-There are times where I'm so happy
to be gone from "SNL" because I do not miss the grind.
-Wh-a-at? -And I do not miss the hours,
but then there are times where I'm so jealous
of the current situation, because it was announced,
in December, that Eddie Murphy is gonna come and host.
-Oh, man. [ Cheers and applause ]
-I mean -- I mean...
-Man, my heart exploded...
-Yeah. -...when I heard that.
Like, there's nobody more iconic and beloved by my entire family.
-Yeah. From like the 2-year-old all the way up, right?
-Like way up. Like, great-great-great-grandma.
Like, checking in in their last days, like, "Ooh, he's funny."
[ Laughter ]
-Does that put a burden on you to kind of think, "Oh, my God.
I gotta come up with ideas for that one"?
-Yeah, I've been writing already.
You know what I mean? I don't think
they're great ideas, like, in comparison to what he can do.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
-I want to just be like, "Just do whatever you want."
You know what I'm saying? -Right, right, right.
-But, yeah, it's a burden. And it's also --
I mean, I feel like he feels the stress, too.
You know, it's his -- You know, he's the prodigal son.
-Yeah, yeah. -You know what I mean?
-It's been a long time away, but I can't imagine
it won't be anything but fantastic.
One of his many famous impressions was Stevie Wonder.
You got to see Stevie Wonder perform -- this year?
-It was last Global Citizen. -Okay, Global Citizen.
It's a great event.
-It was Green Day and Stevie Wonder headlining.
-Yeah.
-And I didn't have tickets, but this is New York.
So I felt like this'll get me kind of close.
-Yeah. -You know what I'm saying?
[ Laughter ] -So, that's sounds --
That really speaks to how beloved you are,
because that was a high-security event,
like, how many times did your face have to be a ticket?
-It was like seven checkpoints. -Yeah.
It was just, like, "Come on. Like, really?"
[ Laughter ] "It's just us."
It was more of a tough sell for my wife,
to, like, drag her through that. -Right.
-She's like, "Are you sure it's gonna work?"
And I was like, "I don't really know."
[ Laughter ] "And I don't care."
Yeah, you know, they're all just people at all those checkpoints.
You know what I'm saying? So once you engage them
on a human level, it's like, "What's it really gonna take?"
You know, "Radio somebody ahead or whatever."
Anyway... We get in there.
It all works out, and Green Day destroys it,
and then Stevie Wonder gets up there, and he's just --
You know, he's massive. His sound is so mas--
You forget, like, what concerts are like
if you don't go a lot,
and it's way different from the album.
So, like, he's up there with like 2 trillion people
onstage with him. -Yeah.
-It seemed, like -- And he's just crushing it.
And then he was gonna do a duet with Pharrell, but I guess
Pharrell was running late. -Okay.
-Or something like that, and I'm like,
"How do you run late on Stevie Wonder?"
[ Laughter ]
So, like I don't know if they didn't tell Stevie beforehand,
but it was, like, kind of the time to do the song,
so he's, like -- Stevie Wonder's up there
ad-libbing and killing time for Pharrell, search--
And, like, shouting his name out -- "Pharrell!"
[ Laughter ]
"Pharrell, where you at?! Get out here!"
[ Laughter ]
"We got a song to do." [ Laughter ]
And then he'd, like, tell a little story
or something like that. "But back to Pharrell.
Where is he?" [ Laughter ]
It's, like "Oh, man. The guy's --"
-He was also -- he was talking his way
through the seven checkpoints. -Yes. Yes.
It was a great night, but, you know,
Pharrell eventually showed up, but it was really funny.
-You co-hosted "Bring the Funny" this year.
-That was a fun one. Did you guys
see "Bring the Funny"? -It's a comedy --
[ Cheers and applause ]
Comedy competition show on NBC. -NBC, baby.
-Did you enjoy -- Was it hard to sort of
criticize other people's comedy, especially, young,
up-and-coming people? -I mean, it wasn't hard.
I just didn't want to be, like, harsh or, like, super-negative.
You know what I mean? 'Cause that's how we all felt.
We didn't know if the show was gonna work
because nobody was being mean enough,
and we didn't know -- Like, we didn't have a Simon.
Like, Jeff is a sweetheart, and Chrissy couldn't be nicer,
and even, Amanda, you know, she's a great stand-up,
so she knows what it's like to be on the other side
of that rejection, and we all did.
So I just wanted to give more constructive type criticism
as opposed to just, like, "That sucks."
-Yeah. -You know what I mean?
Like -- It was -- It worked out.
It was really cute, and it was heartfelt,
and I think it -- you know, it made a splash
among good-hearted people. -Well, that's great.
-Because good-hearted people check in, and they're like,
"You know, I really enjoy that show."
And I'm like, "And how old are you, sir?"
[ Laughter ]
-David Remnick's coming out next.
You're doing The New Yorker Festival this weekend.
-Speaking of sweethearts. -Yeah, so you're gonna --
This is gonna be a panel?
You're gonna be talking about comedy to people?
-Yeah. I mean, I guess they're gonna talk about my life.
You know, "The New Yorker's" very hoity-toity.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-The Penny Farthing bar? Is that what that is?
-Yeah, it is the Penny Far-- -That was pretty good, right?
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-I just researched that backstage.
[ Laughter ] Um, but, yeah.
I mean, I'm honored that they asked me to come out
and, like, talk about myself.
I don't know if I was "New Yorker"-worthy,
but that's nice. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's fantastic. I've long thought
you're "New Yorker"-worthy. -Thank you very much, my friend.
Thank you very much. [ Cheers and applause ]
-And then, you got David Harbour hosting the show this week.
He was here last night. What a sweet guy.
-Yeah, well, that's who I thought you said at first.
That's why I was saying, "Speaking of sweethearts..."
and then you were like, "The New Yorker,"
and I was like, "Oh, that's not the sweetheart."
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
So, wait. Does that mean you don't think David Remnick's
a sweetheart? -Well, I haven't met him yet.
-Okay, gotcha. -That was kind of weird,
but I'm sure he is. [ Laughter ]
But, no. David Harbour is wonderful.
You know, and he's having a super moment.
He's on, you know, one of the biggest shows
behind "Game of Thrones," I guess.
You know what I'm saying? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-So, I met him over the summer.
We were staying in the same hotel,
and he couldn't have been nicer. Like, he just,
you know, actor engaged, like, "Oh, man, break a leg.
I can't wait to come play with you guys.
Blah, blah, blah. It's gonna be awesome."
I'm like, "Well, look how sweet Sheriff What's-his-face is."
[ Laughter ]
Like, that's amazing. -Well, I can't wait for that.
And it's always such a delight to see you, buddy.
Everybody, that's Kenan Thompson. Give it up.