Laughing when it hurts: Saturday Night Live anchor Tina Fey struggles wire making comedy out of tragedy.

• Author: Witchel, Alex
• Position: Arts - Television comedy writer

UH-OH. IN THE NBC studio in New York City where Saturday Night Live is produced, a tour group is heading down a hallway straight toward Tina Fey. "It's OK," she says tentatively as they approach. "I don't have my glasses on. No one will recognize me."

She's right. The tourists pass not realizing they are in the presence of the comedy show's "Weekend Update" co-anchor and first female head writer. She smiles, hiding in plain sight, a low-key version of the amused schoolmarm persona she plays on the satirical newscast.

Comedians have traditionally been a noisy bunch. But Fey, 31, off camera at least, has an unexpected lack of bravado. She is shy, skinny, and seemingly unsure of herself. Maybe it's just her personality and maybe it's the times we're living in, but reconciling life with comedy has been one tough assignment since September 11.

The season premiere of Saturday Night Live was on September 29; soon after, the show was caught up in the NBC anthrax scare after anchorman Tom Brokaw received his infamous letter. That week's guest host, Drew Barrymore, fled the studio and was instantly mocked in the tabloid press.

"That wasn't fair," Fey says, sitting on the couch in her bare dressing room. "I ran out of this building so fast, I was gone before Drew Barrymore even knew what happened."

The fallout from September 11 has Fey and her staff of 18 writers still feeling their way on what's funny. "Everyone has been freaked out, some more than others, and I put myself on top of the freaked-out list," she says.

For several shows, Saturday Night Live resorted to safe slapstick. "I'm probably the most sensitive, the one who's always saying, `Let's be more careful,'" Fey says. "I've been figuring out that, when dealing with our sorrow, there's no room for humor. But our own anger and frustration can be funny."

Fey has worked that strategy into her ever-sharp Hollywood zingers. For one "Weekend Update," she wrote: "In order to feel safer on his...