Kenan Thompson SNL 50

Famous hosts, musical guests and “Saturday Night Live” alumni turned out in full force for Sunday’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” tribute.

Transcript

00:00You tell me we're getting wet up with that tonight.

00:02I wish. I wish, but no, it won't be tonight.

00:05I hate to break that news and start the interview off with a heartbreaker like that.

00:10Devastating news to me personally.

00:12I apologize, man. We'll pick up the pieces, though, and we'll go on.

00:16What has this week been like for you?

00:17Like, can you just walk us through the chaos, or maybe it's not chaos?

00:22The week started pretty smooth, and then around Wednesday we had a table read,

00:27and from that point it's been snowballing.

00:29So it's been like round-the-clock changes, phone calls, texts.

00:33You know, people are in, people are out.

00:35You know, sketches are in, things are out.

00:37You know, it's getting solidified, not solidified, changing.

00:40It's becoming a whirlwind.

00:42And then Friday was just crazy. That concert was amazing.

00:45And you start to really start feeling the scale of it all,

00:49and what it means to have a show run for 50 years.

00:52It's wild for so many different angles, like the crew, us, writers, producers,

01:00like just all New York, and like good for the city, man.

01:04Good for 30 Rock, good for NBC.

01:06Like, it's awesome.

01:08My last question, is there a piece of advice from Lorne Michaels

01:11or maybe a note that you have really taken with you

01:14throughout your time on the show?

01:16So many, man. Like, that dude's always dropping gems.

01:20But he's a Jedi master, meaning that he likes to play mind tricks

01:24before your first big moment on the show.

01:27So mine was, before I went out for like a big sketch that I was nervous about,

01:31he was like, you know this should be funny, right?

01:33And walked away, and I was like, freaking out of my mind.

01:37Like, is it not funny? Like, why would he say such a thing like that?

01:39And then you go and you overperform, you know what I mean?

01:41And I killed it, so that's why he's a genius.