So pure. No laugh track, no audience telling you how to react, when to laugh & how hard. Just one man offering up his idea of funny. I love the absurdist heart of Will Ferrell's work.

Will is one of those comedians that doesn’t even have to say anything. I just look at him and start laughing.

He auditioned with get off the shed! Lol

How calm he is especially after the get off the shed skit freaking kills me! Lol

Damn. Will Ferrell had balls of steel. Interacting with his own pre-recorded parts. If he flubbed a part or forgot a line, the whole thing would’ve fallen apart. You can even hear the nervous dry mouth.

Harry's head shaking was killing me😅😅

Pretty good. Hope he gets the job.

It’s crazy to think that all of our senses of humor hung on this audition. If he didn’t get the job, we would all be different people. Thank you Will Ferrell!

The whole “get off the shed” sketch is a true classic

His white suburban way of speaking is so spot on lol

If you have ever owned a cat, you know that was spot on. Cats are weird.

"My heart is black, and I hate you, sweet Jesus!" I'm dying!

8 minutes that changed his life completely, and forever.

Literally as I watched the last cat bit, laughed and looked at my cat, she randomly attacked one of her toys in the manner Will was parodying. Perfect!

One day, they’ll release Kate Mckinnon’s audition tape, and we’ll hear a very audible laugh in the background shushed away-and we’d comment “LMAO that would be Bill Hader”😂

he knew from early on that the way he yells is one of the funniest things about him

This was really cool to see. It's nice to see that even a famous actor like Will Ferrell has had humble beginnings.

I love the get off the shed sketch. I'm glad they used that on the show.

It’s so intimidating to think the possible cast members have to do their auditions in front of just the crew, no audience, nothing, the fact he got laughs from people that are probably pretty hardened to comedy says so much.

And this man would go on to be perhaps arguable Top 5 all time SNL cast members! Love Will

Now I wanna see everyone's audition tapes

"Get off the Shed" and "Get on the Bag" are two of my favorite SNL sketches ever. Had no idea they were original inventions by Will! Amazing! Idc what anyone says, he makes me laugh. 😂

Will Ferrell is an SNL comedy legend and he's absolutely funny. I love him.

“Get that award winning potato salad away from me!” 😂😂😂

You know you're funny when SNL makes one of your auditions into a sketch.

I think he got it based off the cat impression alone lol

BEST IMPRESSION OF A CAT IVE EVER SEEN!!!!

The 30 seconds of cat play and then walking off stage had me rolling

"Oh, you got em with the cat bit." - Jerry Seinfeld

On this day history was made

GET OFF THE SHED! Brilliant. He's just amazing.

God this mans a comedic genius. I don’t think he gets enough respect a total living comedy legend!

I’ve seen this many times over the years. As an actor and improviser. Knowing how it feels to audition for roles. Knowing the mental exercise and emotional effort that goes into just simply “trying” or “attempting” a creative vision that could go either way that early in the process. The sheer amount of gumption to “trust” and “follow the funny” in what most would consider such a high level audition. This audition sequence is such a high risk high reward scenario. And Will does it brilliantly! I have always admired his “just go for it and have confidence and fun while doing it.” Approach to his insane talent with smart albeit obscure.., humor. The cat bit at the end especially is one of those “if I set this up correctly with my other bits. Going from my ability to have serious chops and progressing towards more silly and uniquely abnormal. The cat thing will clench it.” On the flip “If I sell nothing ahead of time the cat bit will just turn everyone off and I’ll be remembered as the “”oh my god do you remember the cat guy?”” Yo. Kudos Will . You had the intuition and the balls to act upon said intuition to just go for realistic silliness, and it Obvs worked out in your circumstances. I admire your gumption and your talents. 🙏🏼

IVE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE THE WHOLE THING. YAY. THE CAT PART OMG YES

YES! Please post more auditions!

It amazes me how much of his brand of comedy was already there.

How far he has come. True talent!!! Love this man.

This is so awesome! I love that you guys uploaded this! Please do more auditions!

Hahah when he put on the wig and glasses I was dying laughing

I love Will!!😍💖 Brilliant comic. I am so glad I came upon this SNL audition. It was so, so, so entertaining!!😁 My husband told me to turn down my volume when he was yelling at the kids on the shed.🤣 Your the best Will!👏

Lorne: well, he does the whole shouting lunatic thing even better than Chris Farley so...

What a comedy gem! Thank you, Will Ferrell, for making our lives funnier! 💙🤙🏼

Each one of those become classic sketches for Will. He has the mind, the temperament, the passion, the natural affectations, he’s like the Ted Williams of comedy. You could give him a grain of sand and he could have a 100,000 seat stadium roaring with laughter.

Watching that you realize that you were watching someone special! A legend!

8 minutes of pure comedy acting gold, Will Ferrell is a genius!

Ted Kennedy impersonation? He's good.

I love how the Shed bit actually became a pretty good SNL sketch!

That was amazing to see. Please add more of these!

I’ve probably seen this more than 100 times in my life and I lose it at the cat sprawl every time.

And the rest is history. Thanx Will for making me laugh over the years!

Will said he had one last bit ready: he brought a briefcase full of Monopoly money to give Lorne as a bribe. He ended up not doing the bit.

Is it even humanly possible not to like this guy?!

He just nails the the erratic cat behavior. I cry laughing every time I watch it!

That last bit was simple, brilliant.

I got to be in the SNL audience when Will Farrell was back, Sean William Scott was the host and Sum41 the musical guest....stellar time!

Wow. All the great performances ahead. I love this man

Put everything on hold, I need my special time to play with my cat toys. 🐈

I bet he din't imagine that he would be a huge star....

I am so excited for Saturday night!

That felt awkward with the barely laughing audience. I'd have no idea if I blew it or not with that muted reception.

tyler told me to watch this and honestly that cat bit was the funniest like

That cat impersonation is so good !!!

Legendary

I feel this performance ....... I feel it in my PLUUUUMMS.

Absolutely brilliant and unforgettable.

28 people didn't get off the shed

Will is great!’

the cat toy bit at the end hahahahahh! If I remember, didn't they do a version of this sketch on the show? Love Will Ferrell hahhaa :)

The cat toy thing in my opinion is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Can we get more audition tapes on here please? Maybe the new guys from this season?

How many times during this audition was Will thinking, "This is terrible, nobody is laughing, I'll be working at Best Buy for the rest of my life." ?

The confidence is amazing. It's like he already worked there... perhaps that's the key to success!

that cat impression is eerily accurate lol

I can imagine him doing a movie where he plays a swinger, a Southern racer, a man with a yellow hat, and a blue guy.

he was getting AUDIBLE LAUGHS. in an SNL AUDITION. unheard of EDIT: aight this has gone on long enough. I GET IT OTHER PEOPLE GOT LAUGHS TOO I WAS USING EXAGGERATION FOR COMEDIC EFFECT

I love anything Will Ferrell touches!! Thank you God for giving us something to laugh at!!

Oh my god... the last cat toy part made me laugh so hard i cried....

Legend has it that Brandon and Michael are still on the shed to this very day.

Don't care what the critics say, he's a genius. Loved all his films. Anyone else with this material and it would've fell flat. Much respect.

7:28 METHOD ACTING there boy! You know Will studied his cat... pausin.. lookin around ..than BACK to toy! LOL

Thanks for sharing this. Watching this in my living room, I was laughing out loud. And also going OMG! I had that shocked look, especially with the Ted Kennedy bit. That takes guts. I do wonder why the people in his audience were so quiet. Did they really not get or like his humor? Or were they just supposed to analyze or something? Anyway. And I loved his cat impression at the end. I'm still chuckling and smiling. What a talented person.

Will Ferrell is an All Time Favorite SNL cast member!!

He showcased everything we got to know him for.. freakin genius

he's such a gifted, but undervalued actor.

This video is great inspiration to believe in your talents and passions and go for it. Even when you have no idea what the final outcome will be with no immediate response.

He's funny even without an audience laugh track. He's gonna go far. Probably even win some awards in the process.

I'm thinking that guy has a career in comedy.

Good Lord, as many times as I've seen him do Harry Carry it still gets a chuckle out of me.

“And the 2 and 0 pitch is in there to Dunsten. Strike on the corner”. Harry should have thrown that in there😂

Unreal that this was his audition. Probably the best get off the shed he can even do to be honest, it’s so perfect. I’ve seen the one from the show and it wasn’t nearly as good

Ted Kennedy was hysterical 😂😂😂

i love how the harry carrey bit was his first. i always loved his impression of him and even after harry died, he kept doing it.

GET OFF THE SHED When his audition skit get to be my favorite skit