The Teen Jimmy Fallon Once Pulled From the Crowd Now Directs It

(JERSEY CITY, N.J.) — “How about this young man? This young man in the front here?” Jimmy Fallon says, pointing into the audience.

Fallon heads down the stairs of The Tonight Show studio and extends a microphone toward a stunned teenager in the front row. The kid turns in his seat, grinning in disbelief, and has to be tapped on the shoulder before he finally stands and joins Fallon.

After a quick interview, the moment turns into a Mad Libs-style Thanksgiving parade-themed song-and-dance number with The Roots. Fallon and his guest clap along in sync to the Jackson 5-inspired tune, a beaming smile plastered to the young man’s face as the audience cheers. It’s the day before Thanksgiving 2014.

More than eleven years later, at 9 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, that same young man is back in the same building. This time, he is there as the recently named Director of Operations for Tours and Audiences at NBC Studios. Kwaby Asante, the teenager once plucked from the crowd, now helps oversee the audiences that fill NBC’s studios each day.

Kwaby was named Director of Operations for Tours and Audiences at NBC Studios in early 2026. [Credit: Kwaby Asante]

Still, when we sit down to talk, he is calm. He folds his hands in his lap, glances at his phone only occasionally, and settles into his chair.

“This part of Rock Center Operations is called guest experience,” Kwaby says as we talk in an office on the fifth floor of the building. “It’s net new to Rock Center Ops, but it hasn’t had a ton of stability.”

Guest experience includes directly managing audiences for Saturday Night Live and The Kelly Clarkson Show, as well as collaborating across teams at Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It is, he says, a nine-to-five job most days. Except on Saturdays, when he supports daytime tours before the 8 p.m. SNL dress rehearsal and the 11:30 p.m. live show. Or Sundays, when there are more tours. Or weekends like this one, when he is working a 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. stretch. But nine to five, other than that. 

“It’s exhausting, but it’s also really fun. I love the general public. I love, like, we’ll go to the shop after this, and I’ll interact with people. It’s fun.”

Growing up in Cromwell, Conn., Kwaby fell in love early with the late-night shows he now helps support. No one in his life was surprised when he finally managed to get tickets to The Tonight Show in November 2014. But even before that appearance, he had already decided NBCUniversal was where he wanted to be. News, sports, television — all of it appealed to him.

That conviction pushed him to seek out contacts at the company and keep going after an early rejection from the ad sales division. He landed an entry-level role in 2019 and then worked his way up through the production ranks. Now, in this job, he is on the other side of an experience he once had himself.

Kwaby stands under the NBC Studios sign after landing his first role in 2019. [Credit: Kwaby Asante]

When I ask whether the public can be difficult, he offers few examples. Once, an audience member posted SNL dress rehearsal footage on X, a major Studio 8H violation that got her banned for life. Mostly, though, Kwaby talks about the people around him. He praises his boss, Jen, who is on maternity leave. He credits the experience of his managers and his team of eight. He talks about feeling responsible for supporting early-career professionals in the NBC Page Program.

That instinct is something his colleagues notice, too.

Brendan Dewley, Manager of the Tour at NBC Studios, says he’s gone to Kwaby for everything from life advice to software workflows. He describes him as steady and operationally sharp. At one point, Brendan says that Kwaby helped him conduct a “meeting audit” to determine which recurring calls were necessary and which could be moved to make better use of his time.

The two have also had their share of surreal NBC moments. During SNL50: The Anniversary Special, both served as seat fillers. In black tie, Kwaby took Bill Murray’s place and found himself sitting between Mike Myers, Meryl Streep, and David Spade. Brendan, who performs with a sketch comedy troupe outside of work, temporarily filled in for Kristen Wiig alongside Laura Dern and an NBC Page.

Brendan (2nd from right), Kwaby (far right), and fellow team members smile big in Studio 8H at SNL 50: The Anniversary Special. [Credit: Kwaby Asante]

“‘You got to be really good at things that don’t take talent,’ right?” he says. “I love that quote because it’s true. I think being a good person doesn’t take talent. I think being prepared, being organized, being on time, doesn’t take talent.”

For someone who is plainly ambitious, his answer to what comes next is surprisingly measured. “This is a job that, if I had to do for 10 years, I could do,” he says. “So I’m not necessarily thinking about the next thing right away.”

That does not mean he lacks plans. One day, he says, he could see himself moving up to senior director or vice president, maybe in sports or news, maybe even around a game involving his beloved Philadelphia Eagles. But for now, he seems content to stay close to the work in front of him and to the people moving through the building each day.

When our conversation ends, he heads toward the NBC Shop, climbing the steps to help manage another wave of guests. The teenager Jimmy Fallon once pulled from the audience is still in 30 Rock. Only now, he is the one making sure everyone else gets in.