Kenan Thompson: Making History Within The History 56:01

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And when Lauren is paying, do you order the most expensive thing on the menu? I tend to order several meals, yes. That's good. Yeah, I like to take it. That's what I like to hear. Some heavy to go bags. Yeah. Somebody got to cue me or do I cue myself? Cue yourself. Okay.

Well, guys, we're back with another episode of Let's Talk Off Cameron. Everything is for the podcast. No, but this was a pre-podcast conversation. It doesn't matter. I hope we're rolling because all things are for the podcast. Yes. Manjaro, let's go. I may or may not have asked my doctor if I could take Manjaro and Ozempic at the same time.

time. Really? Do you feel like you're plateauing? I've totally plateaued. All of my weights at the doctor have stayed to the exact number over the past six months. Why don't they just go up your dose? I'm a manjarra. You're at the highest dose and you've plateaued. What are you eating? I was just in your office and it's like, here's the chocolate croissants. Well, those were guests.

That's my point. You don't have a platter out when people come over to your place. It doesn't have to be a chocolate croissant. When people come over for dinner, I put out a cheese platter. Yeah, that's a platter. No, but I don't just have random platters laying around for in case somebody stops by. You have random platters. By the way, it was not a chocolate croissant. It was a plain croissant and it was a seeded croissant, which by the way was very good. Yeah.

- He's eating croissants. - Because he doesn't understand, like he's not making the distinction. - What I've been told from many people is that your body will always fight to get to its highest weight. - Right, that's right. That's like evolution. - And the only way to change that is to create a new set point and to hold that set point for at least two years. - You wanna hold off the Cretaceous period. - So when you say diet, what's the thing you're gonna eliminate? - Cheese.

Never. He's Italian. He can't. What's the thing? It's actually a sacrament. What's the thing? Cheese is a sacrament. It'll be a limitation on carbohydrates. Like a pasta. Probably bread. Bread. I love bread too, but I'm fully aware that bread does not love me. Can you just give me once the Oprah I love bread? I love bread. Sorry.

I love bread too. I love bread. All right. We'll scale back on the bread. Let's see what happens. So I guess introing in the middle. Let's do the intro in the middle of this episode, which has already been very juicy. Today we will be having SNL's Kenan Thompson joining us on the podcast. Woo-hoo!

Did you guys see SNL this weekend? I did. Jason Momoa. You saw it? Yeah, it was good. It was funny. Yeah, it was really good. But I went back and I watched you doing your monologue. Oh my God, with my cotton mouth. It was really funny. It was? It was really funny. I don't know why. I wasn't there that day. I know Albert was there in the studio. Everybody was there except for you. I wasn't there. It was really funny. And I didn't know that was Jason Sudeikis' first appearance on TV.

Saturday Night Live was in your skit. I did not know that either. I was shocked to read that. I had no idea. I just know that it was the most terrifying thing I ever did. During the dress rehearsal, they offered me Vaseline backstage for my teeth. And I go, for what? And she goes, in case you get dry mouth. And I go, oh, I won't get dry mouth. And I walked out there.

And my bone dry mouth went bone dry immediately from terror. And my teeth were stuck to my upper lip. My mouth is dry the entire time. I'm terrified. I am like something happened to me where I became filled with terror and

And I – it was the scariest thing I've ever done. You were so good. It was great. It was great. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. And that commercial you did was amazing. That's made the rounds on the TikTok. On the TikTok. That was his first season. Well, he was so kind to me and so funny. And he wrote this very funny sketch where I'm like in a gospel choir. And it's – Oh, my God. It's amazing. He's truly – Kenan's just –

And I did not realize it was his first season. He just seemed like such a pro.

Well, he's ready. We can get him on. Well, let's get him on. Yeah. Hi, handsome. Hi, bud. How are you? We were just talking about you. What were you saying? All good things. I was talking about how I did not realize the time I hosted SNL was your first season. Uh-huh. And Jason Sudeikis' first appearance on SNL was during my monologue. Crazy. Uh-huh. Was he dancing? I think that was when he was dancing. Yeah.

No, I think he asked me a question from the audience. It was like a plant in the audience. But here's what I remember. I remember you being super kind, super brilliant. You wrote this very funny sketch that we were all in a gospel choir and I was like,

I was like your lover and none of the other gospel singers wanted me there because I wasn't a singer. I was a terrible singer. Hilarious. And then I was, you put me in the gospel choir anyway. I just remember it being very funny. That's awesome. And you were, you know, when you're under duress, and I like to say that hosting is

caused me enormous duress. As it tends to do. As it tends to do. It's the people that are the kindest to you that you really like blueprint into your brain. And you were that guy. You were so nice to me. I'm so glad. I mean, you're the sweetest. How can you not be nice to you? Come on. Well, you understand. You guys have so many people in and out of there. I'm sure everybody, I'm sure all of us are a pain in the ass. Yeah.

And you're like, ah, another person I've got to lift up and try to make humorous, you know? And I'm sure it gets old week after week, but thankfully you were all so kind to me. But you were just a standout because I remember you being very encouraging. Oh, I'm glad. I'm glad I was encouraging to you because I think it's the opposite. Like, we get excited, especially when people come to play. You know, it's new opportunity for...

you know, some ideas that just didn't maybe work in the past. Like, you know, you never know with these writers what they have up their sleeve, like what they've been holding on for years. And sometimes it just takes the right host. So new opportunities for that is always exciting for us. And we also know the burden on the host. So I think, you know, since I've been there in the generations, you know, onward, we've all been kind of cognizant of that and try to be, you know, sympathetic to that. You know what I mean? Like, we just want everybody to have a good time because, you know,

We're stressed out too, you know? Yeah, of course. We're trying to figure out how not to be so stressed. And I think that's why we lean on each other so much. And we like, you know, cracking jokes with each other so much because yeah. Were you there when Halle Berry hosted? Yeah, she was like my third show, same season. Okay. So here's what I know about when I hosted. I was backstage and I felt like I was going to vomit.

And everybody goes, oh, this is nothing. At least you're not nervous like Halle Berry. And I was like, well, I'm trying to figure out how to open the window so I can jump. How nervous was she? I have no idea. Well, she was. She hid it very well. Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't notice. I was like, Halle's such a pro. You know what I mean? Like, she knocked everything out the park. But she's also very well taken care of. She's one of those people that you want to take care of, you know, because she is such a genuine, you know, person and person.

When she really understands what she's supposed to do, there's not a lot of people that can compete with her as far as performances. Of course. You just try to give everybody as much armor as you can give them. But at the same time, you never know with the audience, especially if it's like wintertime in New York and they've been waiting all day to see a comedy show. They might not be in the mood to laugh anymore by the time it goes on.

Are you ready for the holidays? It's in full holiday swing around here. I've got kids flying home. I've got flights that are pre-delayed. We're dealing with it. My kids are older than yours. What are your daughters into? What are they looking forward to? I mean, I'm into all of it. So I feel like that's starting to trickle onto them.

But the one thing I know my oldest, she misses her friends. You know, she's getting to that age where she doesn't want to do anything outside of school. You know, like everything has to do with like her school friends. And if it's anything to do with

You know, us without them, it's kind of a task for her a little bit at this point sometimes. Are your girls funny? Are they funny like you are? They're very funny, especially the little one. She's unbelievably funny. Like she is such a little character. She put little cucumber slices and a face mask on in her little bathrobe the other day and just crawled up on the couch and like did it all herself. She's five. Five. That's Gianna, right? Gianna?

Yeah, she's amazing. And your oldest daughter is Georgia? Yes. Those are great names. Thank you. Thank you for knowing. What are yours names? I've got Michael, who's the eldest, Lola, who's our daughter, and then Joaquin is the youngest. Amazing. Joaquin. They were all supposed to be named Joaquin. That was the name we loved. Everybody's going to be Joaquin like George Foreman? Yeah.

Mark wanted a real Mexican name, but then both of his grandfathers died a week before Michael was born. So we named our kids after both of his grandfathers. Then Lola obviously was a girl, so we named her Lola. And then finally, with the third child, we got to name him George Foreman. We got a Joaquin. You got to name him George Foreman. Yeah.

So I'm sitting here in my son's former bedroom. This is my podcast studio now. That's what happens when they leave the nest.

Exactly. You get your space back. You know, it's very funny. You've written this very funny book and you talk about how you would like line up your toys and give them different voices. I've got a bunch of stuff in my son's room here and I'm curious if you would give them some voices. Yeah, you will? Yeah, of course. We just wanted to see what voices you could come up with for some of this crap. Oh, this is a good one.

Oh, wow. The Trojan War. We shall fight to the death, and then one of us will be able to eat raw meats.

Incredible. That's very good. I don't even know what this is. I would describe it to the audience. It looks like Boba Fett. What is it? I think it's a Boba Fett mask, but I'm not even sure if it is. Okay, here's one. Again, I don't know what this is. This is an action figure, and I don't know what it is. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- That's, what's his name? His head is like-- - I don't know. I don't know what any of this crap is. - He's in the Marvelverse, right? - Yeah, maybe. Oh, there's one more. I don't even know what this is. I'm not even sure if this is a toy at this point. - That's the Batman mask from-- - Is that what this is? - Yeah, that's the-- - How do you know all this? - The Ritman mask. - Wow.

Batman, you have found me and you must love the Riddler. Yeah. Yeah, the Riddler. Yeah, I don't know. Paul Dano, man. Shout out to Paul Dano. Oh, this is Paul Dano. Yeah. Oh, this is Paul Dano. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, amazing. Yeah. Has he ever hosted SNL? He hasn't, but he should. He'd be good at it, don't you think? He's incredible.

So we talked about this when you were on my talk show not too long ago. Jan, I want to do a follow-up with you. Have we reached out to Michael Emprick yet? Yes, we have. Okay. So they won't do it specifically for SNL, but they're actually looking into whether or not they'll do it for just sketch comedy. Okay. Which I think he would have anyway be the longest running, right? Well, I mean, if you... Sketch comedy, he's...

Absolutely. Between his teenage years and, I mean, he's got it in the bag. Yeah. So I think a Guinness World Record is on your way. For sketch comedy. I mean, if you want to present it to him right now, you can. Because, yeah, our whole thing is getting you a Guinness World Record for the longest running sketch comedian. I believe that honors like that are like,

You don't realize that they're significant until you taste Guinness gold. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I am determined to get you that. I thank you, Kat. You're the best. You are the longest running cast member in the history of SNL. Yes. The longest running. Yes.

What keeps you there? I too am a person that once I get comfortable somewhere, I'm like, why leave? - Yeah. - So yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - Is that your mentality? - I mean, it's a factor, you know, it's a very special place. I say this a lot, you know, like stability and somewhat predictability is nice for an actor, you know? So these are all pros of me not wanting to just like run for the door.

um but i you know i'm also being asked to be there you know what i mean and it feels like it's my duty to oblige i don't feel like i'm in anybody's way or annoying anybody or like i feel like you're the heart and you're the heart and soul of the show i mean i if that's the case great i mean what a blessing you know and like that's what i attempt to adhere to that you know what i mean like

Every year or every phone call or every dinner with Lauren. You know what I mean? It's like, everything's still cool. You know what I mean? Am I stepping on anybody's toes or anything just by being here for a very long time? And I'm not cheap. You know what I mean? Right, that's what I was going to say. Are you filthy rich by now? I cost at this point. You know what I mean? So I've been doing this for a long time. So just over time, things accrue. You know what I mean? You can't just pay people yesterday's price. That's just how it goes. Right.

If, you know, it's not taking away from anybody, like there's still 16 other cast members. It's not like they've had to cut it down to nine. You know what I mean? Right. Right. It's all good. What is dinner with Lorne Michaels like? I picture you going into like a subterranean cave. Okay. Right? So you get into an elevator. It's like a New York City building and you think you're going to go up to the penthouse, but you're taken down. Uh-huh.

You're taken into a subterranean lair. You think you're going up, but you go down. You're going down. And then the elevator opens and it's a full city block, loft-like subterranean dome under the city. Yeah. And Lorne is there in a smoking jacket. He's in like a throne. Dimly lit. Dimly lit. Lit by candlelight, but he's got like...

Actual people that just hold candles in front of him. Sure. Not candelabras, just people holding the candles. And they love it. Am I getting close to what it's like to dine with him? I mean, it is almost a bullseye, Kelly. I can't tell you how much.

How close you really nailed that. It is usually at a restaurant, but it is a step-down restaurant, so it's sub-street level. You step into the restaurant. Yeah. Does he always pay, or do you make the move to pick up the check? He always pays because it's a group gathering, usually. So it's like the host and a few cast members and some producers and stuff like that, so...

And is it like the Real Housewives? Like whoever's seated next to Lauren is the most important and then... Well, the host always sits next to Lauren. So like they set that kind of, you know, old timey precedent, basically like tradition. And that's kind of like the energy of the week anyway and like the aim of the show anyway. It's like, it's the host's week, you know what I mean? So we all should focus on giving them as good a show as possible. And then...

you know, good shows trickle down to the rest of us, you know, and that's just how it goes. And when Lauren is paying, do you order the most expensive thing on the menu? I tend to order several meals. Yes. That's good. That's what I like to hear. Some heavy to go bags. And so when you auditioned there, can you walk me back in time a little bit? Because I want to...

You know, all of these stories and much, much more are in your new book, When I Was Your Age, which I love. I think you have to say it like this. When I was your age. Exactly. You don't just say the title of the book. You have to say it. When I was your age. You know, when I was your age. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

Can you take me back in time to when you auditioned for Saturday Night Live? The year was 2003, I want to say. I was two years departed from Nickelodeon at this point, kind of two and a half-ish. So I was very much in that world of unpredictability of being an actor and been on some auditions that went well and some that didn't, you know, and I was coming off of Barbershop 2.

filming in Chicago in the summertime, which was magical. It's nice. Yeah. It was almost like the down to the day. Like the last couple of few days, I got the phone call that it was audition time. And I had been trying to audition for a couple of years, but kept getting, you know, shown the door, I guess, you know, under the excuse like of having like a baby face or whatever. Shout out to the baby face monologue. I was amazed. Yeah. So I left straight from Chicago, came to New York,

But I had to do stand-up comedy, which was a nightmare for me because I'd never done it before. And I had to come up with five minutes. And if you watch anybody's comedy special, that is, five minutes into it, if you look at the clock, they've covered a lot of topics. You know what I mean? It's a lot to talk for five minutes.

So I was nervous about that, but made it through the initial standup night audition process at an actual standup comedy club in New York. It was very scary because I didn't know how to engage an audience. I just started with a sound effect of a telephone ringing as opposed to being like, "How's everybody doing tonight? Is anybody from Kansas City or whatever?" Normal stuff. But I didn't know that.

I ran through my material and then just ran off the stage or whatever. But they called me back and I was at the studio. So that felt better because I was with cameras and I could just, you know, kind of be a kid playing in the mirror kind of thing again. And you knew that world because of your years at Nickelodeon. Exactly. And then went home back to L.A. for like a week and didn't hear anything. So I thought I blew it. And then they finally called and they were like, we like you, but we want you to try one more time. This time at the Laugh Factory, more stand up.

blah, blah, blah. And I had to do 10 minutes and it was just like, oh man, I don't know about this. It's like algebra when you're in school, you know, when you're doing algebra and you're like, I'm never going to need this shit. I'm not going to need it at all. But I did need this job actually. It's a life changing job. And I knew that. So it was just all the pressure in the world. Like,

More pressure than I've ever felt, I think, for any one specific job. Because usually you can just audition for something. If you didn't get it, like, hey, oh, well, you know, there's another one. But there's not necessarily another SNL kind of moment, audition or whatever. It's history. Yeah. It lives with you. You know what I'm saying? If you get it, it lives with you. If you don't get it, that lives with you, too. So it's history.

But how good does it feel to make history within the history? Crazy. It's so crazy. Like, it's hard to really understand because my tenure there is almost half the existence of the show, which is insane because, like, that show has, like, really kind of molded

the comedy of like America for, you know, 45 years, you know, 48 years, 49, you know, it's crazy. So for my, my name to be somewhat synonymous with that, I don't know. Like it's, it's a, it's a lot. Do you have a sketch that is your favorite that you're the most proud of one that you're like, or, or is there one that you're like, I don't care that the audience didn't even laugh at this. This is my favorite sketch. Yeah.

Yeah, there's been a few of those that have definitely missed the mark with the audience. But then there's also been some that have hit it with the audience and then it got cut and then had to come back underneath another host. So we did this sketch called Active Jack where a lot of 70 shows used to be a sitcom about aerobics kind of thing with a character. You know what I mean? So this was like...

the opening theme song of like the active Jack and they'd be like very Sesame street-ish like, "Come on kids, it's time to work out." You know, like I'll show you how to do some jumping jacks or do some pushups, like all set to music or whatever.

And like that opening was like supposedly very famous in the sketch. And this is like the 50th year anniversary. And they're doing a new performance. And, you know, Active Jack is older. So like it's me at this point, you know, with gray hair and like out of shape or whatever. So the first time we did it, we did it with like Bruno Mars and it went great and it just got cut for some reason.

And then like years later we did it with like Kevin Hart and then they made it. So like that was, that was cool. Yeah. So you kept it in you. There's not like a moment where you're like, we're getting rid of this sketch. It's never coming back. You always keep them somewhere hidden in them. Kind of. It depends. Like once you try it twice, that's usually kind of the limit. Like some people push it a third time, like after some years have gone by or something. Yeah.

But usually like, you know, two times and it's probably done. - Do you have the same love for "What's Up With That" that we all have at this table? Because I've got to tell you, we will randomly like in between podcasts, just watch "What's Up With That." - Oh, that's fantastic.

I definitely do. Probably, to be honest, it's my baby. You know what I mean? It's the best. That was my idea baby. You know what I mean? I think I had that pretty much the whole concept. Pretty much. I took it to Brian Tucker, who I write a lot with, and he helped fill in the whole thing. But I think the overall concept, you know what I mean? It was just like an idea. I think it'd be funny to have a talk show and not let people talk. You know? Yeah.

I know it well. Yeah. You know? And like, yeah, we sent that thing to music and it was just such a good time. It's so much fun performing that sketch, you know, because it's just... Albert, do you still do the dance? I don't do the dance. Come on, man.

You used to come into my dressing room and you would do the dance. You would slide in and do the dance. The little two-step. It's epic. Thank you, man. Thank you very much. It is so much fun. And everybody gets to have fun doing it, even the people that are confused. We had Bill O'Reilly one time and he was not with it at first. And then he ended up having fun.

So actual Bill O'Reilly. Yeah. You didn't tell him anything about the sketch. He didn't know about the sketch. Well, I was trying to, but he just was like dismissing my entire existence. So I was like, all right, well, you know, buckle up there, cowboy. That sounds...

That sounds on brand. That sounds exactly on brand. Yeah. Okay, got it. What about Family Feud playing Steve Harvey? The best, because I've known Steve for a long time. We used to do his show back in the day. So it makes it easier. Well, as far as my impression of him and how I sound, I feel like it's easier for me because it's more familiar. I know exactly...

which, you know, Steve Harvey I'm doing as opposed to like watching them, you know, on YouTube or something like I do with, you know, other people that I'm like thrown, you know, all of a sudden at the last minute for a cold open or something. And I was like, all right, I don't have a lot of time. Let me just, you know, listen to Clarence Thomas for 40 seconds and see what he really sounds like when he talks.

What does he really sound like? That's the big question. Surprisingly kind of normal. Clarence is just like a little deeper, but also like very kind of like nerdy. Like he maybe went in like Northwestern a little bit. Yeah. You know, just kind of like, just remember my times at Northwestern. Yeah.

Do you ever have the inability to shake an impression once you go into it and you can't get rid of it? Well, I definitely am like a tape recorder for other people's things. Like, I'm constantly quoting, you know, something that I picked up from the show that week back to the person that did it. So hopefully it's not annoying, but to me it's like I'm praising them, but I'll stick on it for a while. Like, Marcelo did these, like...

Cuban club kind of like promoter people like last week. Yeah. And when Chloe walks up, he goes, oh my God. And I've been doing that for days. Like just to myself driving like, oh my God.

What host surprised you the most with their humor? Who was like the host that you did not think would be funny and wound up being unbearably funny? Like really funny? Yeah. I mean, Peyton Manning was surprising. I didn't know he was funny like that. I thought he was just more so like kind of football kind of guy. You know what I mean? But he's got an incredible sense of humor.

There's been a few. Like Lizzo destroyed it, you know? I mean, I knew she was fun, though, because she was a musical guest with Eddie Murphy. She was making him laugh. I would think Lizzo would be funny. Yeah. But who really surprised me? Brian Williams back in the day. I think that shocked everybody. I was like, the news guy?

Yeah. No, but I feel like Brian Williams has always wanted to be an actor. He most definitely did. What about Charles Barkley? Was he a good host? One of the most beloved people in the world because he refuses to work hard and everybody knows it. You know what I mean? So we just, we accept it because he's like, all my life, everything was two hours. Basketball, two hours. Practice, two hours. Games, two hours. So I'm not working more than two hours. I was like, what?

We have an entire Saturday to work, sir. It's like, I'm not going to do it. Do you want to hear a funny story? Back in the day when I was on All My Children, I see one of our interns carrying all of these VCR tapes, like,

stacks and stacks of VCR tapes. And I said, you know, I was holding the elevator. I'm like, do you need a hand? And she's like, no, I just have to, I have to get these out to the Olympics because the dream team watches all my children every day. And Charles Barkley wants, wants us to send him,

the VHS copies of the show because they don't have access to being able to record the show. And I was like, shouldn't they be worried about winning the gold medal and not watching their stories? It was to me. I got to watch my stories with my Taco Bell five buck box.

So, you know, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have this long running rivalry over hosting the show, joining the, I don't know, what is it? 15 times club, nine times club. It's up there. It's up there. If the boat capsizes, you can only save one of them. You only have one life vest. Who do you save, Steve Martin or Alec Baldwin?

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You know, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have this long-running rivalry over hosting the show. If the boat capsizes, you can only save one of them. You only have one life vest. Who do you save, Steve Martin or Alec Baldwin? I mean, this is not personal, but I feel like it would have to be Steve only because of his archive of comedy.

Like Alec is an incredible archive of acting. Like if you ever engage Alec Baldwin about like, you know, styles, methods, you know, whatever, he'll go deep and he'll go really far into the reference of the origins of the performance art. Right. But Steve Martin is a library of what has been funny since 19...

70-ish, whatever. You know what I mean? So, man, that's a tough one. He's a great writer. When you were writing your book, did you ask him for any advice? I wish. It's tough for me to engage big brains like that because when you bore them, they make it known. Oh, I've bored Steve Martin many times. And they're not good at hiding it. They're not good at just like chit-chatting and kind of like, you know,

helping the conversation along if you're like wasting their attention time. Like if you have their attention, they want you to like have something to offer. And a lot of the time it's just like, oh no, it's just because you're standing in front of me as another human being. I figured I would talk to you. Exactly. Right. You and I are, you and I are a lot alike that way. And I had to, I had to learn that lesson. Like, yeah, proximity means nothing.

You know, I am one of these people, I've done my job a really long time, but I get starstruck still. I still get starstruck. Same. I'm a fan. You know, I'm a big fan of people and-

It's not just, you know, entertainment folks, athletes, whoever, singers, you know, anybody that's really good at what they do and, you know, have come across my television and is known for that. If I run into them, I'm fascinated, you know, and I've bit many a famous person's ear unwontedly, for sure. I always call it, I call it celebrities in the wild. When you see a celebrity out of nowhere.

wherever they're supposed to be. It's like seeing your teacher in the mall. It's amazing. I caught two of them in the same day. And it was like, sometimes you just forget like being in LA, you know, like I used to live out there and I went to college out there. So whenever I go back out there, like I wander around, like it's not a big deal. And you forget that it might be Emmy's weekend or something like that. So I was at the four seasons or something.

And like, I forgot it was like Emmy's weekend and then like the elevator opens and like Peter Dinklage gets in. And like, it took a lot for me not to just, ooh, just give him all the joy and the flowers and the this and that and the other. And then, you know, I gave him a little bit and he gets off and he's like very humble and blah, blah, blah. And then we go down another couple floors or whatever and Giancarlo Esposito walks in. And I'm like, yo. Yeah.

I cannot handle this. I go back to taps with you, bro. Like, I had to take him all day. And he was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. He didn't want to hear it either. But I just had to flood him with it. Like, I just love giving people their praise because...

They deserve it. You know, like it's, it's, it, it really floored me to see those two in the same kind of like instance. Yeah. We, we do the show out in LA once a year, we go out for the Academy Awards. So we are out there for Academy Award weekend. Crazy. And.

And I wander around and Mark is always, because Mark is the opposite of me. He doesn't really care. He's like, he's like, Kelly, he was constantly saying to me, Kelly, be cool. And I'm like, I'm not going to be cool. I cannot believe that, you know, Tom Cruise is at Starbucks. That's wild. It's just wild. I'm the exact same way. Like I met Aretha Franklin like that. You know what I mean? Like she was just.

Backstage, it was a fundraiser that I had to go make a half speech for that I wasn't even thinking twice about. You know, New York stuff, basically. There's a million different things going on every single night or whatever. And, you know, you do a lot of like, will you come do this? Will you come do that? Yeah, sure. No problem.

So I'm about to go on and I go backstage and like, she's just sitting there like, you know, waiting to go on at some point or whatever, blah, blah, blah. But I'm like, how many backstage moments has this woman had in her lifetime? Like, this is what she does. You know what I mean? Everything for her is backstage. So here I am standing next to her. What am I not going to tell her? She's great. She knows it, of course, but like,

I got to tell her. But she's so great. I mean, may she rest in peace. She was the most – she did our show a bunch of times. Yeah. And not only did she perform on our show, she used to do cooking segments on our show every Thanksgiving. She would come out and like cook a turkey, cook stuffing, cook a mac and cheese. Incredible. And she was just the greatest. She would come out with her purse. Yeah, she takes her purse with her. She takes her purse with her. Because it's filled with cash. Yeah, I know. Yeah.

I found that out. But I asked her, I was like, do you want me to hold your purse while you perform? And she would go, no. And then just like that, no. And I'm like, okay. And she would just like put it down and belt out. She's just incredible. And then pick it back up. Yep. And just walk out. And keep it very close. Yeah. Yeah. And here's the other thing. She would send us flowers. Like, I mean, they don't make them like that anymore. You know what I mean? Maybe because-

We're not teaching them. We got to teach them. Like, that's what you do. We got to show you. You send flowers to people. You say the thank yous. You write a letter. Henry Winkler wrote me two handwritten notes. De Niro, handwritten notes. Because we did a like birthday video for his son. You know what I mean? Handwritten note.

From Robert De Niro. Unbelievable. Did you frame it? Oh, yeah. I have a handwritten note from Don Rickles because I sent him a martini shaker for his 80th birthday or something. Incredible. I can't remember. And he sent me a note that was so beautiful. Because you think of Don Rickles as the caustic comedian. Mr. Job Man. But he sent me a thank you note. Wow.

That was so beautiful that I framed it because I couldn't believe how beautifully he wrote to me and with such tenderness and kindness. Yeah. There's a real human being in there in all those jokes. In all those jokes, there's a real human. Yeah. Who's your dream host? Denzel is up there for sure. I just think he'd be incredible. He would be. Tom Cruise is up there for sure. You know, that would be wild. Come on.

Got to make this happen. We have to call Stiller back for that. I think Ben Stiller still has done the greatest Tom Cruise ever. Ben Stiller, he gets the essence of people. Yeah. Brad Pitt tiptoed in it during COVID when he did the code open.

But it would be cool if he actually hosted, hosted. Did you ever see Brad Pitt and Dave, that Hulu series, Dave? Oh, no. I haven't watched much of it. It's the final episode of season three of Dave. It's the best I've ever seen. He's incredible. And he plays Brad Pitt. He plays our idea of who Brad Pitt is. Right. Perfect. Which is hard to do, as you know. Yeah. I mean, but he's heard it enough times that I think he can mold.

everybody's kind of like assumptions basically into a funny thing. Shout out to Lil Dicky too, man. Like that show was incredible from what I've heard. Nothing but praises. You know, from your book, I learned a lot about you and I highly, highly want to recommend it to all of our listeners. Don't forget to pick up a copy of When I Was Your Age. When I Was Your Age. Why did you decide to write a book?

People that I envy have written books and it just seemed like a natural kind of progression for the amount of things that I've done in front of people. You know what I mean? Like, I guess I've accomplished a lot resume wise. So it felt like,

that was a version that people knew that is not really me necessarily. You know what I mean? Those are all performance achievements basically. And the real me, like people don't know I got a million cousins, you know what I mean? People don't know like we all grew up semi in Virginia, you know what I mean? And it was definitely a love letter to them, but also like a little glimpse, you know, in case I don't get the chance to tell them all these stories kind of at once, basically. Yeah.

But yeah, it's... Yeah, it's like leaving a kind of a living journal to people that... Yeah. And it's partly my fault, I guess, because I guess I...

haven't gone out of my way to be very social media-ish to where I'm always just showing my interiors of homes or this, that, and the other or my family members or blah, blah, blah. But a book felt like I could achieve all of that and introduce them to me, the person, as opposed to me, the performer. So I learned in the book that you're into astrology. Yeah. I mean, it's real. Yeah. I believe it's real. So what is your sign?

I am a Taurus, from what I've been told. Yes. I know people that can just, you know, call it out by looking at people, like, when their birthday is. So, like, if it's not real, how are they able to do that? And it's not just a few of them that are obvious. It's like, they'll nail it. You know what I mean? Any Zodiac that that person is. It's like, you're just giving an energy and you have an appearance like this, basically. So...

Yeah, some of it's surface level, but a lot of it gets deeper, I guess, when you start dealing with your rising and all that kind of stuff. Do you read your horoscope every day? No, no, no, no. I don't like being predicted necessarily because, you know, I still like to make choices, I guess. Not me. I'm full. I'm full horoscope every morning. Interesting. Sally Bronfman in the New York Post. I think that's the best horoscope to read. Do you want to hear your horoscope today? Yeah.

Of course. The day's almost over. Yeah, it's nighttime now. Let's see how on point it was. Do your own thing in your own way and in your own time over the next few days and ignore those who say you are heading for a fall. What they actually believe is that you are heading for unrivaled success and that's what they are afraid of. I can dig that.

I can definitely dig that always. That's a good one, right? That's a great one. That's a good one. Yes. I mean, it's a lot of like daily affirmations always kind of like reminding you to like

believe in thine self, be thankful, be humble. Yes. What I like about astrology and all of that, it's just a journal. You know what I mean? It's a journal based on the people that were born at these times throughout the years have kind of been like this or look like that or whatever. And of course, those people have their own variations because they're individuals, but it's pretty accurate as far as reading people's energies, kind of

And at our job at SNL, we have to cater to a lot of different personalities and stuff like that. So it's a leg up when you know if you're dealing with, you know, this kind of person or that kind of person. Do you ever look up the birth sign of the host that's hosting that week and you form an opinion like, oh, this is going to be trouble? Yeah.

Not that it'll be trouble, but it'll just be like, I need to approach these things this way to get what I need done. Some people can hear it when you're like, hey, you should do it like this. And then some people have to hear it like this.

it's their idea when they're like, you know what? I should do it like this. And I got, yeah, I just told you that, but yeah, it's all good. Mine is constantly telling me that I am, I have to be financially smarter. I mean, it's constant. You spending wild. You spending wild out there. I,

I am the most financially responsible person you've ever met. And I'm like, I wish Sally would give me something new to focus on. You know, you tell a story about being like a penniless at a point in your career. And, you know, it's like, I think it's a thing that people in show business have

fear the most? You know, like one day this will all end and then what? Then, you know, what will I have? What happened to you? Bad accountants, basically, and like giving power of attorney to bad people. You know what I mean? And then like...

whatever strategy they had collapsed because they didn't necessarily share the information. So once you hit the panic button on a situation, if you pull out of a trust, you know what I mean? You're going to get taxed or fined or whatever kind of thing or whatever. I mean, that's the mild version. This person that I was dealing with was an actual piece of shit. So there was just layers and layers of all these tactics

that they were kind of juggling my money with. And then once I, like, opened the door, like, everything collapsed, basically. So everything was tied up at that point. You were trying to buy a house. Yeah, I was trying to purchase my first home. And that's how you found out you were being robbed, basically. Basically. And, like, in their opinion, they were like, no, I was doing this and I was going to flip that and I was going to do that and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But just basically just, you know, buying properties and taking liens out and, like, you know, taking loans on liens and, you know, just...

money flipping without, you know, really

on a deadline giving any kind of money back. So by the time I pulled the plug on everything, it was just like, oh, well, everything's kind of tied up basically. So you need all these things to happen before. I was just like, well, that's all bullshit because you didn't share any of that information, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you just basically technically ran off with my money. And how dare you do that to a child? Right, exactly. So when that happens to you at such a young age, do you find yourself –

hypervigilant now or do you find yourself almost paranoid to trust your money with anyone? No. Luckily, I was able to kind of compartmentalize it and leave it for whatever instance it was. Like I'm definitely smarter and everybody that I deal with is aware that that happened to me. So they're always like, no, these are the things and the checkpoints that I will personally give you on a monthly basis to let you know where these things are. And like

you know, it just brings better people into your life that will do that. Or you'll be able to ask for those things from those people because you know better. You know what I mean? Like, but if you don't know, you don't ask. Like we got a power of attorney fucking letter from like the drugstore. You know what I mean? So like, we just didn't know. So I never even really saw all that money. So it's hard to miss what you never saw, basically.

It's still so frustrating and it's so enraging to me. You know, it's just enraging. There are people that are just so predatory in every business, but particularly in show business. And particularly when it's people that don't necessarily come from a show business background and don't have the experience behind them.

them. It's the newcomers that are preyed upon. Even worse when they look like you, you know what I'm saying? So like, yeah, it's a shame. It was just like very shameful. But at the same time, like that's that person's karma. You know, I've been very blessed and fortunate to have a tool that I could just plug back in basically and just like put Atlanta on the back burner as far as like living around the corner from my mom is concerned.

Yeah. You know, you've gotten, I'm assuming that you've worked with or met probably all of your comedy idols, but is there one that stands out that gave you really the best advice?

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I'm assuming that you've worked with or met probably all of your comedy idols. And is there one that stands out that gave you really the best advice? Oh, yeah. I mean, all of them lead by example, mostly, you know. But Dave's always dropping knowledge. Like, he's an encyclopedia of knowledge, whether it's politics or, you know, Hollywood and, like, how to navigate through the business or whatever it is, or just being black in America, like...

Just sitting around him is always prophetic. Eddie is always just like, "Do what you love that you can balance," kind of thing. You know what I mean? Because yes, he loves doing comedy, but he also has 10 kids and he'd like to be at home chilling. You know what I mean? So it's all about balance with him. I see that a lot in Steve Martin as well, where he's at a point where he's like, "I kind of just want to do what I can maintain without going crazy or whatever."

And not let it be demanding because that's when it's not fun anymore. You know what I mean? You don't want to take the fun out of doing funny stuff, basically. Steve just wants to play his banjo. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. So you got to give that man that balance.

And, you know, Jamie Foxx told me, like, just in passing something, I mean, he was just being nice, more than likely, but, like, you know, it stuck with me. He was just like, he just pointed at me. He was like, hey, man, you got all the talent in the world. And I was young. And that was back when he was on the Jamie Foxx show. So this was years and years and years ago. So there's no way that he really...

knew me like that. Like we were still kind of new to the game or whatever, but he went out of his way to say something positive to a young black man. You know what I mean? So like, that's what like really stuck with me over those years. Cause he could have easily just been like, Hey man, high five or whatever. And like, you know, just walk past or whatever. Cause he,

We were at his show and he was about to go do a scene. You know what I mean? So it could have easily just been like, oh, I'm busy right now. But he didn't do that. He went out of his way to say something dope. Yeah. That must happen to you all the time where there's somebody that comes up to you and... It happened today. You know what I mean? And like...

That's why I try to just like go out of my way to like maintain a positive attitude, even when it feels like it's easy to just be like frustrated or mad at the world or whatever, or just annoyed at instances. So I was at the car wash and this couple comes by with their child,

And he stops and he's like, hey, we met you on a flight like a couple of years ago, whatever. And like, you were so nice to our son. And I was thinking, I was like, well, what flight was this exactly? And he was like, yeah, he was having a tough time, you know what I mean? Sitting still because he was young.

and you let him play with your daughters. I was like, "Oh yeah, I remember this." We put blankets down on the floor and we were all trying to entertain this little kid. He was like, "Man, I never forgot that." I was like, "Wow, that's cool. It's good to see you guys." But the randomness of New York, New York is a big place. There's a lot of people here. So for that person to just come walking up on me while I'm just standing on a wall on some random street by a car wash, you know what I mean?

That's why you put out good energy into the world, basically. Exactly. Because it always comes back. One million percent. It always comes back. Listen, I want to thank you for doing our podcast. It's such a pleasure. We just adore you here. We're going to let you go and we're going to watch What's Up With That for the rest of the night. You know, same, same, same. Now I want to go watch it back.

We really had some great, great sketches and appearances with that one. Like I think about De Niro and like Robin Williams being together for one of them. Like that was an incredible moment. Incredible. And Lindsey Buckingham came on.

The greatest. Two Buckinghams. Two Buckinghams. It was amazing. It was the best. Listen, to our listeners, don't forget, Kenan's book is When I Was Your Age. When I Was Your Age. Life Lessons, Funny Stories, and Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown is available now. And don't forget to check out his movie Good Burger 2. Yeah. At

My God, you're so busy. It is cracking right now. And the strike's over, so we can tell everybody. The strike's over. Trolls, Nintendo, auto trader, whatever. You know, we're throwing it all out there, man. Yes, auto trader too. That's right. Enjoy it. You deserve it. Thank you, bud. Thanks, Keenan. Much love to you. Happy holidays. Happy holidays, y'all. Y'all take care. Bye. Thank you so much.

We'll talk soon. I'll see you soon. Yes. See you soon. Wow. That was amazing. That was great. That was great. Okay. Wait, we have some Ask Kellys. Okay. Yes. It's time for Ask Kelly. Okay. Are we doing the razzle dazzle? First one from Tom Brooks author. Who is more bold to go on a nude beach, you or Mark? Oh my God. Neither of us. I mean, you know me. I don't even believe in nudity at this point. Um,

And neither one of us, although about 15 years ago, 15, this is a very funny story. We were on vacation with a group of friends and

And it was a full moon and all of the guys decided to do a full moon skinny dip. They didn't decide to skinny dip. They decided to go down the beach and jump in the water. But everybody skinny dipped. I did not because I'm not going in the water in darkness. I don't care how bright the moon is. The sharks don't care. You know what I mean? So everybody skinny dipped.

The next day, I'm at the bakery and I'm waiting in line and there's a group of like 16, 17-year-old girls standing around talking. Okay? Now, at the time, we were like 35. Okay? And they said, did you guys go to the beach and swim under the full moon? And I hear this girl say, well, we were going to, but we showed up, there was like a bunch of 70-year-olds out there.

70 year old. 70. Ouch. Ouch. It was so funny. I was like, oh my gosh, 15 year olds look at 35 year olds and think they're 70. I hate to think what they think of me now. Now I'm like 282 years old. The next one is from Book It With Doyle. Current favorite restaurant in New York to visit? Oh my gosh. You know me, I never leave my house.

So it's hard to say. I think right now it's, I don't know when this is going to air, but as we are recording it, it's the holidays. So they're all pretty spectacular. They're really, really beautiful. They're elegantly decorated. They're very festive. I want to try the Marc Chalet. Ooh.

I don't know if you saw that. No. So the mark has the chalet. Oh, yeah, the outdoor. It's an outdoor and they serve fondue. It does look very chic. So that looks really nice. It looks really, really nice. I always say if you've got a big fat wallet and money to spend, La Bernardin is like no meal you will have anywhere else. The Polo Bar is always fun. Always great. Great people watching. Nelly. Nelly, the chicest hostess in all the land. Ever.

And really good food, consistent, and always like celebrities. Always. Mark said the last time we were there, Anthony Scaramucci was there. Oh my, he was. I didn't see him. Why don't I see these celebrities when we're there? They were everywhere. I know. I don't see them at all. All right. Last one from Uncle DJs. Fellow Madonna fan here, what are your top five favorite Madonna songs? Oh my gosh. Lay it on us. Okay.

It's always changing. Okay. I'm going to say number five, MDNA. Yeah. Number four, four minutes. Number three. God, this is so hard. I don't even know how you're doing this. I'd be in a flop sweat. It's so funny because I have too many to just name five. I want to say Celebration, but the remix of Celebration. Mm-hmm.

Number two, burning up. Number one. Drum roll, please. I mean, if you don't say it, I'll be shocked. It's not your favorite. It's her favorite. I know, but I think of this to be her favorite, so we'll wait to see. Candy shop. Oh, I can't believe I just said that. Candy shop, but it's, which one are you thinking of? I'm addicted. Oh, I'm addicted. Of course. I'm addicted. I'm addicted is my number one favorite. Sorry. I'm addicted. Yes, you're right.

That's what I was thinking when I said MDMA. I was thinking of I'm addicted. I'm addicted. So I'll replace number five. I'll replace number five with Candy Shop. Perfect. There we go.

Okay. Well, that's it. Don't forget to tell your friends about us. Yeah. Or don't. Listen, you have two choices. Either you tell your friends about us or we'll tell your friends about us. And I don't think you want that. Okay? I'm giving you the opportunity to tell your friends yourself. Okay? We'll talk with you all next week off camera. Bye. Bye.

Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa is a co-production of Melojo Productions and PRX Productions with help from Goat Rodeo. Our theme song is Follow Me from APM Music. From Melojo, our team is Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini, Jan Chalet, Devin Schneider, Michael Halpern, Jacob Small, Roz Therrien, Seth Gronquist, and Julia Desch.

From PRX Productions, our team is Cara Shillen, Genevieve Sponsler, Megan Nadolsky, Edwin Ochoa. Additional sound design by Terrence Bernardo. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzalez. This show is powered by Stitcher. From PRX.

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