Editing Jimmy Fallon (section)

===Comedy beginnings===
Fallon dropped out of the College of Saint Rose in 1995 to move to [[Los Angeles]] and pursue comedy full-time.<ref name="UPI.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2009/05/09/Jimmy-Fallon-gets-belated-BA/UPI-84721241913501/|title= Jimmy Fallon gets belated B.A.|date=April 9, 2009|work=United Press International|access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> He secured a manager and got bookings by the age of 21.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} He often did stand-up at the Improv, earning $7.50 per set,<ref name="NYMagazine"/> and he joined classes with the [[Groundlings]], an [[improv comedy]] troupe.<ref name="usa04"/> He appeared in the feature film ''The Scheme'' (originally entitled ''The Entrepreneurs''). His one line in the 1997 film ''[[Fathers' Day (1997 film)|Father's Day]]'' was cut, but he can still be seen in the background. In 1998, Fallon appeared briefly on the show ''[[Spin City]]'' in the second season as a man selling photographs.<ref name="Fame10Fallon">{{cite news|last1=Sheldon|first1=James|title=10 Things You Didn't Know About Jimmy Fallon|url=https://www.fame10.com/entertainment/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-jimmy-fallon/|access-date=April 2, 2018|work=Fame10|date=November 2, 2015}}</ref>

He remained fixated on joining ''Saturday Night Live''. After two years of working with the Groundlings,<ref name="paper">{{cite magazine|first=Jonathan|last=Durbin|title=A Man for All Reasons: Jimmy Fallon|url=http://www.papermag.com/2001/11/a_man_for_all_reasons_jimmy_fallon.php|date=November 1, 2001|magazine=[[Paper (magazine)|Paper]]|access-date=February 25, 2015|archive-date=November 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105035543/http://www.papermag.com/2001/11/a_man_for_all_reasons_jimmy_fallon.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> he auditioned for the program in 1997 but was unsuccessful.<ref name="usa04"/> When he was cast in a [[pilot episode|pilot presentation]] for [[The WB]], Fallon made sure to include a clause in his contract specifying that if he were to join ''SNL'' he would be released from his contract.<ref name=rs/> His manager sent videotapes to Marci Klein and Ayala Cohen, producers for ''SNL''.<ref name="nytaudition"/>

{{blockquote|This was my ultimate goal. If I ever cut into a birthday cake and made a wish, I would wish to be on ''SNL''. If I threw a coin into a fountain, I would wish to be on ''SNL''. If I saw a shooting star, I would wish to be on ''SNL''.<ref name="nytaudition"/>&nbsp;... I remember saying to myself, 'If I don't make it on [the show] before I'm 25, I'm going to kill myself.' It's crazy. I had no other plan. I didn't have friends, I didn't have a girlfriend, I didn't have anything going on. I had my career, that was it.<ref name=rs/>}}

Fallon landed his second audition at the age of 23. At the "notoriously difficult audition,"<ref name="VF1"/> he was told by several people that creator [[Lorne Michaels]] almost never laughed during auditions. He feared being outshined by the comic before him, who came armed with an arsenal of props. Despite this, Fallon went onstage and did well,<ref name="nytaudition"/> performing a "celebrity walk-a-thon" with impressions of [[Jerry Seinfeld]], [[Chris Rock]], [[Bill Cosby]], and [[Adam Sandler]], an ''SNL'' alumnus who had recently left the show.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Shirley|last=Brady|title=JIMMY FALLON|magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]|publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]]|location=New York City|date=July 10, 2000|volume=54|issue=2|page=78}}</ref> Michaels and others laughed.<ref name="people">{{cite magazine|first=Janine|last=Rubenstein|title=Jimmy Fallon and More SNL Stars Share Their Scary Audition Stories|url=https://www.people.com/article/jimmy-fallon-saturday-night-live-audition-story|magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]|publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]]|location=New York City|date=February 4, 2015|access-date=February 25, 2015}}</ref>

Head writer [[Tina Fey]], who was in the room, later said, "He's one of two people I've ever seen who was completely ready to be on the show. [[Kristen Wiig]] is the other one.... And Jimmy was ready—like, if there had been a show to do that night."<ref name="VF1">{{cite news|title=Jimmy Fallon: Lorne Michaels Advised Me on Who to Date (and Not Marry)|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/01/jimmy-fallon-lorne-michaels-advised-me-on-who-to-date-and-not-marry|date=January 7, 2014|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=February 25, 2015}}</ref> He rushed through his original characters in order to arrive at his musical impressions, which he felt were stronger. Three weeks passed, and despite his feeling that he had not gotten the position, he was asked to meet with Michaels at the [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] lot in Los Angeles. Michaels informed him that they wanted him for the show, and Fallon characterized the moment as being in "slow motion", remarking to Michaels before he left, "I'm going to make you proud."<ref name="nytaudition">{{cite news|first=Dave|last=Itzkoff|author-link=Dave Itzkoff|title=Extended Interview with Jimmy Fallon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/arts/television/jimmy-fallon-snl-audition-interview.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York City|date=August 22, 2013|access-date=February 25, 2015}}</ref>