Kenan Thompson
01:24:44 Share

Yes, I have actually stayed at Airbnbs from time to time. And truth be told, I do really like them. I'm being totally honest right now that I've had great experiences with them. Yeah. I mean, you can have your look at you go get your own place, get your own pool, your own living room. You're not going to walk in an elevator. You're not going to see people when you're walking around in your undergarments. Yeah.

Yes. And if you don't understand what we're talking about, you should go online. What we're saying is you have a house with a kitchen and a bathroom and it's just for you, tailored for you. You liked your Airbnb over a hotel. Yes. And I do think I've had relatives stay nearby and sometimes it's very nice for them to do an Airbnb and have a little house and they're not underfoot. The last thing you want is your house guest to say, excuse me, um,

Where would I find a towel? That's a toughie when it's because they're naked. Well, it's like the 1800 time you say on the towel rack. Yeah. Thank you. I was going to look there. People don't even think hotels sometimes just go, hey, I'll go there. I'll get an Airbnb. So you won't regret it.

So you've been out lately or what? Yeah. We're going to introduce Kenan right now, but I was going to tell you this weekend I did some gigs on my tour. And I'm a flu coach, as always, you know, man of the people. What I don't realize when you fly, like if it's Southwest, you stand there and then they go, almost any airline, I just hear them go, okay. And I go to get on. They go, right now we're going to start. We're just going to start with like little babies and people that need some help. Okay. So they pile on. Now...

Any veterans from the military. So they got on. That's good. Then they go first class or platinum gold members. And they go on and they're like people with anxiety or any stresses go on. Then it's people that really hate flying go next. People that sort of hate flying. I'm like, I think I'm the last person to get on. Yeah.

And then I got on and stuffed me big rump into a little chair. And I go, they say they're going to clean the plane. It's just one guy with Febreze. I go, anyway, so then I, okay, bring him on. And then I go, I think there's a dog tooth in my seat back. They go, we can't get every nook and cranny, narc. Why don't you yelp it down a notch, guy? Okay. Anyway, that's the story. I, you know, I think they just, they flatter all of us. I used to fly coach.

I didn't have any pocket change, but now it's golden platinum five-star members. And you're in the 40th row, but my God, you're walking on triple platinum, man. But nobody doesn't have a great moniker. I got first on one of the ways and they go, there's a first class lounge. And I walk up, they go, are you a member? I go-

Well, I'm flying first class. They go, what a joke. You can't come in here. You're not a member. Yeah. She said, pay downstairs. I went to one of those. She goes, pay downstairs. But there was no one there, like no one at the cash register. So I went in, had a couple pops. Yeah, a couple knocks. And then snuck out. And saving that 70 bucks was just- Oh, I love it. Something about that. It's nice. Sneaking. The woman that wouldn't let me in says to her friend, as I'm leaving, I love you and grownups. I go, not enough.

This is the time where you do me a solid and go, hey, Higgins, get in there. But also when I left the plane, I said this to her, because I'm a great guy. I said, listen, I want to thank you because, you know, you showed up. I said, a lot of people are calling in sick lately and planes are delayed, but I made my show and I appreciate it. And she goes, I know, right? I have COVID. And I came in and I go, exactly. That's what I mean. You're trying and you're really doing. All right. Kenan, great guy. A lot of fun with him. Yeah.

The longest running cast member by far. We go over his story. You know, he was a child actor and then a child star on Nickelodeon. He was on Hamburger Town. He was on... Keel and Peel. He was on Peel and Keenan. Well, look, we're not good with names, but he was on a lot of stuff on Nickelodeon. Good Burger. Good Burger. And he was in Keenan and Kel. But Keenan...

Has his own incredible story. And it took him a long time to kind of get used to getting SNL and being on SNL. And then he evolved and we go over how he got some great, I think Scared Straight is one of the hardest. I've laughed at a sketch. Scared Straight was great. He also does the, what's up with that? Is that it? What's up with that? It's so funny. It's hard to describe this, but look it up on YouTube if you don't know it.

And I will make, I'll make an observation about Keenan. He speaks, because I have a lot of Irish relatives, he speaks in poetry. And I hate this cliche, but he's kind of an old soul. He's a laid back guy. And you always think of him as the kid, kind of. And he's still really young.

Yeah. And he also is smart. We were asking him who he thought would take over the show if Lauren ever left. Interesting answer. And I asked him what it was like being famous at a young age, if that throws you off as a kid. A lot of child stars don't.

aren't a thousand percent stable understandably and i think he's got his head on he is a de facto producer in a sense that he he's been there had new people show up go through their whole tenure they leave and he's still there we ask him what that felt like but he's always likes when new a bunch comes in because we've talked about on the podcast some someone comes in as a single and

And then this past year, they put four or five in, you know? And he likes to see them evolve. He likes to see clumps come in. Mm-hmm. Yes. It's easier for your brain to have a new person with you. I kind of came in with a chunk. It's hard to come in midstream, like, by yourself, December, and then you're just fully lost in that place. Yeah. All right, you have a song? This is a riff I thought of for Kenan. So, um... Oh, let me get kind of a combo here. Yeah, get comfortable. Get comfortable. Toe Tapper. Toe Tapper.

David. We can fix that.

Sorry. I have five people staring at me with their jaws out, like they're just... No, it's fun. Is it? Yeah. Is it? I like Kenan Thompson. All right, Kenan Thompson, guys. Hope you like Kenan. Oh, whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Not even a minute late. Hey, alum. What's up, alums? We're alums. You're not an alum yet, right? You're still on campus. Yeah, I know. I'm still fully on campus. Yeah, once you leave campus. All the campus meals are still free.

How are you, gentlemen? Apologies for missing the last time. My sleep schedule has just been crazy lately. Wait a minute. In today's busy world with all the emails and all this stuff, I recheck. I mean, I don't, I can't, I'm never anywhere. I'm not even sure I was supposed to be on this right now until you just showed up. Well, you're here.

No worries there. Where are you broadcasting from? The basement? This is like an undisclosed location in Northern California. It's kind of a basement area. Oh, right. Yours does look like a basement. Are you okay? There's stuff in there that should not be seen. Anyway, it's a little haunted house place. There's definitely a poltergeist in this house. Built in 1912. But anyway, back to you, Kenan. Okay.

Hey, Keenan, when you eat down there on the show night, that's free, right? Everything's still free. It is free. But, you know, you're also allowed to pay for whatever meal you would like. So there's still freedoms there.

Yeah. I would order in. Do you give every season a mental report card like, or a vibe card? Like, cause you've been there with so many casts and so many ups and downs and changes and people leaving that was your favorite cast member, all this, the normal drama. Yeah. So right now, what's your vibe card?

Right now it's super strong. We've been having a strong season. I think the new people all came in taking big swings together. It's nice to see when they get to come in in groups as opposed to one or twos trying to figure it out and being kind of lost for a couple years or whatever. Being in the SuperDuper background for a while, they got to come in.

at a time when we pretty much needed them. You know what I mean? So they've all kind of been pretty prevalent, I think, this season as far as like getting introduced to America and stuff like that or whatever. We talked a lot to Bridge cast members who came in and aren't really told anything because they're just alone and they're at the show and no one tells them

you know, where the bathroom is or what time is dinner. It's like, I bet Keenan tells them more than the higher up. I would go to Keenan. Yeah. I try to tell them whatever they want to know because you know, I had that same experience. I was super like, like you said, nobody explains it to you. So like I showed up Tuesday at like six 30, not knowing that I should have been there. Yeah.

I mean, early, I was just like, I don't know. I'll just go. So you get hired and you just show up. Yeah. Nobody told me a time. You know, the times didn't come into play until like Wednesday or some shit like that. And you were the only one coming in when you came in. You were just added in as a single or we had anyone. I came in with Finesse and JB was writing and Jordan Black was writing.

Okay. So definitely you guys are the new ones. You know, Keenan, I did that when I came in. I do like coming in with a clump. I had a few people. We sort of had a chunk of people that are described from my era, thank God. But when I came in, I remember Schneider once...

And Schneider and Downey called me on a Thursday night from a rewrite meeting and said, where the fuck are you? And I go, well, I didn't get anything on. And they go, you still got to be here. And I go, well, no one tells me anything. I go, that's like a 16-hour rewrite day, as you guys know. And I didn't go the full week before. No one said a word. And this is the second week I missed. And then they go, get down here, Downey. He goes, get down here. I go, okay, I don't...

I felt intrusive. Like if I went in, they'd say, why are you here? Did you think you got something on? I love the, I love the mystery. It's weird. Did Lauren ever say to you, just as a non sequitur, still with the show? Oh,

Oh, still here? Yeah, still here, but still with the show. It's like season four and he walks by you. Oh, look who's still here. Yeah, you get little asides like that. It's more so like right before you're about to perform a very personal sketch that you're terrified about. You know, he's done this literally to me. He's like, you know this should be funny, right? Okay, have fun. I'm just like, shit, has this not been funny all this time? That's...

It'd be really nice if this really was funny. Yeah. I know. His dry sense of humor, but it does kind of relax you. It does. I like that. It's a Jedi mind trick because then I go over-perform, basically. What was in your early tenure there? Was there a sketch that you were particularly nervous about? That like, if I land this, I'm going to break through in a different way. And then Lauren said something. When did you feel like you had a little bit of a...

a foothold on SNL Mountain kind of was, or is it right away? No, it was not right away at all. It took a while. I didn't get like my own personal ideas on to like, you know, fifth season kind of thing and on, you know, I was servicing, you know, writers and stuff like that and trying to be a good, you know, performance cast member. But my writing was really slacking, you know, cause I was kind of learning on the fly. I didn't have that responsibility at, you know, Nickelodeon. We were just kids, you know, and,

I had, you know, good on camera presence or whatever. And that was enough to kind of skate me past not knowing how to write or having, knowing how to like collaborate with like full adults, you know what I'm saying? I was 25 and there was like real adults in the room with like real consequence if I wasted their time kind of thing, you know? So it took a while to like feel comfortable, you know,

asking people for their time or to take a swing on, you know, an idea or whatever. Did you find a confident or a writer or someone that you started to kind of talk to or vent to or? Yeah, Brian Tucker came in early, you know, like we didn't, you know, specifically write, you know, something that recurred necessarily, but we definitely had a rapport very early because, you know, he loves the black zeitgeist, you know what I'm saying? So we get along well.

And me and Colin shared an office for like eight years. So that was good times. Nice. So Brian, he became head writer or was he head writer when you came in? No, he graduated. And I think, you know, I had a hand in helping that.

with our little what's up with that ventures. What's up with that is a crusher, dude. I just watched a few of them and, uh, man, that's funny as shit. I, that's like an old school kind of just, I start laughing and it, you know, you don't really laugh at every sketch. Sometimes you look at a sketch and you go, that was good. Right. That was funny. But to start laughing and going, what the fuck is going on? Well, when, when something is funny with the sound off or it's visual, you go on the song,

And there's, you've got Sudeikis does that thing. You're doing your thing. There's no real joke. It's a celebration and it stopped. It's, it's what I would call an irresistible sketch. The only joke in it. My favorite by far is fucking bill playing, uh, uh,

Lindsey Buckingham. Yeah, thank you. And he's just he's got so much to say in the beginning and we're going to get to it. I swear. And then we never do. And, you know, I always think he's mad at me and then he's not mad at me. It's my fucking favorite.

And Bill Hader is just funny, you know, without lines. He's just one of those guys. One of the greatest. You know what I mean? Like, it's not easy to perform in silence. You know what I mean? You have to be a great mime kind of acting like a Martin Short or something.

- What's nice about an ensemble, Dana knows this, is like Keenan, it takes a while to learn how to write a sketch. I think people realize that there's no class for it. So you're really learning by watching and it takes a long time. But if you're a writer, you have the respect enough when you're there to be able to say, I have this sketch, which pretty much services me, but I'm gonna have Mike Myers come in and do two lines

You get a guy like that and he will come in and do his best two lines or understated or say, Dana, come in and do this. And they do it because it's an ensemble. And you go, what a gift. I get these great guys and they are just pros walking. Boom, boom. What do you need for the sketch? Play it under, play it over. What do you need for me? And I'll get out. And then that was sort of a power trip in a way too. You go, wow, I have all these guys at my disposal. And the same thing you're saying is that you

You get to bring Bill Hader, who's so good. And you go, am I wasting this guy's time? But no, he comes in and gives his laughs. Sudeikis doesn't even talk. Sudeikis doesn't say a word. He does the running man. And he's the biggest star of the sketch. Like after we rehearsed it the first time and he was sweating harder than I was, I was like, oh, this is going to be dynamite. You know what I'm saying? Because it's off my shoulders. I could tell. I was ready to go on.

They are all, all you guys are moving so much. He's moving the most. Well, it's just a fucking workout. It's not overtly like a funny dance or something about it. I couldn't really describe riding the bicycle. It's just something it's actually really good. Yes. Of course he's playing. It's so serious. So yeah, that's another, yeah. It's like a technically black dancers that a white guy is doing very well, basically. Yeah. Yeah.

So good. And he looks funny. You know, I think Zach was in one of them playing the two-sided flute. Is that, am I crazy? Yeah. My God, yeah. Yeah, Zach. Two-sided flute. That's when it's just like, what more like ridiculous stuff can we do? And that was one of the harder things to do was finding something for the host to do that would stand out, you know? So like, that's one of the detriments of writing at SNL. You'll have this great idea that works for you and your friends.

then you're like oh like what is the host doing it and if they don't have much to do in it

It might be on the chopping block, you know, like, right. It's their night, you know, so they're not necessarily going to lean into it. Sorry to interrupt, but Lauren also drops those subtle, subtle notes, you know, maybe Fred Armisen is the guy or, you know, Mike could be, you know, he's kind of guiding the show that way, but it's always good to make friends with the host. Yeah. Or just get a relationship with them. Like, how, what are you feeling? How are you doing? What do you want?

What do you mean? That's the game, you know? That and, like, of course, you know, satisfying the family. Like you were saying, David, like, you have all these people at your disposal in the cast, but you also have these brilliant makeup people, brilliant wig people. Like, you know, our technical crew is insane. I don't know.

I don't know if y'all saw Pedro Pascal's episode, but they did a Mario Kart thing that was insane. The graphics were crazy, crazy good. And this is a 24-hour, 30-hour fucking turnaround. It's just magical up there. So...

And they turned you into Kendrick Perkins recently. Yeah, whenever they want, you know? Kendrick was one of the funniest things I just saw. It's one of the best impressions of the last few years. There's something so fucking funny about that thing. Thank you. I watch that show every day. And that shit feels like we did it a couple of years ago because...

you know it's weird when you have to do impressions before their household name you know like we tried steve harvey before he was doing family feud and it just didn't work because you know not enough people like knew what was funny about steve harvey basically you know what i'm saying yeah right and then kendrick perkins was like he wasn't big enough yet like i guess he hadn't you know

burned enough people yet to become famous enough. Like after that racist outburst, like now everybody knows him. And now they're looking back at like an old impression, like, oh my God, it's magical. So there's so many ways to score and there's so many ways to get burned. And I don't know, it's just a

It's a crazy job experience. Like, look who I'm talking to and like who I'm family with. You know what I mean? Like this is, it's such a blessed existence to be a part of. So, you know, a lot of the people who've come on the show, I might be one of them, but you just, because it's, there's no other experience like it experientially and emotionally, you know, Rockefeller center, Laura Michaels, that eight H a lot of people kind of said, I'm not quite sure why I left. Maybe, maybe two more years would have been better or three more years, but

So, are you the smartest guy in show business in a way like, if this is kind of the most intense things you can do on the planet and most overtly just creative because you can think of something Thursday and it's on live TV?

When did you, your forever plan, when did you kind of go, I think I'll go season seven, I'll go eight. How did it evolve? It's 20 seasons now, right? Or more? Yeah, this is 20. I mean, it just kept rolling, you know, couple year deal after couple year deal. You know what I mean? Like it was never more than two or three, like, all right. And then all of a sudden you're at the end of that three years, like, all right, should we extend? Like what else is going on or whatever? Yeah.

And it's like, there's other stuff going on, but it doesn't necessarily have to take time away from us. Like there's a way to do both. And it kind of just kept working like that. It's like, that's like a new world. Yeah. It was just a new, you don't have to do it. You can go do a show. Exactly. And I was either or before. Yeah. I wasn't the first one, you know, Fred like did a whole Portlandia run while he was still on the show, you know, and like, that's right. You know, uh, 80 did the same thing with shrill. Um,

If they let you. Yeah, if they allow it. And now they do, I think. And yeah, I think it's a newer concept for people to allow for

you know, an actor to be in two places at once, basically. It's generous. And also if it's part of the Broadway video or the, you're part of the show, even when, you know, Lauren is producing and you're, it makes allowances for that. And Lauren, when I was there was just starting with SNL studios or his production company. So it's kind of a whole big ecosystem. I just wanted to ask you about like,

So you're there, you're doing really well. Someone comes in, stays seven years and leaves and you're still there. Like emotionally, you must get really attached to people because it does bond people so hard. And then who, probably a lot of people, who's like you're sorry to see them go because you had so much fun with them. And then you meet the next person you're going to love. I mean, all of them, you know, like in the beginning,

Like, you know, Jeff Richard is not Jeff Richard. Jeff Goldblum. No, Jeff. I'm fucking blanking on his name. It might have been. No. Jeff Richards is Tina's husband.

Right. Jeff Richards was a performer, right? So it was Jeff Richards, blonde hair kind of dude. Yeah. Impressionist. Yeah. So Jeff Richards was there and then he wasn't in my first season. And I like, I missed him. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, and like, just because we had like a backstage bond, he used to make me laugh and stuff like that, but he had a rough go at it.

and I even missed him in the beginning and it just never got easier. I think it was like Jimmy's last season or something too. I didn't necessarily build that strong of a friendship with him, but he was always nice and then all of a sudden it was a different show without a Jimmy Fallon presence or whatever. That dude was like a rock star and I was like, "Oh man, I wish I had more time." Were you on with us? I can't remember.

Yeah, I was there. I wasn't on camera yet. I left in 93. Were you there? Yeah, I was still doing. Yeah, I was driving. Actually, I drove you several nights, Dana. But yeah, it sucks every time, you know, because, you know, we're in the trenches together for so many hours, you know, so many different emotional experiences and stuff like that. And

I've been lucky enough to be in some cast with some very cool people. So you just develop strong relationships and then all of a sudden they're not there anymore. And it's very sporadic when you see them again. This year, Dell Technologies' back-to-school event is delivering impressive tech with an inspiring purpose.

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I got a hard question, Dana. Who's his starting five from when you were on the show, since you've been on the show?

Starting five. He probably had a few, but you did have... Well, go ahead. All-time starting five? That's a lot of cast members. From 20 years. No, since he's been on. Oh, that's a tough one. I just know that... He's thinking... It might be all ladies because my sisters have been insane. You know, like Kate, Cecily...

you know, Amy, Tina, Maya, like that's over, you know, Kristen. That's exactly like just with five is not fair. So that's five are used up right away. That's what I'm saying. So it's just been some powerhouse performers. And I don't know, man, like,

It's such a great front row seat to the silly. I like that. I'm always laughing on camera or off camera. Like, I can't take it seriously, especially 20 years later. It's like it's not a job anymore. You know what I mean? Like, I don't care what happens. What you do, which is so enticing, is that you don't break anything.

but there's a sense of joy underneath everything on your face. And we are, well, you're in some way, we're doing something crazy, you know, but to your point about the women, I talked with Lauren about that because there were issues around, are the women getting enough parts?

Then the women in recent times started playing a lot of the men as well, also being dominant on that front. So we definitely, it was a very light show that way. But the women you've mentioned, yeah, are just absolutely brilliant. And then, of course, we all have our other favorites too. Bill Hader, who you might be nice to hear, just we put him on the spot. You know, he was the greatest guy, you know, just because it's a fun game like the NBA, who's better than this. And Bill Hader said...

Keenan. Keenan. That's crazy. As the best cast member of all time. What? That's insane. He just said, what? That's insane. He just said, well, there's different ways of looking at this, but you're there. And it seems like, when did you meet peak relaxation? Because it seems like it's been a while since...

I call it the comfort factor. I think Bowen Yang has it already. Like they come in, it's crunchy. It scores. If there's a cavalcade of people doing a thing, landing some shit. I think you, you landed. Yeah. I think peak was around scared straight when I would like,

you know, had an idea that was coming from me and was working on the show as far as, you know, intelligence or, you know, are the jokes heady enough or new enough or not just, you know, for black culture or whatever kind of just for everybody? Is it like broad enough?

And that one was like the first one where we really nailed it down. And thanks to Colin, man, because, you know, I brought the black side and he brought, you know, the structure side, basically. Colin Jost. Yeah. Kind of like how me and Brian were. Brian Tucker. So I was going to bring that up because I do think that's another one of yours that just really pops off the television. Oh, thank you. Because you have the jokes and you're going, I don't know if people, for people who are just hearing about it, it's, it's,

juvenile delinquents kind of getting scared by a hardened criminal, you know, verbally to make them not become criminals or something like that. Using the parts of eighties movies. And within it, you're, you're, you're so committed to,

that on the air show with the adrenaline, like you're grabbing people and you're so in their face and they're tilting back. There's a sense of danger almost like, did anyone get hurt? Cause you really, I think their eardrums were hurting for sure. Cause like I was hollering and like, I wanted to be like right close to where, you know, you could see my face and their face next to each other. So I would like circle around behind them. So I know I was

yelling in their ears way too much. And what would be like the, the, the entree into that? You think you're cool. I mean, can you just do one of the lines, maybe even half speed? Like when you first show up, it's like, he, like when he first shows up, it's like on your feet. All right. Well, he says, all right, here it comes coming through the door. All right, here it comes on your feet.

Now sit down. Sit on your feet. And they're just innocent, scared guys. Yeah, just chaos from the jump. And shout out to Sudeikis once again, because another nothing ass role that he would just make a meal out of. Like at the end of the sketch, you know, he hops back up on the desk and like, you know, settles in or whatever and just made a meal out of being that kind of Keystone cop or whatever.

Just fucking so much fun, man. Because you're knocking down all the... Sorry, what? Yeah, I'm sorry, but to Sudeikis, you're knocking down all these boundaries and being inappropriate. He's like, hey, hey, hey. Yeah, yeah, you can't take that. I'm my bad, chief. Show me where your mind is at. Yeah, sorry, what were you going to say? Dana, I have this sketch up because I was...

watching before I gave it, and I have it freeze frame, and it's on you and Sudeikis, and Sudeikis looks like Phil. Phil Hartman. He's got his hair back, he's got glass, he's got a mustache. I'm like, this is probably something Phil would have played. He can play the regular guy and make it so funny. Yeah. He's like Phil that way. Yeah, man. The good-looking everyman. Yeah. You guys laid out such an amazing template for us to follow. The everyday man, the impressionist,

the voice, the quirk, the physical, the this, so like by the time we got there, you know, we kind of knew if we could possess any of those talents,

And then someone else in the cast could be, you know, another person like that. We knew we had like a full, you know, fledged kind of force, basically, because we were covering all those aspects of society. You know, I mean, there is like, you know, a dad kind of a character. There is a, you know, a ball. Yeah. There's a guy that's like tearing the house down, you know what I mean? And there's a this, that and the other. And then, of course, there's women, you know, and.

Women, you know what always kind of I sometimes have a sense of memory about when you're doing the sketch all week and you have the practice show, it's the air show. And then the band's playing, everyone's psyched up and you're going behind the slats and you got whatever your goofy thing is.

And then you might see Bill Hader, Amy Poehler come over and they've got their goofy costume on and you're just all waiting to go on and do it for the live. There's it. That's kind of those bonding moments. Like you're, you're scared, you're excited, but when you get into a rhythm with a cast and you've been through several incarnations, um,

It gets really fun. Everyone's getting very playful because the audience is loving the cast and everyone's getting more confident. There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching other cast members scoring, especially in their earlier years. I remember when Kate used to do Whiskers Are We, and it was always in that last 10-minute window, so a lot of us would be done for the night and we could just...

watch her just fucking destroy with the wildest, weirdest characters, you know, or concepts, you know, kind of ever. And it was just like, man, I'm so like, it's like being a proud parent, but like, or being a proud sibling, you know what I mean? It's like, look at my little sister out there scoring, you know, like as, as big as anybody, you know, it was always really a lot of fun. So I like to, to root for everybody on the team, you know what I'm saying? Cause I'm going to get mine.

Like I get mine, you know what I'm saying? I want them to get theirs. He was in roughly 1500 sketches. What are your favorite 200? Um, any alien, you have 10 seconds. Any alien. All the aliens were always a lot of fun to play because it's like,

impressive how they can throw an alien head on you in like three minutes or seven minutes whatever it's never super long and then it comes right off and you can go be somebody else um but yeah i don't know man saying live from new york the first time was fucking exhilarating you know it's been exhilarating each time after you know it's just get the party started but also recognize

where you are, you know what I'm saying? You just said live from New York on Saturday night and people are clapping and now the show is happening and like all these cameras are dancing and like,

That fucking famous person has been behind that wall for four minutes waiting for their moment. Yeah, yeah. They're listening to you. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. They're waiting for their cue. Yeah. Fuck, I used to see it. I didn't say it, I don't think, until I came back and hosted. But I remember saying it going, this is what Chevy Chase said. This is like when you were a kid going, live from New York. And sometimes they'd yell it. Sometimes they'd just say it. Yeah. But it's turned into sort of a yelling, exciting thing.

thing to get out there because here we go one thousand percent yeah it's iconic yeah that's the the the host part of it um i know you guys have favorite hosts but a host that pops to mind uh for you i mean for me on hosts it was charlton heston or you know these yeah like symmetrical people i always say like hanks and chappelle you know those are two guys that usually come in and like

have really, really big shows, you know, as far as like the behind the scenes people that show up to kind of want to witness the night, you know, like people here. Oh yeah. Yeah. And Hanks was like that in the eighties or early nineties when he came back with us. Yeah. Yeah. He came in with, yeah. The nicest guy in the world, but like a fucking,

strong, strong, strong artist, you know, like real meticulous, like damn near method as far as like his approach to comedy, even, you know, like comedy should be very specific and it's like it's supposed to be this rhythm and this reference is supposed to, you know what I mean? And he's always like fishing and trying to keep that old, you know, world of like us ad-libbing 24 hours a day to find funny moments and plug them in or not, but just to kind of like push through the day, you know, entertaining each other.

And that feels very like old school. You know what I mean? Like the new kids are just in their phones. Basically, everybody's like, as soon as we're done, you know, we take a break from rehearsal. Everybody picks their phones up. Well, Tom Hanks has no movie star ego at all. And he's crazy. He loves coming into SNL and being part of an ensemble.

And he, Mr. Short-Term Memory was one of his iconic sketches. He's probably the only one who could land it because it was about commitment. You know, Will Ferrell, there's certain commitment freaks, but he's up there. And yeah, he was always fun. And I told him, I said, I felt we had another cast member coming, not necessarily a host when he was around. Yeah. Just his whole vibe. And it's great when cast members host the show. It's like a week off for us.

Because they know the whole drill. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny because you go, when they leave and come back, you're like, it's like an all-cast show.

It is. It's the best. It's the best we've ever. It's like, there was no ego. I was telling Dana, there was times when we were having a run of hosts that weren't quite as famous. Like it's the second lead from a TV show or the third lead. And I was like looking around the room going, I think Mike and Dana are more famous. For a beat. For a run there. It's like everyone was, there was some people getting very famous on the show and,

you thought, oh my God, the host must feel crazy coming in here. Sometimes they just sit down and go, I want to do Wayne's World. And you go, oh, okay. Do you have a starstruck host for you at all? Like struck by me? No, you would go a little starstruck like... That I was starstruck? Oh, yeah. I mean, Eddie was crazy.

Wow. Yeah, Eddie would be. That was just crazy. You know what I mean? Sandler was like that too. You know, I'm always enamored by that guy. Like, even when we're like shooting movies or whatever and it feels like I should be more comfortable because it's not my first time around him but I'm just such a fan, you know, and

It's the same with you guys. You know what I mean? Like it's off putting, you know, for you guys to like really be in people's presence because it's like, you know, we hold you in such high regard and you bring us so much joy. It's like, oh shit, now this person is like in front of me. What do I say to them? Like, I hope I'm not wasting their time or I hope I can make them laugh. You know what I mean? Because

Like if you talk to Seinfeld, he doesn't want to like talk. He wants to like be entertained. You know what I mean? Like he wants to find, he wants to find jokes. You know what I mean? So he's like, he's on a joke hunt. A thousand percent. So he's like, let me not waste his time. I like it. Yeah. It's the same for you guys. Like that 40th was crazy. Just like watching people, you know, come in in different end rooms and like do their bits and shit. But these are all people who,

that I just grew up idolizing or whatever, but never feeling like I would ever meet or be bros with or alumni or any of that. You know what I'm saying?

It's a lot to take in, so I understand what it is for the general public to bump into you guys and not know what to say. It's like, oh shit, did you get a picture or give me a big punch? I don't know what to do. I always tell, people ask me, what should I say to a celebrity? And I said, be very, very specific.

You know, they ran into you. They go, I love and scared straight when you and Sudeikis have that little powwow on the guys. And then you're like, oh, that's a real fan. But you're a thousand percent in the club. You know, you're not only just on Saturday Night Live. Now everyone, you know, you have these sketches that are, you know.

Part of our history. But I had the same thing with Dan Aykroyd. I was copying his impression with a little tape recorder to do Jimmy Carter in college. And then I walk into Lorne's office. I don't know if it's ever happened to you. And there's Dan Aykroyd. I didn't know what to say to him at all.

It's too much. Yeah. Have you had a celebrity? I walked in there once and Mick Jagger was sitting there. Lorne never gives you a warning. Did you ever walk into Lorne's office and have somebody famous sitting there or a cast member or just? Yeah. I want to say it was like McCartney in there one time or somebody like that. It's like Jesus Christ. You're not ready.

No, what am I going to say about Beatles? I love all what's up with that, you know, because he keeps dancing and singing. He never really interviews the people. He never says a word. They want to talk, but they never get to talk as good. It's like, oh my God. Did you notice? Was it poor writing? They never talk. Yeah.

And the dancing man, you know, with the bicycle guy. What's he all about? And the three-piece suit and everything. It's a long suit. It looks great. One time, Dana, Lauren called me out of the blue, which why would Lauren call me? But I was on the show and it was toward the end of my run. I

And he goes, David, you're good on your feet. Do you think you could think of jokes? If Mick Jagger won something and he has to think of things to say, and I'm like, I don't know, Warchor or something. He goes, hang on. He goes, hello. And I go, he puts Mick Jagger. I don't even, I'm not even getting my head around what the, what's going on. And then I go, oh, hey. And then he goes, he's like, basically like, go. I'm like, go what? Give me, give you my jokes. I don't, haven't thought of yet.

It's too much pressure. He did that to me one time when we were doing a What's Up with that and like a guest dropped out. So like the second seat is usually just someone that really just sits there and doesn't say anything at all. And it's like reserved for any kind of famous person that wants to be there or get. Yeah. And then like that person dropped out.

So like Robin Williams was just around and he was like, you should ask Robin. I was like, I should ask. I should go ask Robin Williams to just sit in my sketch and not say a word. Jesus. Seriously. And he was like, yeah, I was like, shit. And I would have been cool with it. Yeah. No, I went and I didn't even finish my sentence. He was just like, absolutely. Like, whatever. He was just an angel. Yeah, that was crazy.

Yesterday, my brush with fame yesterday, Dana, was a guy, when I'm walking around, he comes up behind me, hey, and I see him running up with his camera. And he goes, are you David Bowie? And I go, yes. And then he goes, okay. And then I go, go tell him when you met David Bowie. But he knew me. Why this guy was like 23 and even knew who David Bowie was to say the wrong name.

But it was kind of funny. Bless him. Don't even correct him. David, I used to sign autographs as me when we were close in age in my boy stage. That's Lauren always says that. I never went boyish. Boyish. Boyish. And then I would sign autographs for a period of time as David.

Why not? Just kid it quicker. Now they just come up and say to me, you're no David Spade and walk away. And that's Marcy Klein. You guys ever like bump back into people that you did that to? Oh, that they realize. Yeah, sometimes. But they don't even know they're saying it when they say it sometimes. They just think they're saying the right thing. Right. So they don't even know they did anything wrong. Were you there for Margot Robbie when she hosted? Yeah, she was so nice.

We did this sketch that Bobby wrote, Bobby Moynihan, shout out. And it was like, you know that song? Bow, bow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I love that. Oh, was she a teacher? Yeah, she was like the hotline. I saw that. That's what I'm talking about. I saw that. She just kept taking layers off and just getting grosser and grosser. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. When I was watching this, Dana, I'm thinking, okay, first of all, Margot Robbie seems like a really good –

you know, fun, good spirited person that would go along with whatever. And when you go on that show, of course it's better if you just say, sure, let me try this, but you know, being pretty. And then I go, Oh, they're mate. She's just like a stripping hot teacher that you dream would strip. And so she starts stripping and I'm like, I'm kind of weird out. She would do this, you know? Right. But of course the joke comes in where she starts,

She lets her hair down and then she starts pulling out the extensions. And then she's basically as she's bald with like little strings of hair. And then it just gets worse. And the guys go from being excited to going, Oh gross. It's all like kind of slow motion. Yeah. Yeah. Slowly turned off by her, uh,

very fun. I like to see when a big star, like she's a pretty big star and to come in and, Oh yeah. And it took a while. Like that was not a quick shoot. Yeah. Well, she's a bald cap on, which is already data used to wear them all week just to get ready for Saturday. But,

Sometimes I had them on so much I would keep it on. I'd keep it on the whole week. I had a wig for my own hair, so I didn't have to get one on Saturday. Yeah, I just kept it all week. Dana, you could have it taken off and put it on again. No, Lauren, it's so fucking painful with the pins and the glue. Do they do it, Kenan? Anybody does a bald cap. Do they or a host, let's say?

It used to take about 45 minutes. So if they do it after dress, do they take it off to make their hair nice for the monologue or they just put their own hair as a wig on? The host, I feel like the host, they'll usually take it off. Shit. So they'll have that natural shit. It's not as work.

it's a lot of work on those makeup guys. Like, you're nervous. You're sitting in a chair with energy going, fuck, I want to get out of here. I want to go over my lines. And they're like, just sit tight. Scrubbing on your forehead, scrubbing the glue off and ripping your hair out. And you're like, it's sophisticated. Cause you can do on a movie. Yeah. It's grinding and glue and pins. How's it feel? Like,

You just say, fine. It's fine. Any pain? No, it's all right. Let's just go do this. Not going to do it. Let's just go do this. You know, Dana, I think we have a connection. We've been friends for a long time. And for this episode of Fly on the Wall, we've partnered with eHarmony.

which isn't us. E harmony is a dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. We are not dating. I want to clarify that, but the connection is what you want in a dating partner. Um, just someone like if you found someone that listened to this podcast, that's somewhat of a connection. And then you sort of build on that. You want someone with some common ground. Yeah, it's not it. Look, if you want to connect romantically over, you know, super fly or fly on the wall, um,

It just makes us happy. You don't want to be watching The Godfather and the person next to you goes, this movie sucks. So dumb. Yeah. You want to connect on all issues and harmonize in life. Similar sensibility, similar sense of humor, and similar sense of sense. I don't like when they watch The Godfather and they're like, everyone in this movie is so old. I'm like, they're 40.

Watch 2001 Space Odyssey. Too much of this movie is in outer space. I don't like it. When do they land? When do they land? Why is that stupid red light acting so silly? Who's friends with a robot? We know dating isn't easy. That's why we partnered with eHarmony because dating is different on eHarmony. They want you to find someone who gets you, someone you can be comfortable with.

Yeah. I mean, the whole idea is you're going to take a compatibility quiz, helps your personality come out in your profile, which makes all the profiles on eHarmony way more interesting and fun to read. So I think this is the goal of dating sites, and I think eHarmony does it great. It's just finding somebody you're compatible with.

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Let me bore Keenan with one more sketch. Passing out on the slingshot. I think I was right before we were going to talk to you last. It was the night before. It was maybe Woody Harrelson. Uh-huh. Yeah. Was it you? What was that one? That was, yeah, that was me and Woody. I think, yeah, that was Woody Harrelson. Was that Woody Harrelson?

I think so. Yes, it was. Yeah. And was it you excited to go on this? It was very physical and very... Yeah, I was like, oh, come on, you guys, we got to ride the slingshot. Get back out now. You know, don't look like a scaredy cat in front of your girlfriend. Right.

Like all that typical old, dumb, misogynistic kind of tone. Like, come on, you know, the fellas will handle this kind of thing or whatever. But yeah, it was just an homage to all those slingshot videos because. And what happened? You black out right away, right? Yeah. It's usually the guy that's like excited about it that huffs and puffs too much in the beginning and it just passes out. Yeah. Because all I kept thinking is how do you see the cue cards? Because you're.

Yeah, my squint game was on. Your squint game was good. You look like your eyes are closed when you're reading the cards. That's a good one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Damn. And then when it was time to talk, I was awake, so I could actually look. But I was squinting to see the monitor so I could tell when it was time. When do you wake up again? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And when I'm bouncing up and down, if that's matching or whatever kind of thing. Here's a little side thing. You're singing on this show.

And your collaborations with Chris Redd, who I was doing a couple laugh factories with, just knew him very casually. And I didn't even know he was trying for SNL. And also, suddenly he's on SNL. But it seems like you guys had...

I was boys to men come back Barack. You had some great songs. Did you sing from the beginning or cause I can't sing at all. I can fake sing. You seem like you can sing. No, I was, you know, a musical theater kid necessarily. So I sing with others, you know, a lot more or a lot better than I would say I sing by myself. But, you know, for some reason, like I involved myself in the warmup even. So like I have to sing a warmup song for the shows, but yeah,

Besides that, I'm more of a singing for the sketch as opposed to like, I got a single coming out.

Like joke, like joke skiing and kind of, yeah. When the audience is sitting there waiting for the show, sometimes I stand up or, you know, what Dennis Miller would tell jokes. So what, what song do you sing generally? Obviously it's upbeat or I'm just curious. Yeah. Here comes the show will be on in 10 minutes. We sing a change is going to come. No, I'm just kidding. You know, that's all I was born by the river. Yeah.

in a little tin very sad song like I think in Malcolm X him going to his death was the song that they chose in that movie so no we sing it was give me some loving for a long time but now it's just like other like Teddy Pendergrass song all that super upbeat yeah it's very upbeat and Michael Chase starts it off with some jokes and then introduces us and I go up there with you know Heidi, Eggo and Chloe now but it's always been the version of

lady cast members to sing with me. That's before? Before the show starts. So you've already got them on your side. I think me and Norm used to do stand-up. Yeah, I like your idea better. I didn't want to be seen in the crowd before I went up, but I'd go up there and Marcy would come pound on my door and go, Lauren wants you to go up, do some stand-up, go. And I'm like, it's a little trickier than that.

They never gave you a warning, David. They never gave you a warning. Go now. Go. Are you going to get fired? Put the wig on and get on the fucking stage. And yeah. And would you do it or would you push back?

fuck, I never pushed back once. Yeah, just jump out there. I'm the biggest pussy in America. Yeah, I went out there and then I do it and Lauren's like, can we count that as a sketch? I'm like, no. You were in one thing. No, it was before the show started. Do you do a Lauren impression? Everybody does. Everyone in this oral history of Saturday Night Live, even.

Only because I've never met anyone like that. You know what I'm saying? No one has. And I was, I'd seen Austin Powers a million times before I actually got the job. So then I went there and I'm like, so wait, he's not admitting that this is that? Because this is totally that. That sounds like a new sketch. This is that. This is totally that. This is totally that. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, did you have any Lorne-isms? We sometimes collect, you know, things that he says to people. You know, the initial one was never underestimate the value of water is a kind of a touchstone for a lot of people. Yeah. And he also like has a way of like summing up large occurrences in the world. It's like, yeah, because, you know, Elvis was a twin. So it's that.

It was like, what? What does that mean? Yes. Hitler was a painter. Yeah. Hitler was a painter. And so it's all that. So it's that. World War Two. I never know what that is. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what you mean. You're supposed to take over for Lorne. Keith, do you have any ideas? And who's good enough to handle that job? Higgins. Hands down. Higgins. I mean, I have him on a list here. Steve Higgins.

Yeah. I mean, Higgins is a no brainer, but Eric Kenwood is out there, you know, like Aaron Doyle, you know, the people that have been there for a longer period of time. I think Colin, you know, myself, I don't know, Che, like we can all handle it. Like if we all wanted to stick around. Would you entertain them if they if they approach you? Oh, yeah. Like, why not? It'll keep me in New York. It'll keep me, you know, in a state.

stable environment, which is hard for an actor. I'm just going to write your name down for a second. I'm just keeping it. Write it down. Put it in the universe. That's great. I think you, we don't have pens. I don't have it. I'm disorganized. Seth Meyers and Tina Fey. All of them. You know what I mean? Anybody that's especially been a person with a pencil in their back pocket for a week, you know, just fishing for jokes and like knows the structure of the show. So Seth Meyers,

Tina, any one of them, I think, you know, that have had a good run at it and enjoy it, they can get it. You know, you're interesting because you're 20 years, you know, every in and out, you know, what's going on. If you just perked your ears up to like budgets and stuff, you could figure it out pretty quickly. But there's also like the other element where Lorne is such a rock star and he has so many like

you know, pick up the phone favor kind of, you know, moments that he can make happen for the show. The network or the studio just deals with them. Yeah. And keeps them away from us, you know, keeps us protected. Like he's just an OG. So someone that can continue that kind of thing and like make it a safe space for us. And then also make a phone call and get a legend in there at the last minute, if it, if it needs to, to be that.

Yes, there's a lot of off-label things that he's doing that go beyond executive producer. And I think he does always develop a fondness for

For his cast members, you can feel it. You know, I mean, he's talked very nicely about you almost in a paternal way with other cast members. He becomes the de facto dad that no one ever had or something, even though I'm three years older than him. He's still kind of my dad. Yeah, that's so crazy. Yeah, but that must be a crazy dynamic because, yeah, he's the one we all kind of turn to because if he's not happy, like, you know, the shit's not getting on. You know what I'm saying? Like, if he's not fucking with it, then that's that's the end all be all.

So I've gone to him for a lot of different, you know, nothing pertaining to the show kind of advice because he just gives that air basically like, you know, if you have a question or, you know, if you have a situation, we can help you with it. You know, nothing's too, you know, too terrible that we can't fix it. Yeah. Oh yeah. And when I was sort of, you call it wilderness years or raising a family, whatever you want to call it. But then I ran into Lauren. He's just like,

He said, everyone knows who you are. You know, it's just Lauren and a very supportive little like, you know, whenever you're ready, you just can do it some more. But yeah, he's brilliant at those kind of just been there, seen it all. He was like a stepdad to me because he used to ground me and hit me.

Okay. You want to talk further about that hitting part? No, a lot of people did. Let's break some news. We got a trend, man. You weren't like the spoiled child. David's like a little boy and you have to take care of him. Dana, will you bounce him on your knee?

David need a spanky. David, he needed a little spanky and he's in a timeout. Don't talk to him. I'm not going to use any sort of object or, or, or a spatula. I'm going to go full hand, but it'll be just on the bottom. Skin on skin. That's good for Lord skin on skin. I have a question about when you were on Nickelodeon is, is being a Nickelodeon, like a,

Is it like kind of a little bit of a rock star? Is it a different kind of fame, right? Is it harder? Is it hard to handle when you're younger and a lot of people know you? No, I mean...

I don't, Nickelodeon wasn't as popular as it is now, I don't think, back in those days. So we were damn near off the network before we were, you know, super duper popular from it because it was cable and you had to have cable, you know what I'm saying? You would watch the shows type thing. So it wasn't like a bunch of kids that were able to like,

just request what's on their cable bill every month. So Nickelodeon was still kind of breaking out. And then while we were there, it built into this, you know, kind of worldly thing because they started putting channels in like all these different countries and stuff like that. So that took a while for it to grow. And then by the time we were like in our mid 20s, we were like pretty famous from it. But

the work was four or five or six years old, at least. Oh, I see. Just for people who don't know or listening, just so we can just touch on it for a second, because no one ever knows everything. You think everybody knows that you were an actor. Yes. My name is Kenan Thompson. And your first, your social security number is 4534. Hailing from full Atlanta, Georgia. How old were you when you first performed on television? On television? To this

I did my first commercial, I guess at 12-ish, but I never saw it. But it was pretty awesome. It was for a fried chicken restaurant. I'm very proud of that. Do you remember your line? Yes, I do. It's delicious. Damn near close. So I was fishing with my granddad and I say, Grandpa, the fish ain't biting today. And he handed me a piece of chicken.

And I bite it. And I say, I like this kind of biting. Come on. Who wrote that? Fucking classic. Kenan is putting his fingers to his mouth in the chef's kiss. That is a classic piece of dialogue right there. Kenan says on a research, he was like,

You were a fan of The Price is Right, which you called your first love, and it shaped your acting style. What kind of acting is going on? I have that down, too. Come on. People are taking some serious liberties there. I just said I liked the show. I didn't say anything about it shaping my... There's no acting. It shaped your entire life. Your acting style, like, oh, boy. It started my obsession with the television, is what it was. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Oh, for sure. I used to glue. Glue that shit. Yeah. And...

I was having sons that were watching Nickelodeon in the 90s. So you were famous to them. I'd heard about you before then, SNL. Kenan and Kel, I think, was one of the shows you did. That's right. Kenan and Kel and all that. And all that. And so you're doing sketch comedy on Nickelodeon.

like before you do sketch comedy on saturday night live so you have a unique path very unique and very like you know kismet we because we would say like oh yeah we're the saturday night live for kids or whatever but we never thought any of us would actually make it to an audition yeah like that shit was like in new york we were in florida and never thought about like how we would ever like

Let's go pack it all up and move to New York in hopes for a chance at the shot at the audition for Saturday Night Live. It was like, no, if it ever were to come up, that would be a miracle. I just never thought. It's too far away. It's too big of a deal. Yeah, it's too famous, too infamous. It's just one of those things that's existing in the background of your life that you'd never think you'll be a part of. It was hard for me to associate myself

with it being the same show for years you know what i mean i'm like wow is this like another world or like another dimension or something like is this bizarro saturday night live do you remember the first time you walked into 8h what on like a thursday it's empty yeah you all you got what was your audition like horrible um i had to do i had to do stand up for the first time um

because it was like cattle called all the black guys and a lot of black comics are mostly stand-ups because Tracy and Jerry had left

And so it was like, you know, time for some newbies. And yeah, the pool of, you know, black comedians are, you know, mostly standups pretty much like and at the time. And so, yeah, I was I had to do stand up, you know, I didn't I didn't know that I could like opt out of that or whatever. Like, you know, I'm an improver or whatever. I was just like an actor. So I was like, all right, I'll do what everybody else is doing.

And, you know, it was my first time doing stand up, so it was awful. She had to come up with five minutes and know how to talk to the crowd at all. I just started with a fucking ringing telephone and went into impressions and shit. So it didn't go over well at all, but it was fine because I got the call back and that was on the stage, which was much more comfortable because it was just, you know, to the camera basically. So it reminded me of like playing in my room to myself kind of thing. You know what I mean? So that was.

much more comfortable for me and, you know, what I was used to being on Nickelodeon and stuff. But yeah, that, that callback was when I first walked into 8-H and I remember like walking underneath the, you know, the bleachers and just seeing all the wiring and the structure of it all and like the bare bones of the studio, basically, you know, scary, very,

Very scary because it's like, oh, it's way smaller than I imagined. Smaller is what I thought too, yeah. Yeah, it's way smaller and like, how do they do all this shit in here? Because there was nothing and there was no sets. There was no, like the, I don't think the music stage was even set for that season yet or something. So it was just like a blank studio. So I was like, oh. Yeah, it's not sparkly, you know? It's not like a modern. It was nitty gritty. So I was like, okay, cool. Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

You know, Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program. Oh, yeah. If you want to learn a new language, which no time like the present, it's always fun to learn when you get older. I know. And it's not learning a language when you're older, you know, over the age of 20 is difficult. You know, I mean, all the high school Spanish I took, grade school Spanish, you know, all I can say is hola.

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So, well, I know about your resume and now you're branching out. I was just fascinated by your company, Artists for Artists. Yeah, shout out. Shout out to my partner, Johnny Ryan. When did that start? It's a management company, production company, or kind of a combo? It's a mothership of a lot of different things, but yeah, it's a production company, but also like, you know,

we want to be able to like be the bank eventually you know what i'm saying and fund a lot of different projects or whatever um but yeah you know my partner's been producing for 20 30 years and i've been doing what i've been doing for 20 30 years so we met each other 20 years ago and then reconnected like fourish kind of years ago like all right so where are we both at with this whole you know career as far as like working with others is concerned and what we really want out of life and

you know he became like a free agent right around when i became like a free agent-ish you know because i've had another production company but you know it was kind of living in its own kind of i don't know altitude like it was kind of peaking basically without breaking through the ceiling kind of thing so it's like maybe start something fresh you know and

you know since i'm starting it with somebody who has such a great background in it you know kind of let him run with it if it's just going to be me and him running a company together like that's a you know very like exciting thing because i know the communication will be there you know what i'm saying because we're friends and we hang out all the time you know i mean and to like build something where you need to be checking in with somebody on a daily basis why not do it with like a friend but also a friend that knows what the they're doing kind of thing so

It just it's a layered kind of a company. You know what I mean? And it's just a really cool kind of venture. So I'm excited to see what it does. I saw not to interrupt, but Mike Tyson, you're doing something with him. And what are you doing with Mike Tyson? He's one of our investor, like early investors. He's like one of our partners, I think. But also like whatever he wants to do. You know, he's a, you know, kind of like friend of the family basically at this point.

And, you know, my partner was producing his podcast and a couple other things with him. He produced his fight, the last fight with Roy Jones. You know what I mean? So he did that in the middle of COVID, like kind of by himself, you know, with a small team. And, you know, so he's, you know, he's a prolific producer. Like he knows so many different people. He's been doing it for so long and still under the radar. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, yeah, this is time to like,

But both of us kind of, you know, jump into the next

I don't know, milestone search of our lives or career goals. Smart to think that way. I think it's great. You're still really young and you can build that as big as you want to build it. It's just one step at a time. Yeah. So if you guys got projects, you guys got projects, you know what I'm saying? Like, how about your boy? I have a few. Yeah, sure. Oh, good. You can make deals with Kenan. He likes to make deals. Yeah. Yes. Make the deal with Kenan. He'll handle it.

Thanks, Lloyd. I appreciate it.

And take it in my mind was a little like that, where it just took so long that by the time I got sort of well known, I was like, yeah, it wasn't overnight. Like Jim Carrey, that stuff would, would throw you off, throw me off. It would, because there's too many things happening at once. You know what I mean? It's like all of a sudden you have, you know, all the attention in the world that maybe you didn't have. You're getting like attention from certain, you know,

people or you know sexes you know what i'm saying um well what do you mean what do you mean by that okay yeah yeah like the ladies are starting to look at you a certain way whatever um

Your finances are all like skyrocketing and shit. You know what I mean? So the friends are different. Like when it's so quick, everyone gets weird. You just have carte blanche kind of to, to everything your, your heart could ever desire. And you know, and a lot of people that have handled that well, you know what I mean? No matter who they are, they go through their ups and downs and they bump their heads and blah, blah, blah. And you can't imagine it doesn't stay up here. I, I use the example of like friends, the TV show. Like I know some of them and they're,

They're pretty cool people because if the first thing you do is that sky high, I don't think it's in your head to realize it can go down or anything you do after that will be just as big. It's just impossible. So everything feels like a little bit of a nick. It just can't be all great. Maybe that's a bad example, but you know what I mean. So if you're out there...

You do something, then you do something that doesn't really work. Then you get a little better, then you do something. Then you start to realize, oh, I'm really lucky where I am or I'm really lucky that something worked. Appreciate it more and try to keep your head screwed on straight, which is almost impossible. It really is. And the younger, the worse, I feel like. You know what I mean? Like, if you, like...

Not to harp on Pete, but like Pete is a perfect example. He's a great kid. You know what I mean? But he had it all dumped on him at 19 and he just fucked around and happened to be good. You know what I'm saying? So that's what really adds, you know, fuel to the fire. You know, like when you have all these things that, you know, people want to clamor onto and you have the talent to back it up as well. It's just like, all right, fucking, you know, the world is your smorgasbord, like have whatever you want, this kind of thing, whatever. And we've literally had to watch him grow up through that.

And, you know, come out on the other side, you know, thankfully still intact, you know, with his family being close to him and stuff like that. And, you know, good friends. But it it looked like a fucking nightmare. You know what I mean? Because it looked like such a whirlwind of everything happening all at once. And you think it's all good and then certain bad things happen. But, you know, you just keep going because.

you know, the industry keeps pushing you along through whatever. But unfortunately, these are the times where everybody knows everything about everybody. So we've like had to, you know, watch directly or indirectly, you know,

Our little brother like fall down and scrape his knees and get back up, you know what I mean? And heal himself and, you know, keep trying to keep a head on. Yeah. In a world where there's just a lot of eyes on every thing. And also stay inspired, you know what I mean? With so much shit talking out there, you know what I mean? And like to still want to create things that people might talk shit about is, you know, very brave, you know? So I give him his credit.

You know, we just saw him this weekend. He did a good job, Dana. We just did this Mark Twain thing. Yeah, man. He had some good jokes there. So, you know, it's tough. I mean, I would rather, if I was in his position, wish eyes were off me, let things settle for a second. Just because it's too much for too long where you go, you can't make a move. Everyone's got an opinion. It's just a tough situation. Yeah. It's a lot of good in it, but it just can be tough.

Well, yeah, we had a bulletin board. This is old timey stuff, you know, with like five or six handwritten or hand typed letters. And that was our only interaction. There was no, you know, anything. And some of them said we suck. But I do think for a lot of the people that I know who are very talented, there's the fame, the money, the power, the glory, whatever, the private jet, all of it. And then there's kind of like,

landing a bit, landing a joke, having something you do and having your peers go, that was cool. You know, that, that, that lasts a long time, that vibe, you know, because all the rest is just distracting. And it doesn't get easier. Like you said, Dave, you just are coming from the Mark Twain thing, having to come up with new bits. You know what I'm saying? And like every, if, if everyone's going to come as comedians descend on a new moment,

you still got to deliver. You know what I mean? Like there is no, yeah, there is no like, Oh, remember what I did in my last kind of thing? Use that. You know what I mean? It's like, no, no, no, no. You want to go. Cause it was a hard one. I mean, it was a big reunion, but it was fun and you're performing makes it more nervous. Cause forget Ted Sarandos and Scott Stuber from Netflix are in the crowd. Also, you know, they're all buddies, but it's still work and it's still who did good, who, but you know, you're going on after Conan and after, uh,

And we're an hour in, I think David and I, there's like 10 comedians before us and you got your notes, you go, oh, they're going to do the Sandler Trouba Trou thing. Okay. So that's done. Right. Chris Rock was sitting next to me. He goes, I got two minutes at this point. Yeah. It's just getting whittled down. Watching comics. But you're right. You always have to prove yourself. There's a never ending thing in show business because you feel like if you ever rest on your laurels and just, I showed up.

I hate that. I do that. It's funny, Keenan, when I left the show, there was an opportunity to maybe be on a show or do a show. But when my last sitcom stopped, I said, I think I want to take a year off. And they were like, don't.

don't, I don't care what you've done, what you think they will forget. And just, you've got to jump on another one, right? I'm like, God damn, it's like a cattle prod on your back going, go, I go. So I'm going to go in my last show air on a sitcom. I'm playing a new character in the fall on a new one. They're like, yes, nobody gets the shit done. It's like that Seinfeld joke. Like people would ask him, like, do you ever get tired of like, you know, telling the same jokes over and over again? Like another comedian would ask him that. And he was like, how many people do you think have seen your act?

You're not that famous. You know what I mean? You have to like keep fucking performing. Keep winning over people. And do the things that are silent. Yeah, the things that are solid. Yeah, exactly. There's always the first time someone saw you. Like Mark Twain, Dana, there's definitely people, the first time they've seen me or you is on that. They're like, oh, they just don't watch a lot of shit, but that thing they like. And they go, oh, these guys, oh, that guy I've heard about, is he any good? I'll decide right now. Finally stepped a toe in their world. Yeah.

I was terrified on that because I haven't done a lot of standup recently. And then I changed the whole thing the morning of the show and I sent the notes into the producer and he didn't get it. And then the rehearsal, cause I was playing the guitar. Everything was so hectic and weird. I had nothing on the teleprompter. And so I was just doing jokes to the, my driver got to from Senegal, who was awesome. They paid to have a guy drive me around. I was trying everything out on him. He's like, you're my favorite passenger. I go, thank you. I'm,

But I was... He told me you bombed. First time doing jokes. Dana killed. And the funny thing is you do these things and then they still have to cut it. And so you're still hurt by going,

who the fuck cut that show? Like, Oh, so that one sucked. Is that the one everyone hated? And they're like, I mean, the loudest laugh is being cut. Just want to check in on that. Right. That's the great thing about live television going full SNL. It's like, whatever you say out there, you say, and it is beaming out to the world. No, I like that. And then you walk away, you shed it like a skin and you go, you go to a party. You start the party at three 30 in the morning.

And I think that's where 20 years goes like that. You know what I mean? Like if I was locked in the same character, I think it'd be a much, you know, much more slower mundane, but you know, we go from idea and let it go. Like you said, it's, it's, it's hard, but it's a gift. If you're on, you see people, I remember when I, uh, Julianne Margulies, she quit ER at the top of the game. We're all like, what? Or the girl before her quit. And then when you realize that,

An hour drama is a never-ending movie with the hours of getting up at five and just cramming lines. I mean, ER lines, forget it. Are you kidding? Just for psychological reasons, they have to stop. Yeah.

Dr. Talk. Dr. Talk. Dr. Jibberish for hours. Dr. fucking Blibity Bob. Yeah, word. Give me a 10cc of an L95 stack. Ringer's Lactate. They put their mini sides in someone's guts and they just look down and read them. I need some Dexatrine, damn it. Dexatrine. Come on.

Cut back to the top. I can't do it anymore. I know they go, when they go going again, you're like, fuck, I finally got it right once. Move on. It's Dexatrol, you fool. Not Dexatrine. Reset. Okay, Dexatrol. One more time, guys. My bad. Seriously. No one even knows what we're saying. Just keep moving on. It doesn't sound like a language. I'm Jerry Seinfeld all of a sudden for no reason.

All right, what else you got for Keenan, Dan, and we gotta let this guy go? Did I tell you, Keenan, my idea of Jerry Seinfeld, who's a genius, I think he should do a vinyl album and go back, and it should be a picture of Jerry, and all it'll say on the album is, paperclips, why?

Only Jerry could do an hour on that. Have it be great. So 139 impressions. Why so few? I don't know. That's what it says here on the piece of paper. You know what I mean? So it must be true. You were there with Daryl Hammond. Did he coach you at all on impressions? Oh, yeah. He coached by doing. I used to watch Daryl like a hawk.

Only because he doesn't say much. You know what I mean? And he just kind of shows up, does his thing, goes in his room, comes out, destroys. Yeah. And then kind of just disappears back into his trench coat. And I used to watch that and I'd be like, this is a machine right here. And then I heard him tell the story of like somebody asked him like, well, how do you nail down your impressions like so solidly? And he's like, some are easier than others, but.

He went and sat with Bill Clinton one time to like really just capture him, you know, in person or whatever. And he was like, within two minutes, he was like, I know exactly who this guy was.

And I'm like, now that's a real dedication. That's not always possible, though, I don't think. Well, it's kind of. Hillary, Hillary, Daryl Hammond's coming by and wants you to sit with us for a while. Unbelievable. Dana knows that I have 1.39 impressions. Killed it. Wait a minute. Tom Petty was your mic drop. I have Michael J. Fox and then half a Tom Petty and then that's it. Okay, we've done it before, but give us 10 seconds of Michael J. Fox and casualties of war.

a movie no one ever saw. Okay. Hey, Sarge. Hey, what are we doing here? Exactly. My God. You got to give me a minute on this here, Sarge. We love you, Michael. Yeah, that was good. Really good. Yeah. That was really good, man. This is one of our touchstones. We've probably done that at least 20 times. I always makes me laugh. Can I ask who is this guy? The world.

Oh, that was, I did a situation comedy with Mickey Rooney. And that one,

When we did that sketch, I was just doing Mickey Rooney for Bonnie and Terry Turner. There was no writing. And he was the biggest star in the world in 1937. This is 40 years later. And every day he wanted to remind us. He'd be coming down the hallway and you would hear it. I was the number one star in the world. You hear me? Bang. Okay.

The wall. It was a beautiful poem. I like his scratchy voice because he's getting older. The number one stuff. Telling someone at catering. He was a broke alcoholic for decades, so he would pull out $5,000 because he was doing a Broadway show while he was doing this. He goes, think I can afford lunch? That's what I say. Look at this. Oh, man. He was the original Floyd Mayweather. He'd carry $5,000 around. Bang. Hear me?

All right. Well, we've wasted his time enough. Keenan, you're very, you're very beloved. And I want, I save this for the end because I think it was me, but sometimes history is funny that way. I think I was the one who named Phil the glue. That's my remembrance. And then I forgot to tell

Will Ferrell that I was I I nicknamed him the straw after Daryl strawberry And then okay, and I was thinking when I was thinking about this interview with you and watching you all these years This is my nickname for you The mailman

always delivers oh man that's so gangster thank you man that's a good one david did you have one yeah no we came i really mean i'll jump in on that one i just got meditate on these guests you being one of them it's like he's the mailman thank you man shout out to carl malone i appreciate that i know i know it's that's where i was processing but he also always delivered with john stop like i you know i'm bad with you know

especially coming from, you know, people that I admire. So I only send that energy right back to you guys. Like, it's so great to see you guys, you know, having these conversations together and like to be a fly on the wall, listening to your fly on the wall. It's, it's, it's so great. So I'm just happy that you guys get along and, you know, see,

set the example for everybody else that it's possible. You know what I mean? Like we don't have to be very good, very good friends and knowing each other before SNL. He's probably right out of high school, but, uh, I can say that when you see any of your peers, uh,

And just going back to scared straight, you see someone in the pocket landing in control, knowing, you know, all the it's hard. It's live TV. And what happened in the moment before? And don't try too hard. And to see someone in the pocket, once you see it once, you're like a fan. You're like, OK, that's all I got to see. And then you see everything else. Damn.

But you were in the pocket on that thing and it pops off the screen. So anyway. Thank you. I mean, we all try to live up to our siblings. You know, like I come from, you know, by the time I got there, the show was 30 years old, you know, so we were all anybody that I've ever met.

or it's come behind me we're all fans of the show first you know you guys were all you know performers in your own right you know coming to build something but you know we get to walk into an already shiny lobby you know what i'm saying and like you know continue it from there so

No one really had the attitude of I'm bigger than the moment or, you know, I'm writing the most ingenious shit. So we never played around with not wanting to deliver. You know what I'm saying? It was like, how dare you not in the temple of comedy gods fucking try to hit it out of the park with whatever you're doing if you get the chance. And also, how do you, it's harder for you because we've done, everybody in SNL before he's done X amount of sketches, you just have to do new ones and new ones. And it's just so hard to think of a new,

It is. It really is. Bits, man. Fishing for bits. Ba-ba-ba-bits, ba-bits. I like the way you're talking. It's a shiny lobby. I know there may be a character in that. Just the way you express yourself, but take it someplace exactly. It's interesting. Poetry, basically. I have a lot of Irish relatives and they talk in poetry. Oh, I like that. It's not half bad.

Oh, he's a genuine article. Just that, you know. Just kind of like staring out into the. Staring out into the rain. Yeah, just thinking way out. How far can you go? Just highly imaginative.

But I mean, that's what writing will teach you. Make your references very clear so you can give the image to others kind of thing. Clarity is king. Yeah. And originality. I love you both. I won't hold you. Miss you already. Thank you so much. We won't hold you, but we'll see you. I like this figure of speed someone said to me. See you around campus. Yeah. We'll see you at the 50th or not sooner. And we wish you all the best. Artist for artist. Let's do it. Oh, man, you guys are the best. Thank you, man.

All right. Appreciate it. Absolutely. See you later. This has been a podcast presentation of Cadence 13. Please listen, then rate, review, and follow all episodes. Available now for free wherever you get your podcasts. No joke, folks.

Fly on the Wall has been a presentation of Cadence 13, executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Chris Corcoran of Cadence 13, and Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman with production and engineering support from Serena Regan and Chris Basil of Cadence 13.