-It's always good to see you.
Thank you for playing any game with me
and doing bits. I love it. -Come on, man.
That was -- it's crazy fun.
-I was almost going to see you on the "SNL"
Christmas episode with Paul Rudd.
-Yeah, that was an almost catastrophe
that almost happened. [ Laughter ]
-Here's you and whoever... -It slammed into the wall.
-...at the end of -- at the end of the night.
-That's just five people when it should be 60, but...
-Tom Hanks, yeah. And Che and...
-Yeah. Poor Paul Rudd, man.
He'll get his gift back, though.
-Yeah, I mean, I felt bad for him,
because I was gonna come in for that.
That's when I tested positive.
-Oh, so your business is out there?
So we can say that you...? -Yeah, we can say, yeah.
-Okay, cool. -Yeah, I talk of it, yeah.
-But that was dirty. You were living dirty that morning.
[ Laughter ]
-I wouldn't call it that.
But what was that week like though?
Because that week you planned to have a show, right?
-Yeah, we were working like it was a regular week on the show,
and you know, we -- Tom Hanks was coming because it was going
to be Paul Rudd's fifth show, you know?
-Yeah, five timers. -Four and half.
But he still got his jacket.
-Yeah. -But yeah, we were working
like a regular week, and then numbers were just
going crazy in New York, and by Saturday, you know,
NBC people just called it.
They were just like, "Send everybody home."
We figured out a way to like, you know, keep whoever.
I was asked to stay and a couple other people, I guess
and a small crew, and then, you know,
we put on whatever show we had.
Luckily, like they didn't call it until Saturday,
so we were able to get some like new stuff
that had been pretaped and stuff that week or whatever.
But yeah, it was crazy. It was not --
-Thanks for being there,
and thanks for putting on the show.
-I had to represent for the cast, baby.
-Come on, bud. That's what I'm talking about.
Show must go on. [ Cheers and applause ]
-The show must always go on.
-Another great season of "SNL" this year,
but one person that stuck out that stole
the show is Dionne Warwick came on the show
and was so funny.
She was great.
-Did y'all see Dionne Warwick?
-It was so good. -She was incredible.
-She was incred-- She nailed it.
But here's one thing, she tweeted at you
before she was on the show because somebody said
like hey, you should do "SNL" this season.
And she said, "That's a question for the persons
who run the show, Lorne or Kenan."
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. Okay, back story.
Ego Nwodim has been doing an
incredible impression of Dionne Warwick.
She does a Dionne Warwick show,
and I think it, you know, kind of triggered her radar.
So I think Black people migrate towards each other.
So for some reason she thinks that I represent "SNL"
and she can speak through me, you know,
to get her message across.
Like, if we see a crowd of people and we see
a Black person in the crowd, we're going to go them
and ask them like, "Who made the chicken?" I guess.
I don't know. [ Laughter ]
I don't know.
-I just -- I gotta announce today that
"SNL" is coming back next week.
-That's right. We are back next week.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Ariana DeBose.
-Ariana DeBose, that's right.
-Roddy Ricch.
-Yeah, Roddy Ricch. He's amazing.
-That's going to be a good show.
-You like that song Roddy Ricch did?
-The last time we saw each other,
I was just talking to the audience,
but we were in D.C. for Lorne.
Lorne got the Kennedy Center honor.
-Yeah, congratulations to him.
-Yeah, that was -- Dude, you killed that night.
-Thank you. -I forget what joke you told,
but you crushed. -Okay, so my first opening joke,
I just thought was like, you know,
just a cool opener or whatever.
But it was -- it killed everyone.
-Killed. -So it was...
-Something. -You know, you usually don't get
invited to Washington, D.C. to talk about your boss,
especially in front of the president
and especially under oath.
-Yeah. -Right?
[ Laughter ]
Just alright?
When you're in D.C., destroyed the room.
-Yeah, I told you though afterwards, they cut to Biden.
The president was there, and he was clapping.
He was like laughing. -Joe Biden clapped.
-Like, under the mask you can tell he's laughing,
laughing, laughing.
And I go, "Just crushed."
-That was crazy.
A shout out to David.
He was producing that show, and he wrote that.
He knows his audience.
-He knows his audience, man. They knew it.
But I thought it was so -- -Straightforward,
strict law jokes.
[ Laughter ]
-I liked it, because, you know, it's fun to have funny friends.
-Yeah, it's the best. -And funny people.
We did bits all the day long.
-It's the best.
Like, whenever we are able to -- because we don't get
to see the elders much, you know what I'm saying?
Like, once you leave the show. -Thank you.
-You know, so it's nice to get around.
-I'm the elder now. Wow. -You're one of the --
our elders. You know?
You're definitely my big brother for sure.
-Appreciate it. -But ain't that sweet?
But it's true.
I was 25 when I came to the show.
You know what I mean? -Yeah.
-It's when you first start.
But it's fun to be around you guys,
also the new cast, Steve Martin was there.
-That's what I'm saying.
As soon as I walked in, Kevin Nealon and Steve Martin
sitting there, like, going over jokes.
-Kevin Nealon did the funniest bit to me.
The whole day was all bits. -Yeah.
-Amy Poehler doing bits, Kristen Wiig doing bits.
The best. -Exhausting, but it's the best.
-The whole day was bits.
-Yeah, very passive aggressive hazing.
-Everyone was doing bits, and I got to the hotel.
I go, I'll have a couple, like, an hour of non-bits...
-Right. -...just so I can --
-Just to relax and shut the brain down from bits.
-Yeah, shower off the bits.
-Yeah. -But I get -- I get out --
I get out of the car and Jim Downey
is standing in front of the hotel.
Here comes one of the best writers.
-Here comes one of greatest from the beginning.
-From the beginning? -Yes.
-Of "Saturday Night Live." -Yeah.
-Haven't spoken to Jim in probably three years.
-Yeah. -Just life happens.
But I go, "I have to do a bit."
-Immediately. -I haven't seen the guy.
He's one of the funniest dudes. -No matter how tired you are,
there must be a bit that's gotta happen.
-There has to be a bit so I came out and I go --
it was the hotel and then they had like two -- like a parking
garage and they had two poles so that your car, you know?
And I got out of the car and I go,
"Excuse me sir, is this to the Washington monument?"
-Classic. -Because I'm in D.C.,
and there's this tiny pole.
-Great. -You know, in front of the...
And he -- without missing a beat --
he goes, "A lot of people assume that that is, but it's not.
It's actually -- it's actually this one."
[ Laughter and applause ]
Did a bit.
-Amazing.
-That's the thing about the environment of "SNL,"
like you're around such genius minds.
You haven't spoke to the guy in three years.
-Yeah. -And you jump into
a bit like that. -I want to talk about "Kenan"
by the way, and I want to talk about your Emmy
nominations and all this stuff.
-Me? -Let's talk about "Kenan."
More with Kenan Thompson after the break.
Stick around, everybody.