While it’s well-documented that being on Saturday Night Live can really take a toll on its cast members, it also seems like it would be a blast. Just look at the comedic talent that oozes from that stage. Many of SNL’s alumni have shared stories about the grueling workload and how it was balanced with plenty of fun — apparently sometimes too much fun. Kenan Thompson recalled one specific instance where he partied all night with Amy Poehler and Will Forte before they had to film a sketch, and the hangover sounds brutally painful.
Kenan Thompson — SNL’s longest-tenured cast member — said in a recent segment of Late Night with Seth Meyers that they really “used to go after it” with the partying and recalled a particularly infamous night out drinking with now-former cast members Will Forte and Amy Poehler. The Good Burger 2 star and his colleagues didn’t leave the bar until 4:30 a.m., he said, just an hour before a car picked him up to shoot a sketch. Check out what Thompson had to say:
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I am dying over Amy Poehler’s alleged sentiment about how they could be miserable and sad but still always laughing. As for Kenan Thompson in that Black Eyed Peas sketch, I can imagine few things more miserable than having to put on a heavy costume and dance around in the street after a night of drinking and no sleep. Thompson recalled:
I was will.i.am and I put on heavy dreadlocks, heavy, heavy, hot dreadlocks. You know, we were all the Black Eyed Peas early in the morning. That was back when we used to shoot 90 miles upstate for some reason. We used to do all our pre-tapes up there. And it was very painful, so we started coming up with bits like calling our former selves. I called Shoulda Kenan. Shoulda Kenan is at home in bed, and he gets a call from Crazy Kenan like ‘Hello!’ ‘Hey, man.’ ‘You think you could come pick me up?’ ‘Where are you?’ ‘I’m on the side of the highway somewhere’ and bits like that.
If misery loves company, Kenan Thompson had plenty of it that day, as Will Forte couldn’t hide the effects of his hangover when the cameras weren’t rolling. Thompson continued:
Forte was planking face down, just lying on a bare carpet, because it was like an office space that we had to change our clothes in. No furniture. Just lying face down, trying to just be still and sleep [off] that hangover.
It sounds like there were some regrets to be had that morning, but at least a great story came from it. Kenan Thompson’s got plenty of Saturday Night Live stories saved up — including his favorite afterparty memory, which involves Maya Rudolph.
The sketch comedy is prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and Kenan Thompson has been there for 22 of those seasons. That’s a feat that perplexes Andy Samberg — not just that the All That! alum has stayed with SNL for so long, but that he’s still killing it. Thompson’s such a pro, he somehow didn’t even break during Ryan Gosling’s viral Beavis and Butt-Head sketch from the most recent season.
These days Kenan Thompson might be listening more to Shoulda Kenan and not staying out drinking till the wee hours of the morning, but whether it’s him that shows up or Crazy Kenan, we’ll be excited to see him when Saturday Night Live returns to the 2024 TV schedule this fall. In the meantime, you can stream previous seasons on Peacock, one of the best subscription streaming services.