Hey Kenan Thompson!

Hey Jonas!

This episode features an interview with legendary comedian Kenan Thompson alongside a series of promotional segments for various iAmb/iHeart

Key takeaways

• Kenan Thompson discusses the inspiration behind SNL, citing the influence of his friend John Candy.
• Thompson reflects on the intense pressure of live television and the importance of being prepared to manage nerves.

Main topics

• Kenan Thompson interview
• Saturday Night Live history

Notable quotes

If you're prepared, you have no reason to be nervous.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and entertaining deep dive into the career of a comedy ico

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:00) Lisa, tell them about our new show. We have a new podcast. It's called Don't Lie to Me. I'm Lexi Iwano. We're two best friends, 22 years apart, but so close at heart. And I'm Lisa DiGiulio, the old one, which means we have wildly different references, occasionally different opinions. And at this point in my 50s, I've lived it all. Now in my 30s, being the founder of New Shoes, good taste is my business. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (0:31) I'm Lacey Mosley, author, actor, stand-up comedian, creator, and host of Scam Goddess Podcast. The true crime comedy podcast all about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. Each week I bring on an amazing guest. Speaker 6 (0:43) Ooh, I scammed him. What? Speaker 7 (0:44) I Speaker 6 (0:45) could talk to you for an hour. Speaker 7 (0:46) You're a generational yapper, like me. That's why I had to make yapping a job. And now you can catch full episodes of my show on YouTube. Start listening to Scam Goddess on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (1:01) Hi, this is Kylie Brakeman, Angela Speaker 7 (1:03) Geratana, Jeremy Speaker 6 (1:04) Colhane, Patrick McDonald, and Speaker 8 (1:05) we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists podcast, the Speaker 6 (1:09) improvised character comedy podcast, where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. Speaker 8 (1:18) And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right Speaker 6 (1:24) up next to the microphone. Speaker 8 (1:26) I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. Speaker 6 (1:29) You've never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Speaker 8 (1:34) Listen to Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (1:42) So like by age 11 or so, at least 70 % have a phone. Speaker 1 (1:46) I'm Dr. Joy, and this is Therapy for Black Girls. We spin our surviving middle school run, getting into what's happening inside your kid's brain, the group chats and their friendships, and what you can do about it. Speaker 6 (1:57) Your child is not doing this on purpose. Speaker 1 (1:59) That's the kind of perspective we've been pulling from the psychologists and psychiatrists who studied this for a living. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (2:11) Self-care September is your reminder to slow down, check in with yourself, get off your phone, and maybe ask, why am I like this? I'm Gemma Spegg, host of the Psychology of Your 20s podcast, and this month we're helping you make sense of the person that you are becoming, from setting boundaries and navigating friendships, to understanding anxiety, confidence, relationships, and attachment. Sometimes our biggest decisions, without us even realizing it, aren't driven by what we truly want, but by what will prevent us from feeling lonely or being alone. Listen to The Psychology of Your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (2:52) On recent episodes of The Questlove Show, I chatted with Jojo about her music and Wallo267 about his story, everything in between. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing Leave Get Out or Too Little Too Late or Baby It's You. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. Check out my conversation with JoJo, Wilo267, Speaker 2 (3:12) and more on the Questlove Show. Listen to the Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever Speaker 6 (3:19) you Speaker 2 (3:20) get your Speaker 6 (3:20) podcasts. Peace. The World Cup is over, but if you caught the soccer bug and aren't sure what to do now, check out our podcast, Big Kick Energy. I'm Cameron Dicker, the kicker from the Los Angeles Chargers, and I'm here with Timmy Tillman, current LAFC star player. So, we know a little something about kicking balls. Each week, we'll tackle things like who's winning the Premier League this year? What do you think is harder, scoring a penalty kick or scoring a field goal? Join us each week for a quick chat with your soccer-loving bros about the best sport in the world, soccer. Just don't tell my coaches I said that. Listen to Big Kick Energy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 3 (4:09) So the driver that we had today, he always has incredible music playing and... I think it's the radio. And I'm like, oh, my song came on again. And then today I spotted that his hits different playlists. So really he's just like, it's Speaker 1 (4:25) not Speaker 3 (4:25) the radio. He's just juicing you up? He's just making us feel good? He's making us feel good. Because it's like within a mix enough that it would be like on the radio. And I'm like, oh, sick. I haven't heard this song in a couple years. I didn't know this was on the radio. Like today I heard your song. And I was like, no, that was on the radio. I was like, I was on Speaker 4 (4:42) the Speaker 3 (4:42) radio and Speaker 4 (4:42) then Speaker 3 (4:42) look up and then he's like, it's like listed our names and he changed it. And Speaker 5 (4:46) I Speaker 3 (4:46) was like, this is nice to juice this up, like play around stuff in the car. Speaker 5 (4:50) This happened the other day with, with Malte Marie, um, our daughter, she and I were in the car and, and there was a playlist. And I think it was one that we made at some point that had all her favorite songs. And then a few of our songs mixed in so that she would like get to know our music more. And every time one of our songs come on, she'd look over at me and she'd go, is this you? Yeah. She goes, sing it. She wanted me to sing along to this. Sing it. I love it. Basically to prove that it's me, that I can do it. Speaker 3 (5:19) I love Speaker 5 (5:19) that. That's great. We Speaker 3 (5:20) don't listen to this in this house. You sing it. Sing it. I love that. Speaker 5 (5:26) We've had a kind of a crazy week. A little bit crazy. We've been getting after it. Speaker 3 (5:31) Because Speaker 5 (5:32) it was Daniel's birthday. Oh my gosh, yeah. And also my birthday. Which I got to talk about this because I think a lot of folks that listen to our podcast might relate to this. Speaker 3 (5:45) As Speaker 5 (5:45) a now 34-year-old man, I think it's weird to get excited about my birthday. It's because of trauma. Speaker 3 (5:53) You're obviously not a Leo. Speaker 5 (5:54) I'm obviously not. But I will acknowledge that I had a thing happen when I was nine where someone made me feel bad about. being excited about my birthday. What, what happened? I, it was like a teacher basically. And I went in with this birthday hat. I want to put it on. And, and I came out all excited and she's like scolded me for making it about myself or something. I was like, okay. And then I basically like never knew why I was embarrassed to tell my birthday. And then I talked to a therapist, but I'm like, that's probably it. Wow. That's probably it. Um, so it's still with me. I think it's weird to be like, come to my party. Can I? Speaker 3 (6:24) Yeah. Well, I'm glad that I'm proud of you then that you wore that birthday hat on the flight over. Speaker 5 (6:29) Yeah. Speaker 3 (6:30) I actually own that Speaker 5 (6:31) company now, the birthday head company. In Speaker 3 (6:33) your face. Edible arrangements. Sponsored too. I think it was a great week and we should celebrate birthdays. It was really good and we didn't drink anything. Not a single drop. Speaker 5 (6:45) All right, let's get to business. We have an amazing guest today. Such a great guest. Forever huge. Really, we've known him for like almost 20 years. Speaker 3 (6:51) You've grown up with him. Speaker 5 (6:53) So did we. Speaker 5 (6:55) He's just always so much fun to be around and we're all fans. Please give it up for our guest today, Kenan Thompson. Speaker 3 (7:01) Hey, what's going on, man? What's up, my dudes? Congratulations on another season. Oh, thanks, bud. You've been on 52 seasons. Speaker 2 (7:11) Yeah, man. Season 52 and I've been there for all 52. That is wild. When you decided Speaker 3 (7:18) to, when you created the idea for SNL, was that something that just kind of came naturally for you? Speaker 2 (7:23) It's crazy. I was like up in Canada where I'm from. And I just had a thought to myself. I was watching all of these really funny, like improv people. One of them being my dear friend, John Candy. And I just had this thought, like, you know, these people just aren't celebrated. Speaker 3 (7:43) And you're like, and I'm going to bring it to England one day. We are good, man. Speaker 2 (7:47) How you feeling about those G-men? Oh, yeah. What a week we had. Speaker 3 (7:52) Pretty insane. It's the Super Bowl. We're going to the Super Bowl. It's obvious. That's the first text that went out. I think we're winning the Super Bowl. Speaker 5 (8:00) They did look like a completely different team to last year, which is great. Coach Harbaugh setting the tone there. We first met you, I think, all the way back in kind of the beginning of our career when we went on to SNL for the Valentine's Day special. Back in 08 or 09? 09. That's right. You guys were babies. Yeah, you were the first Speaker 3 (8:25) baby performers. Speaker 2 (8:28) You really were. You're Speaker 5 (8:30) saying you've always been cool to us. Yes, we've had a chance to work with you at a few different points with our roast on Netflix a couple years back, which we were just reminiscing about us being a football because Kevin had that one piece we shot at the sofa and he kicked the field goal. Speaker 3 (8:45) It was the only field goal kicked by the team that day. First try. Speaker 2 (8:48) Yeah, it was. I mean, who doesn't love you guys, man? You guys have been so nice and cool with me too. That was like the most ballerific way to ever go to SoFi. Like that's just you guys' life. You know what I mean? It's casual for you. But for me, that's incredible. Like you guys were all security to that. and golf carton through the bottoms of SoFi, and then you get to go out on the field and, like, kick a field goal in front of the actual fans. Like, come on, man. When Speaker 3 (9:18) they asked me to do that, I was like, this is setting me up for so much failure. Like, and just to get booed. Dude, I think you guys were supposed to shoot before the game started, but there was delays or something. They couldn't get on the field, so they were like, hey, you're going to do it during halftime. And then you guys run out there. It's so much pressure, but you guys delivered. The real story is that they asked all three of us to do it, and Joe and I chickened out. Yeah, we both were like, we're not doing that. Speaker 2 (9:38) Kev kept going that Speaker 3 (9:40) rose to the occasion. He did it. Rose to the occasion. Put me in, coach. Put me in. Long before that, Speaker 5 (9:45) we watched you on all that, of course, and we were massive fans of yours on that show. Speaker 2 (9:52) Oh, here it goes. Speaker 5 (9:53) And then Good Burger, of course, was big for us in the Jonas household. Of course. To see you then make that jump, you know, for all your fans that grew up watching you make the jump to be on SNL. How many years ago was it? Speaker 2 (10:07) 2003. 2003. Oh my God. Wow. That's so cool. Speaker 5 (10:10) Yeah. So to see that and having that foundation of fans who grew up watching you, it was really such an exciting moment. I think we all felt a part of it, you know, because we got to watch you and experience kind of your early projects. Do you hear from fans a lot about all that and Good Burger and all those projects? Speaker 2 (10:30) Yeah, they say similar things. They say it's like, yo, when you got on SNL, it's like we all got on SNL. Yeah. Because we just all grew up together, basically. And the work that we did is so beloved because we were having such a good time. that it's like echoed through generations. So I just hear a lot of people like, yo, I watched you as a kid. Now I turn my kids onto it and they love it and blah, blah, blah. So I don't know. It's just, it's all a blessing for me that all those memories are very, very positive. And we just had such a good time and made like lifelong friends, you know? And then, yeah, the jump to SNL has just been. you know, an incredible bridge between, you know, child and adult performers. You know how that is. You know what I mean? I know you guys, did you guys have like a real like turning point where you're like, I don't want to do, you know, a certain kind of younger sound anymore. I want to do more of a mature sound. Was there ever like a crossroads kind of moment? Speaker 3 (11:28) Definitely. I think for all of us have separate points. And I think in our careers, for Nick and I, we did solo albums and that was when we were like, Like, oh, I want to write something that's a bit more sexier or whatever. You're going through early, you know, your early 20s trying to figure out who you are and that leap of faith and being like, I'm going to change it up a lot musically. And then I think bringing that as well as our fan base has grown up with us, like you said earlier, like for yourself, it's similar where we were watching our audiences. Like, well, we can't, it's not, it's not like cute first date stuff anymore. This is like relationship kind of stuff you want to speak to and where you're at in your life. Real quick, I'm just curious. What was your audition like for SNL? Speaker 2 (12:09) Oh, man. I did impressions. I did my best versions of things. I mean, I can, you know, mimic some people. Like, I do a decent, like, Charles Barkley and a pretty good, like, Sharpton and stuff like that. So I tried Al Sharpton talking to Arnold Schwarzenegger just because I feel like, you know, everybody can do a Schwarzenegger. But,