Blocks w/ Neal Brennan - Kenan Thompson

Episode Date: April 27, 2023

Neal Brennan interviews Kenan Thompson (SNL, You Already Know podcast, All That + more) about the things that make him feel lonely, isolated, and like something's wrong - and how he is persevering despite these blocks. ---------------------------------------------------------- Kenan's blocks: 00:00 Intro 17:13 Afraid of Bees 19:28 Diet 26:41 Co-parenting 29:58 Exercise 31:36 Driving Hard 38:08 Bites fingernails but clips toenails 41:04 Tosses & Turns in his sleep ---------------------------------------------------------- https://nealbrennan.com for tickets to Neal's tour Brand New Neal Watch Neal Brennan: Blocks on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81036234 You Already Know podcast hosted by Kenan Thompson & Tani Marole: https://www.youalreadyknowpodcast.com/ Theme music by Electric Guest (unreleased). Edited by Will Hagle ---------------------------------------------------------- SPONSORS: Seed.com/NEAL use code NEAL for 25% off your first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, I'm Neil Brennan and I have a Netflix special called Blocks where I talk about things that make me feel alone in the world. And then Jimmy Carr had the idea, why don't you do a podcast where other people come on and they do their blocks and you talk about it. We reveal things about ourselves and everybody feels better and the world heals. My guest today, I have known for literally almost 30 years yeah which seems impossible because i mean it's 30 years it's it'll be 30 years in two years were you at the pilot or you just i wasn't at the pilot all right because that's when i was 14 but this is

you started when you're 14 we did the pilot when i was 14 and by the time we started i think i was 15. look here's the story i was a writer in the 90s and 2000s in the my first job in show business so do you not consider yourself a writer anymore i mean i don't i don't you mean you're just in common whatever that's right look i'll write i'm not writing for other people right all that that you have to get that yourself i'll punch it up it's not fair now that you've learned that it's not fair yeah well let's talk about that uh hold on all right so i'm writing for a a mtv game show called singled out jenny mccarthy chris hardwick you may know jenny mccarthy from vaccines and chris hardwick and talking dirty after dead yes too dark for dirty next, they were doing a pilot for a kid's sketch show.

I started talking to the head writer, a guy named Dan Schneider. They then said, would you want to pitch? This is in LA? This is in LA. It's in the Valley. It was on Vineland. They said, would you want to pitch for this sketch show we're doing? I said, yes.

I pitched a bunch of ideas. One of them was a sketch called, uh, learning Spanish with Paco delicious. Now, now hold on. Kenan sit. Would you cut his money?

So I don't get the job. Then I see that they did the show and they changed paco delicious to a thing called learning french with pierre escargot same basic idea just wacky phrases that's my way of introducing one of the greats of comedy he was 15 14 or 15 14 we just went over this yeah 14 you're the pilot 15 when you stole my sketch i'm kidding yep we're like no we don't need that we'll do a different version no no wait fuck him yeah yeah was this neil i don't like that yeah no i don't know i don't even like the name of it you we met when you were 16 probably and i was 20 how old are you now i'm 44 i'm 49 so i I was 21. You were 15. That's 29, right?

That's 29 piece? Yeah. 29 piece tickets. That's 29 piece. We did it. We did it. Now, what's interesting, though, is I would argue that we professionally fuck with each other at the deepest of levels. 1,000%.

But we don't talk. You know what I mean? We do when we see each other. We don't need to. I was just about to say that. It always feels like we don't have or, you know what I mean? We do when we see each other. We don't need to. I was just about to say that. It always feels like we don't have to. Because whenever you call, I'm like right there. What's up?

I'm not kidding. Part of the way I feel like I don't want to bother you because I know you have a million things going or a million things in your mind, and then I don't want to get to that part of the conversation where I've said something that disinterests you and the conversation's over. It's not possible not possible you know like when you talk to like you know big brains and stuff like that and you say something and then that's kind of like the

end of it's like i missed it man i missed i missed the chance for my brain's too small yeah although the only thing i'd pitch to you is i want a keenan and kell reboot but like a darker one like a bad boys where it's orange soda and gin yeah and like people gotta grow up things aren't going well characters gotta grow up yeah yeah i wrote one episode of keenan and kell called bagging sagging keenan do you remember that one it's a bagging competition oh yeah you know that was a hard shoot was it really it was because we were like we had to like do that a bunch oh you had to actually know how to get in and re-bag it and then bag it like it was a lot of takes i'm sorry knowing what i know now i would have and then i

think there was something wrong with like the noise level of the bags you know i bet there was i know anything about you know what i'm saying yeah yeah we have to greet the bags and then you got to sit there for 40 minutes and they're like why don't you practice back and you're like i'm 16 this is torture a little but i want to talk about it was still for a couple good guy keenan thompson stories right now we talk about dropping everything and coming. Your daughters, your five and eight-year-old daughters, are next door here. You brought them. They're four and eight, but yes.

Four and eight. Yeah, same. She looks five. Anyhow, you just came with your daughters. I asked you like a week ago. My favorite Kenan Thompson story that you may not even remember my friend kevin christie got his email hacked you're our mutual friend kevin christie yes it this is maybe 10 years ago and that it gets hacked and they send out the i'm in london and i lost my wallet wire

some money to this address the thing that we all immediately uh hit uh delete most normal people yeah most normal people this guy sent money to help our friend kevin and it wasn't actually kevin it was a scam it was a scam and it wasn't an easy send either because i'm in vegas i'm like oh it's like two in the afternoon so i'm like just barely waking up i need to send a thousand dollars you know what i mean how i'm like where even is the western union in vegas you know i gotta leave the strip you know and like go deep deep north you know of the strip or whatever to find the western union but also it was like barcelona i was like what the fuck is he doing in barcelona oh and also he might be in trouble if he's in barcelona because i know kevin like right wouldn't go to barcelona you know what i mean and like he doesn't have a lot of resources i don't think on the spanish front you know no not in terms of spanishness

i was like shit i was like i didn't think to him. I just replied to the email like an idiot. Yeah. And you've sent that email a lot of money since, right? In the intervening years. I keep getting it. Regularly. And I just answer it. Yeah, yeah. You just, hey, it's so weird that this keeps happening.

Yeah, but who am I to judge? But. And yeah, it was a trek because you got to walk through the casino just to get to like the valet area where the taxis are. Oh, that's to a western this is before uber so there's like so my point is you're you seem nice and you are nice is my point a lot of people show up as seem nice aren't that nice you seem nice and are very nice i don't seem nice and you are you are nice right don't seem it yeah so what did we learn from that do we learn to just take it at face value because that's where it the joy might well i mean but you don't seem nice but are nice so right kind of like

you can't judge it both by itself right that's it all right so here's what i'm uh why i'm excited about today's episode is because i don't really know much about you meaning like i've known you for 28 years but i don't know what your neuroses are i don't know what hurts your feelings i don't know like how you what i don't actually know what it's like to be you at all and i don't even know about it yeah let's get into it how did you become this is the most basic question but like since most child actors are a little insane or their parents are insane how did you start and what were your parents were they how'd they handle it my parents was you know supportive they weren't you know necessarily like

stage mommy or living vicariously right my mom was just you know the main one that was supportive one of her friends saw me do like a the gingerbread man in kindergarten or some shit and was like you should put him in some acting classes so then i went to act you should roll with this little boy's life you know i'm saying you know put a saddle on that thing and went to acting classes for years or whatever and like started doing local you know commercials and you know wound up on a kid's news show where i was a movie critic and then on into auditioning for the mighty ducks and then nickelodeon and blah blah but i started with my brother we both you know got our headshots together at like sears you know something and like that was a legit way to get your headshot 1000 like borrowed a sweater long been bankrupt a long time now sears it's weird i think they're gone over it don't look for it the original

roebuck is still in brooklyn but i don't know it's weird it's a weird it's well shit changes yeah um things change over time yeah over over time things will change but yeah and then you know borrowed a sweater off the rack even to take the pictures kind of thing yeah yeah yeah left the tag on yes sent it out to a bunch of agents and like a kid agents in atlanta and stuff and it just like started slowly and then my brother kind of and your mom's like and dad's driving you to auditions and stuff mostly my mom my dad was you know off on of, you know. And were your moms, like, and dads driving you to auditions and stuff? Mostly my mom. My dad was, you know, off on his own. You know, he started his own real estate firm and stuff like that.

So he was, you know, business guy and stuff. And so it was kind of like my mom. Did he get his headshots done the same day you guys did? Weirdly enough, he was like, this is for something totally separate. I'm going to take my pictures real quick. Yeah, Citra 21 wants me to get some pictures. But my brother went to high school and kind of got cool and you know put you know acting on the back burner but i never did i just

you never got cool yeah i never wanted to be cool that's but that's kind of true i'm like you are cool but like the i've been telling somebody i was was telling somebody yesterday, like one of the keys to life is just if you want to be something, go be a loser for 10 years around that. Around it. Like go be a loser. Go not be the main guy. I never wanted to be the main guy. I wanted to be good.

I wanted to be a good part of the baseball team. You know what I'm saying? I was the runt on the staff of all that oh yeah like i was the you can attest like look at the look on his face oh yeah you're watching go to youtube if you're not it was a bunch of adults and then like neil like acne no facial hair the prepubescent voice was a joke but it wasn't but it wasn't it wasn't too far for 30 years have said super dude every time i've seen you it's mine it's the one thing that rings out that and the neck

i didn't i had to read but i would do a neck but they called me the boy they would throw they would throw pencils at me at one time it's the meanest thing anyone said to me in a work environment other than some rock said to me it's not alive you can believe it brian robbins the exec producer of all that said i should have fired you when i had a chance which is like okay kudos yeah kudos good for you but it was like funny whatever but i was a very low status didn't do well didn't get shit on uh would get yeah so i was just a loser for like in comedy i was a loser from age 17 to 23 and then it was a little bit of a loser after half bake like it's not just a slow trickle yes it's not like a consistent upward trajectory it's up and down and then up like and if you shoot up i feel like you're gonna shoot down even faster you know what

i mean yeah when you rock it up yeah it's all great you know i mean when you're up there blah blah blah but then all of a sudden you start falling and then you're not able to catch yourself because nobody wants you to catch yourself right and, and they also resent you for shooting a rocket and all that stuff. A thousand percent, defrogging people. Where if it's just like a slow simmer. People respect it. Like, oh, this guy, it's your turn, young man. Yeah, you've been around.

Pat him on the back, give him his badge. 49. And how do you think you didn't go crazy? The only pressure was to get the funny. It wasn't like the pressures of, oh, I got to provide for my family or, oh my God, everybody's looking at me. You know what I mean? I kind of was aware of that part of it.

It's like public speaking or whatever is people's number one fear, but I put all of that aside and was just able to make it a playground kind of. And was just surrounded to make it a playground kind of right and you know was just surrounded by people that cared you know not everybody was perfect but you know i've always had a couple molestations here and there never did never never did you know i mean yeah i mean who knows why weirdly like i got my butt pinched in atlanta i had like a fucking typing class you know some weird lady that was worse for you in high school. You know, it's just some neighborhood shit.

You know what I'm saying? I'm like, come on. You had to go in a showbiz for safety. You know what I mean? That's how dangerous your neighborhood was. Running to Hollywood, yeah. Shit. Hollywood saved me, protected me from these typing classes in Atlanta.

Long nails. I'll never forget it. Never. You wake up in the middle of the night, some nice long nails. Okay, I'm sure you've been asked this question before. What if your daughters wanted to do it luckily i know how to navigate it so i wouldn't be hesitant necessarily but i would want them to take it seriously i would want them to be as good at it as possible as opposed to either setting a trend or something or following a trend oh like tiktok you want like actual train

you want them to have an instrument that they can and not to trend oh like tiktok you want like actual train you want them to have an instrument that they can and not to take anything from tiktok because i think that's teaching them really how to produce and edit and all kinds of other things somebody told me everyone under 20 has uh all the stage presence now for sure all of them and that's a win you know but there is something to you know for china you mean it is a win for china it's a win, you know, but there is something to, you know. For China, you mean? It is a win for China. It's a huge win for China. They're killing it.

China, congratulations. They don't need that fucking balloon. Yeah, you didn't have to do all that. Also, who said it was their balloon? They said it was their balloon. Yeah. Because at first I was like, who's saying it's a China balloon? They just put China on it.

Yeah, it was probably made in China, even if it was somebody else. Here's another thing I want to say in terms of like an instrument you had moves young i think i told dave this kid could be on sierra island like when you were 16 or 17 and you had moves young and then on snl you've developed it's like being a basketball player where you just kind of need like low post moves footwork jumper off the like just you have so many fucking moves at this point it's glorious to watch thank you you, man. It's glorious. The amount of things you can get laughs on. If you say something and it doesn't get a laugh,

blame the script. Don't blame Kenan because you know you can get a laugh. You can fucking juice it. Thank you, man. you can get a lot you can fucking juice it my thank you man i mean dude like it's like wild how strong you are like i don't say you're already here what you know i got but like i've said this to you at the show like and i mean you say it often but like it's it's still wild to hear you know what i'm saying because i don't go out every day like i'm the greatest or i don't go out you know into any sketch even you know what i'm saying like if a sketch just did well it doesn't mean that next one's gonna do well right like i practice the

humility of you know approaching it from scratch each time and trying to earn well that's the question i have for you like genuinely before we begin to your blocks what's your ego like i'll tell you what mine is like if you don't want it mine is defensive again i look like i have a big ego i don't if you insult me then i'll be like i'm reactionary yeah i don't know if my ego is out of hand but i'm like i am very confident you know right like i'm very confident in like my status as a citizen, my status as a black man, my status as a father, my status as a 44 year old man who's been working for 30 years. You know what I mean?

Like I'm aware of like the money I'm, you know, my presence when I'm driving, this, that, and the other. And a lot of parking garage attendants try to like explain these things to me. Like, you know you have a luxury car, so it's going to be a little bit extra. I'm like, I'm the one driving it, motherfucker. Like I know what kind of car it is. Like give going to be a little bit extra. I'm like, I'm the one driving it, motherfucker. Like, I know what kind of car it is. Like, give me my ticket so I can go. I'm late.

But I don't like to, that's in my mind. Look, can I speak to you for a second? A lot of people wasting your time explaining things that you've known for four years. I'm not the type of person that, like, want to have to correct people the whole time. Like, yo, motherfucker, you see, it's me driving that shit.

You know what I'm saying? I know how much a fucking car, like, I don't have to do all that. So I'm like, and I'm very aware driving that shit. You know what I'm saying? I know how much it fucking costs. Like, I don't have to do all that. Yeah. So, like, I'm very aware of my strengths. You know what I mean? And I'm just as aware of my weaknesses and fears. Like, I'm afraid of fucking bees. You know what I'm saying?

You're afraid of bees? Yeah, I hate them. Is that one of your blocks? It's not. It should be. It's going to be. Yeah. We just booped it, and it came flying up behind you.

See? It's buzzing. Be careful. There's a bee. Literally, there's the word bees behind you. Now the word now that you say that i have chills on the back of my neck and i'm uncomfortable um okay so you have like you have the thing that most people have which is if like you get tested then you'll be like okay but you don't even do it you want you when you get tested the test is don't don't snap on them i try to i mean i've had my years of snapping on and you know temper flares and then i always walk away from the situation like being

like that dude's probably gonna forget about this in two seconds i'm gonna be the one living with the fact that like that just irked the shit out of me or I was yelling and blah blah blah and it's on me. As opposed to just being like, cool, this is weird and crazy that you think you need to explain to someone how much their existence is when you don't exist in their world. And it's coming from them getting into situations where people are like, man, how you gonna charge me blah blah, yeah, yeah. Maybe because I look like all the hip hop or whatever, blah, blah, blah. You know what I mean?

Like if I was wearing a suit with a briefcase, would they even say those things to me? But since I have a hoodie on, they want to try to overly explain my financial commitments to going outside, which I find to be wild. But I also try to break those traditions by being like, it's all good and tipping when I leave type shit.

I like the fuck you tip. Fuck you a little bit. Yeah, it's all good. Yeah. Charge me whatever you want and I'm still tipping. And try not to be a stereotypical person. Do you think they learn? I would hope or at least remember.

Right. With you. In case it comes back up again. Right. They'll probably like the, the next day, if a black dude with a hat and a hoodie, they'll be like, sir, do you understand your finances?

You know? Sir, right this way, you understand everything about money. Right? Are you on top of it? Okay, great. I thought you would be. I'm looking at my...

People get mad when I look at my phone like I'm doing text. I'm looking for the show. This is your script. Yeah, I'm doing the i'm looking at for the show this is your script yeah i'm doing people hold their scripts yeah sorry everybody your first block is diet do you mean dieting or just general diet probably both right yeah just like the overall concept of you know eating healthy i guess you don't you seem about right the thing is that somebody you're and i feel this way about roy wood too like that's just the size you are so i can't really notice kind of that much

but i've had my swings you know i mean like if you really look at a lot of my snl years there's been some some bloated years you know i mean where i was really going hard on soda and like not working out at all type thing and just like going to work and then laying around until it's time to be used kind of thing you know like the literal whale shirtless yeah super shirtless huh just for myself um but even before that it's it's been a lifelong kind of journey you know just genetically is your family like what size what size do you think your body is supposed to be i feel like i'm semi-close now but i could be more muscular like i could do more push-ups and shit like that to make it tighter i brought shoulders you know

i mean i don't think i was supposed to be like a very skinny person necessarily but you know it could be better maybe in the thighs i don't know i don't know i was gonna say it's supposed to be it's gonna say size yeah that's what i had on my phone checking show me thighs um uh you now you're like me anytime you do steve harvey but it's also when you watch family feud you're not a guy who does steve harvey you're just a fan of family feud that's where it comes from usually like the joy of me doing steve harvey is the joy of me having watched and enjoyed steve yes like i i don't family feuds probably the tv show i watch the most uh that's not dvr like if i'm just scrolling and like oh family

food's on and by the way it's on work by far is one of my favorites like if i could get past all the like walk-in tub commercials and life insurance and stuff that's the hard part about i have a walk-in tub observation that only you will understand the problem with the walk-in tub is you got to walk in butt naked and just sit there and wait. Me and Leslie were dying laughing about this three nights ago. You just got to take it. You just got to sit there butt naked.

That fucking water raises up and starts sliding underneath your legs. And it's going to take a good 25 minutes for that shit to fill up at least and you can't take your pants off it's all a humiliation gotta be there yeah you gotta you just gotta sit there you can't they can't once you can't open the door no it's over also drainage you gotta wait for that drain to go down you Oh, my God. That's a tough sell. But they make it look appealing.

You're humiliated on the way in and the way out. How good is this bath? I don't know. I don't know. Fuck. There's got to be another concept that works better. I don't know exactly how. I don't think there is.

I just think it's part of the humiliation of aging. I mean, I had a tough aging realization yesterday yesterday let's say we both live to 80 right the first 10 years of your life doesn't really count because you can't really remember it the last 10 your shit's falling apart it's chaos yeah yeah so you really only get 60 good years we've lived 35 and 40 good years and we got about 20 left oh my god it's time to turn up let's go podcast on podcast on podcast network turn it's time to get turned all the way up when you put it like that i worry yeah i worry about the bows you know what i mean as you go older like the cough fart that could lead into whatever. It's the worst. Maybe blood.

My biggest nightmare. You don't know. You don't know. That's why we got to turn up now. So there will be blood. Yeah, there will. But what we're saying is, in short. So, you know, I've done an ad for Seed before.

And like I said last time, I'm not a huge fan of bathroom stuff. I have a bidet, you know, that that's been a boon for my life, but seed sent me some pills and I gotta say they got things going. If you know what I mean. They increased my regularity. The trains are running on time, as it were. Should I go on? It works. That's all I want to say about it because it's private. Start a new healthy habit today. Visit seed.com slash NEAL and use code any al to redeem 25 off your first month of seeds dso1 daily symbiotic that's seed.com slash any al and use code neil neil neil neil seed seed seed seed seed seed seed all right so my question is do you beat yourself up when you're overweight or when your thighs aren't right no i'm in full denial.

You know what I mean? Like, I look in the mirror and like, all right, this looks like, you know, symmetric or whatever. Like a longer t-shirt. Cool. They don't turn like the actual frontage. You just turn sideways. I'm like, oh, that looks kind of skinny-ish. And he turns sideways.

You see how wide you are. Like, no, no, that's not the person I'm talking to. No, no, this is fucked up. That's the wrong, yeah. I'm talking to this person. This angle's not appropriate. I'm good. So that part, you know, bothers me about that.

What's your inner monologue like? You don't need that extra sandwich. You know what I mean? You don't need to just, like, eat and go to sleep. Is it friendly? In the beginning, when it gets out of hand, it's like, yo, what are you doing, bro? You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Look at yourself. Like, take all your clothes off and look at yourself. And you think this is a good idea to just do Chick-fil-a for the third day in a row type thing it's like you got to try harder you know like there's nothing wrong with chick-fil-a but everything in moderation blah blah blah bullshit you know i'm saying yeah as far as dieting concerns dieting and exercise is kind of the only way to take care of your body you can yeah that's this pill you can do that well now the shot yeah you can use this equipment whatever but you just you have to do them both you got to do something yeah do you worry about like you got i have daughters now i should

be more like do you worry about that i mean yeah but like at the same time you know no one knows the hour and what the cause might be i could fall off a cliff on some shit and been dieting and exercising the whole time you know what i'm saying you still doing that cliff parkour man that hardcore cliff shit man that hardcore you should come out bro i would love to come by let me know text me it's all at night i'll be right there so we have a good time all at night wow it's all at night so they're just you know but i do want to set a good example for you know good living and stuff like that you know i mean i don't want them to look up to someone who preaches one thing and you know is a slob or it's super duper lazy and you know just

eating kind of any old thing without regard you know how was the co-parenting thing? Did you figure, like, was that hard? Because you were married, two daughters, and now you're divorced. Lil Jon Yeah, it's the hardest. I mean, we're still going through the process of, but, you know, we're trying to make it, you know, our biggest concern is their happiness. You know what I mean? And making sure they feel stable and supported and blah, blah, blah.

And as long as we can stay cordial and continue to grow from there, who knows what the future holds, you know what I mean? A lot of people come back around to each other and stuff like that. So, like, there's nothing necessarily off the table, but it is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, for sure. I don't know if I would be able to take it, getting divorced, especially with kids. I think it would, you know hype williams the director one time he was getting divorced this is like 20 years ago and he said it

just feels like downward pressure on my soul like and it that stuck with me because because i i can't imagine that level of, I feel like I'd be so upset for so long. Yeah. I mean, it's upsetting, you know? Like, it's not what you seek to do when you get into any sort of relationship or even get married. You don't think about that ever happening. You know what i mean like i i it just was a bubble burst for me basically but it's definitely part of trying to be a responsible adult you know what i mean like you can't just continue you know certain cycles of things that lead to you know arguments or whatever you know

what i'm saying and like if you just feel like you'd be better off individualizing for a period of time whatever you have to do that to keep a peaceful household to keep a good you know example for your kids when you're around them and stuff like that what's the complaint about you as a partner mate hers i would probably i mean i can only imagine like i probably work too much you know know so too much money coming in you know maybe too even killed like

ah yeah like it you know boring right like you don't it doesn't even nothing upsets you right

something like that well how are you so even tempered you smoke weed you always have is that part of it I mean it could have something to do with

I'm just a mellow fellow I've always been that way just you that's just who you are yeah that's just me little brother you know I'm saying right and never like I feel like I had to like grab my shield and sword and run out there you know I'm saying and protect the town it was like yeah well call me if you guys need me but you know I mean yeah it's funny how I'm the youngest and it's like birth order does have a big effect on your personality it definitely does i feel like second children are always fearless you know what i mean like yeah don't take you know danger as serious like i remember i rode out you know across a very busy street when we were kids without

looking you know what i mean and my brother like got to the other side i was like what the fuck is wrong with you yeah i was like well i thought it'd be cool. I was just going to ride through and God got me. All right, great. Okay, so diet will just wish you the best. You know, that's all you can do. Just stay supported, figure out what you like, and make it work for yourself. Okay, exercise can't stay steady. Same thing.

Two-hander. This might be a three-h piece yeah a little bit because like i'll find something i like like riding my bike you know what i mean but it's a warm weather thing you know i'm saying like i don't like stationary bikes so when winter comes around like now i'm off my bike you know i'm saying because it's fucking freezing i'm not gonna just like anywhere do it you never peloton just like running i've done it but it's not right something that i can stay consistent on, just like treadmilling.

You know what I'm saying? Right. You're doing the same thing for your muscles, but for my mind, it's just torture. You know what I mean? And I got to get outside, I guess, because I can relate it to playing as opposed to like exercise. Yeah.

Weightlifting is like, as soon as that soreness kicks in, like by the third day of being sore, you're like, oh, why am I, I'm sorry, what's happening exactly? Like, why am I torturing myself? you wouldn't believe it to look at me but i've taken my butt my glutes from uh two to a six and a half that's gangster that that's gangster and i think ladies respect it have to well the thing about glutes is you got to turn them on and i what i mean is let me finish you gotta you they are not activated in our lives no so you need to like fucking make a concerted effort that takes a year yeah and then you gotta then you gotta go from there you gotta activate you gotta activate the glutes and then they they're not activated

when you walk which is like glutes right you got to come on in there and when you do work the glute you feel it's like oh shit that's there's muscle in there yeah all right okay all right you have glue we see you glute uh driving hard yeah i number one enjoy you know driving fast and like horsepower you know what i mean and like muscle and blah blah blah do you live you live in jersey and i live in the west village do you have a car i drive every day all day and you can't really 15 miles an hour yeah when i get my little chances i take them and i just go speeding or whatever or if i am on the highway and I just go speeding or whatever. Or if I am on the highway, like outside of the city or whatever, I like to go at my pace.

And sometimes there's people in my way and I'm like, I got to get around them. My pace is about 99. That's your pace? When I'm on the highway, that's a fair pace, I think. It's like 100 miles. You know what I mean? You go 100 miles in an hour. It's a good even round number.

And I can control it. People know when you're going to be places. I can control it. I know the speed limit is 55 and 60 and I try to cooperate as much as possible. That's for squares. When you're in the middle of nowhere it's like, yo, come on. What are we doing? What are we doing? You know what I mean? Why are y'all just like cruise controlling at 60?

North Dakota, I think they don't have a speed limit. And you haven't heard much trouble from that. You know what else they don't have? Black people. There you go. Whoops. That's the issue. Don't speed it.

I'm not saying black people speed it. I'm saying I'd suggest going there, but it's kind of like. I'm straight. I'm always wanting to go to, is it Sturgeon? What is that? That's the motorcycle that's the COVID rally doesn't feel too safe

for a guy like that the Audubon growing up on that there's different places where they don't have that rule have you gone to Germany? have you done like racetrack shit? no do you watch the Drive to Survive on Netflix?

The Formula One show? Yes. Yes. Why don't you get one of those machines? They're too small. They look uncomfortable to sit in necessarily. So I go with the versions that work for me. Like the Challenger is more comfortable than the Mustang.

You know what I mean? Because it's wider and it's just blah, blah, blah. And and it's still i'm talking about one of them computerized machines oh they just play the video game it's not it's a simulator yeah i don't i'm i want to live life you know okay i want to simulate life okay i'm all about vr bro i hear you bro gotta get outside man this is weird for me i'm panicked i'm covered in i like to be outside i like to hear that wind you know what i mean i like to blow past people like like i like pulling up on i'm sorry but i do like pulling up in the rearview mirror and if you don't move out of the way are you paying attention big time wow i'm a flasher and like i am uh let you know either side of your mirror kind of like hang out the side of no but i do look at people when i passed them and

they weren't cooperating at first like it doesn't do anything they don't even know that they look back and it doesn't affect them you just go all right it's all my own stress so if i see you again i won't go the speed limit what do you call my alarm i'm not endangering the people in my vehicle sir just for you like be a daredevil or be reckless and like i it makes me feel bad because i can't help myself especially when i know i have a car that can perform or whatever type shit and i'm just like looking at motherfuckers like yo y'all just are really lollygagging yeah well what if your daughters are with you i mean i don't put them in danger at all but you know we don't drive slow we get through our traffic this is like the john

moran interview yeah where's my gun at where it's like me and my daughters always be at 200 miles an hour i can't say that well all right here's the question i got for you what's your parenting like meaning do you think about it did you just go i'm gonna do what my parents did you know what i mean like when you have a kid is it like okay what what's my approach gonna be it was very much i in the beginning i was raised this way and then i had to learn and adjust and adapt number one like i'm compromising i'm parenting with someone else as well you know what i mean so we're like on the same page 99% of the time. You know what I mean?

But I might be pushing an issue that's not that serious based on my upbringing or something like that and I had to learn to adjust and adapt to the present situation based on what the child can handle or where they're at with their age. You know what I mean? I'm just thinking, throw all the rules down, blah, blah, blah. I'm not thinking that I'm talking to a four year old. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just thinking, throw all the rules down, blah, blah, blah. I'm not thinking that I'm talking to a four-year-old. You know what I mean? You have to, like,

learn how to adjust how you send the message based on the level of education that the person you're talking to has. Kind of natural kind of stuff. I'm just thinking, like, you don't do this

and you don't do that and blah, blah, blah without the whys. You know what I'm saying? Look here. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, a lot of look here because that's how, you know,

I was raised, which is fine. And's you know look here blah blah yeah a lot of look here because that's how you know i was raised um which is fine and it you know i do believe discipline is you know important for a kid's life you know i mean safety wise or whatever yeah like to go out into the world and like know what to look for don't just like be oblivious to you know the fact that there are negative people in the world but we don't have to focus on that you know what i'm saying yeah i just want them to be you know prepared when with those tools in the back of their mind even in case they do need them you know i'm saying or like know what a wolf looks and sounds like basically stuff like that and do you think in order for them to know what a wolf looks like it's like that the black parenting thing where it's you need to especially with the black parenting thing where it's you need to especially with boys you need to show them severity so that the white man doesn't show them obviously with daughters it's different right

yeah and only because that shock from other people i think resonates so much longer as opposed to like a lesson from a loved one yeah you know what i mean like when there's a real shock to the system it's like yo my whole kind of world is shattered like it's not just you know everybody can be anything and we can all play together well it's malicious very much so yeah it's funny because i've known you for so long and i you've always been sort of who you are meaning like you were always pretty chill you're always a hard worker you've always been sort of who you are meaning like you were always pretty chill you're always a hard worker you were always like you never went through a dummy phase or you never went through a i i like being mellow because i can always turn it up or turn it down yeah i mean like i like staying kind of even kill for the most part because that's how you kill motors you know

what i mean like if you're gonna just high rev you know what i mean like high rms all the time cars yeah all right you bite your fingernails but you clip your toenails yeah i can't reach my toenails to bite them and i don't think i would but i think it's but you're not sure you wouldn't i can't say that i wouldn't honestly i really can't but i think it's weird that i refuse to clip my fingernails like i would rather bite them you know what's fingernails is i've started thinking of fingernails the fact that i'm i'm not a nail biter but lebron remember when lebron used to bite his nails all the time yeah i mean athletes it's it's tough because they have a lot of ticks you know i mean yeah like any little thing that bothers him like if he feels his nail he'll have to bite that off you

know i'm saying just because everything has to be a non-distraction basically or whatever so like anything i feel it's not as smooth as i want to now my mind is on that as opposed to on the game you know and that kind of but the thing is you let me see your nails real quick they're all right they look all right they don't look like gross no like you're not an everyday biter i'm not it's only when i feel like they're too sharp or whatever but i bite them as opposed to clipping them like i clip my toenails you know what i mean but like i refuse to clip my fingernails i don't like it i don't like the feeling this might be the smallest block since ronnie chang said that he has to shower after he shits every time every time that's not a block that's you're doing the world a favor

um that's a bridge yeah uh this thing is i don't know it's necessarily a block it's just a it's just a a weird thing i refuse to put down like basically like just like clip my fingernails but i don't like it and i'm like well why am i paying so much attention to the thing that happens to me though all right so i'll go like if i can't get a clipper right and you do the thing i'll go between one of one of the big two and the side. And the thing where it slips and you paper cut your... Your gums. That's no good. And then you're basically like a bear at this point.

You're like, I'm an animal. Yeah, I have a technique. What do you got? It's just the same two, I think, teeth basically and never on the sides or whatever, like tapping bottom two and then turn the finger like it's a. What's the weirdest thing? Are you a flosser?

Yeah. And it sucks every time. Oh, I like floss. Really? Yeah. I have a little floss thingy in my pocket right now. You like to see. I love seeing my work and what was left behind.

Who are you? What's your story? Look what I'm getting out of there. A little crummy? Yeah. Talk to me i like smelling what i like because i because i get shit caught between my teeth and it's gross and uh you can feel it or yeah i can feel it because my i'm like an athlete but with my mouth telling you so so you know what i mean ladies All right. And then you had another block, which was, okay, toss and turn in your sleep.

Talk to me. I don't know if I toss a normal amount because, to me, I'm just changing positions or whatever. But sometimes when I don't sleep much i'll notice like if i'm like i got from catching like micro naps often like three or four hours here as opposed to like a full night sleep i'll notice like shit i just turn back and forth like seven times you know what i'm saying as opposed to just like laying down and sleeping for a long period of time do you have pleasant dreams i don't remember them but the ones that are bad usually stand out. Here's some irony for your ass.

I don't think I've ever had a pleasant dream. When people go, sweet dreams, I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. I'll say four nights a week, my dream is that I'm at SNL and Lorne is mad at me. Four nights a week? Four nights a week. This is going back 20 years. Is that not insane?

Is that because you're a super fan of the show? I'm a super fan of the show. Okay. Always knew someone there. Mike Schur, Seth, a bunch of people. Everybody. Somehow, I didn't ever spend time there until Dave hosted in 2016. So, like, I'm not kidding.

Four nights a week, Lorne's mad at me kidding four nights a week i'm mad at me and lauren's never been mad at me i wonder if lauren is the representation of like the biz it i think basically unequivocally he is and you feel like at snl is like you being the writer and outputting or you being the neil that we all know you for something and you're not doing enough or you're not yeah like i'm just in it's like a stress it's like high school yeah it still baffles me i don't even think talking to lauren about it would help not at all because i don't think it has anything i think it's all like a slightly metaphoric it's all it's all a metaphor for it's just a stress stream yeah it's like the most basic one and your mind kind of sugar blanketed it and put it into an environment

that you like you know and then it's like oh well this is how i can handle breaking down as opposed to like the world pressures of like how's my netflix special doing or how's this doing or whatever you can consolidate it and put it in a world where you can actually function and kind of see or maybe kind of dissect what's happening without overpanicking. Because if it's too big, you know what I mean? Like, my numbers in Australia is low, yo. That's enough to give anybody a heart attack. You worried about Australia?

I'm like, this fake sketch that I wrote isn't working for this, like whatever. And it's – by the way, I have those too sometimes. I had a different one, a different genre that some SNL people were in. What's your experience there like? It's a highly emotional, you know, fucking stress pot that bubbles up to the top. I'm there every night, yeah for eight hours it's like starting a new pot every monday and it's gonna boil over and you know it by saturday but you but what's funny is you don't seem strike me as the kind of person who writes a sketch and then

gets like might cry if it gets cut yeah i mean i'm not a big crier anyway or whatever getting i've had very emotional like experiences with like you know your writing is very personal to you you know i mean so anytime i put up something that is lame or it doesn't connect for whatever reason i'm like fuck man you know i mean? Like, it doesn't feel good at all. How do you ride out the downs? You have to learn that that place is special and there will probably be a tomorrow. You know what I mean? Like, when it's the end of the season

and you're looking back on your season and you've been fucking up and you're new, you know, that's, grounds to be nervous and there's kind of nothing for anybody to help you with that. But when you're in, like, season three and four and five and you've been doing it for a while, you're still getting your shit cut.

You got to like start to separate, you know, the emotional attachment of your ideas to yourself and just kind of just keep searching and fishing and working with others. You know what I mean? What's funny is you're like the best and worst person to get advice from because you'd be like, look, you're going to be here 20 years.

Yeah, bro. Look, you're going to be here 20 years. There's a chance for you to be here like it's nothing. You know what I mean? There's always another show. Blah, blah, blah. There's going to be so many more. You're going to get 400 shots at it like I have.

It's not like you're going to be showing the door awkwardly at any given point. No. You're not going to get replacement season. That never happens to me. You don't worry about that. But I think that's kind of the best way to navigate the storm a little bit when you're in it there because those cuts are going to happen, and they're going to happen a lot. You know what I mean?

It's just what it is. Do follow-ups, meaning you and the great Brian Tucker, who wrote on Chappelle's show, he pitched the racial draft and player-hater's ball and something else that i'm forgetting but like a great a huge fucking help on chapelle show like i think me and dave owe him money um meaning just he was like the only person really from the charlie donell and him were like the one says he gets someone recognizing him from i know black people like once a week yeah to this day by the way i do too they think i'm him yeah which is just look racism works both ways racist yeah white people look like

all the same but it's fine but what i what i'm curious about is they go talker goes they fucking cut it do you go what let me go talk to somebody or do you just go ah fuck it a bit of both like sometimes like when i feel strongly about it i'm like all right so what's going on like why didn't why aren't we you know i mean is there anything that i can do differently can we try this again next week or whatever like i need more of a conversation and sometimes i'm like fuck it i don't give a fuck like i saw that coming or i heard it in the room like it just didn't connect oh right what if a sketch but i've had a sketch get a standing ovation and get cut you know what i mean and i was really like kind of pissed about it but don't let me gloss over praising brian tucker by the way

because no no everything what did tucker write for you it's it's done what up with that it's the best what's up with that black jeopardy family feud you know mostly anything you know black and kind of yeah and by the way he's a white person's white person yeah look him up brian tucker i know black people yeah he's he's a white man yes but he loves you know black culture and he writes you know comedically very well in that yeah of direction. You can get in rhythm. Yeah. And I need that writing structure. You know what I mean?

I have all of the reference material I need just growing up and watching what I've watched. But if I want to bring what I thought was funny about Dolomite or all those things I grew up on school days, I have to formulate it a certain way. And some people might not have ever heard of Spike Lee, so I have to you know formulate it a certain way and then some people might not have ever heard of Spike Lee so I gotta like keep that in mind and my oh yeah well I'm going for this joke here how do I get everybody on the same page from this point to that point you know I mean yeah that's you know where he's filled those gaps in in my life you know I'm saying because up until that point I was kind of struggling what year was that he came and he came in 05 05 so it was like my second year they put him on waivers

we didn't develop what's up with that until like my seventh year something like that so which was like oh nine one offers or whatever so yeah i that's what i always wonder with you which is like how do you weather the just the emotions of it? Because I've worked at Saturday Night Live for three weeks. And I'm just like, no, I'm good. That's when it's too much. You know what I mean? When it's a tight window like that, it's just like, oh, this is chaos.

Right. Yes. And also, like, yeah, I didn't get like the whole season worth of like, hey, I had some ups and downs. It was like. I mean, it was three weeks as opposed to 20 weeks. we have 20 weeks and by the way it's three weeks over four years right so it wasn't like yeah he's a pressure cooker every single time yeah it's like what you got what you got what you got nothing all right yeah thanks a lot for coming no no i had good shit that got whatever i get it's a whole other argument but because of my ego from doing a

show it's like man you're not cutting my shit like you know what i mean like oh for sure like if you have a show and then you come to a place where like we decided and you're like it was hard in my first season coming from nickelodeon and all of that like to not be utilized like i remember getting like you know i call it getting donutted where you don't get a sketch at all you just got a big zero you're not on the show at all that night. But you're there. Do you do good nights? You got to do good nights. You know what I mean?

Good nights is when they all stand and wave. And if you've got nothing on, you just got to stand. And you got to stand there looking salty or crying or whatever, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, what am I doing this for? I'm very confusing. I think I yelled at my manager, a guy who didn't deserve that at all. I was just like outputting towards somebody who happened to be there. And what I realized was that nothing is coming out of this temper tantrum.

Like I still have to write a sketch that's going to work. Like me being mad about last week doesn't make this funny that I'm trying right now. Right. You know what I'm saying? So you just have to learn how to like let it go. So you're good at letting shit go? That shit up there, yeah. What are you not good at letting go? All kinds shit you know what i mean like tell me i have a podcast called blocks

tell me about shit that i mean any kind of temper shit done wrong emo shit i mean like anybody like trying to like do wrong towards me because i don't feel like i spend my day trying to like do wrong to others kind of thing so when it comes my way it's like what the fuck yeah i'm saying and like i try not to hold grudges but you know certain people earn grudges you know i'm saying i'm like you know what i'm not gonna put that down i'm a grudge guy i'm a grudge guy yeah everyone knows that i've heard i'm a grudge guy the idea that some people earn grudge i told somebody a couple days ago i go two friends of mine have stopped talking to me and i get it like look you got a good shot

do you have a good case i'm not gonna be like yo man what do you know no i get it yeah i gotta take it yeah i i probably did that for you. You're not wrong. I would block me or not speak to me anymore. Also, it's not even big. It's not like, no big acts of betrayal. It's just more like

enough. And I'm like, yep. I have a habit of doing that for folks. You'll let them go or you or people will stop talking to you no i'll hold on to them because i feel like they've earned it you know the grudge yeah you've developed this thing now it's a grudge and like it wouldn't have been if it wasn't according to what you've done you know right yeah this isn't out of nowhere no this is going to be a lesson and however long that lesson needs to take and a little bit

on top of it you know what i'm saying do i one time uh an ex of mine i used to say uh hey i'm gonna need a she would apologize for something and the next day i'm gonna go i'm gonna need another apology yeah this is a two apology yeah a little on top you know man nothing wrong with sprinkles yeah come on man do you ever get caught up in like i'm being a little self-righteous or is it always like no this is so far beyond this is extra yeah i mean i i try not to get preachy because i i think i've been preaching in the past without practicing what i'm what i'm preaching is like a lot of finger wagging, basically, as opposed to like looking at maybe my behaviors that might have triggered any of that, you know what I mean, without me even knowing. But at the same time, my personality, like a lot of Tauruses don't even argue because we're logical thinkers and we know when we're right.

You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to argue if I'm not completely sure. But if I'm arguing, it's because I know I'm right. You know what I'm saying? i'm not going to argue if i'm not completely sure but if i'm arguing it's because i know i'm right you know right and it's like do you enjoy it if you know you're right no because it's like i don't like arguing anyway you know what i'm saying so it's like if you're bringing that out of me where i'm repeating myself and i'm running down all this thing you know it's not my most favorite version of myself you know what i'm saying so it's like why are you bringing this out of me, basically? Like, why won't you just listen when I said it the first time

and take it for that being the facts, you know what I'm saying? Or that being the right way or whatever. And, you know, it's not fair because it's removing people's choices, removing people's perspective and blah, blah, blah, and not allowing them to kind of, like, come to a conclusion on their own. It's, you know, presumptuous of me to just be like, see it how I see it. Don't you see it? Immediately.

And so I just learned how to, like, feel fine running it down, but also kind of let them know that I'm irked, that you're not listening to me, and I'm repeating myself for the fourth and fifth and sixth time. You know what I'm saying? Well, sitting with you, I'm wondering how you deal with showbiz, your success. You've been successful for a long time.

And friends, colleagues, people you sort of know, how do you get through? There's some, some like status differences i find it the hardest one of the hardest things in showbiz is like the the status i'm lower status than so and so and like it's strained or i'm somebody's lower status than me and that's strained it's my least favorite part of it you know yeah um i don't i don't like classes and places and yeah any of that you know because i feel like that's where bigotries come from you know and i it's my least favorite part of it um and i i try to avoid it like the plague i don't call you know back i try to call them background acts as opposed to extras or atmosphere.

You know what I mean? We're all kind of people here. I hate when there's a kind of rogue PA yelling at them or treating them like subhuman or kind of cattle herd. I can't witness it and not say anything. I think of them as sheep, but not cattle. Yeah, thank you. But yeah, I don't like confrontation like that. but I'm not even talking about background actions I'm talking about like I'm just talking about the hierarchy yeah the business

and then in society to like even in your friends you know I mean like a lot of people put certain friends you know on this pedestal because of what they might think their status might do for them and they're like you know yeah why is this person the the leader of this friend group type thing? You know what I mean? Like, aren't you guys all just friends? Yeah. Because you just grew up around each other and that's just that. There's fucking hierarchy everywhere, though.

It's crazy. It's a societal thing. How do you deal with resentments because of that toward you? Not very well. You know what I mean? Like, we did the Byron Allen Presents thing the other night, and it was like two or three weeks ago. Roy did it, right? Roy did it.

Lovitz was there. Tommy Davidson. You know, Gabriel Iglesias. Howie Mandel. It was a good grouping. But I went out there with, you know, no monologue because I'm not a stand-up. You know what I'm saying? So I'm just talking shit or whatever.

And I started getting heckled by these two people in the audience or whatever. I broke the jokes and I was like, all right, let me explain what we're doing real quick, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I kind of gave them an opening to start talking back to me or whatever, which is fine. I'm usually kind of prepared for it. But they were like, I was like, so we're filming this thing, you know what I mean? So we need you guys to stay excited, keep your energy up, blah, blah, blah. It's not necessarily live, but we need you to was like so we're filming this thing you know what I mean so we need you guys to like stay excited keep your energy up blah blah blah

it's not necessarily live but we need you to act like it's live and they're like oh so you want us to be fake like you and I was like I heard it

but then I was like let me not jump to conclusions that she's calling me fake necessarily she might be calling like acting fake you know what I mean blah blah blah

but it definitely triggered me I was like you calling me fake like who the fuck you think you don't know me like that and it made me want to go down there and be like hi my name is keena who what's your name and why do you think i'm fake exactly like where are you

getting that from i wanted i was dying to know the origins of what made them say that to me you know what i'm saying but i'll never know and it might not even be that serious but it definitely triggered me in a way and i was like interesting yeah well that's like it's also like time and place like lady or guy like i'm doing a taping yeah there's 400 people here and we're on the clock yeah it's also like you're the last you're one of the most decent people i know in or out of showbiz so like so yeah i'm sorry i mean you're fake as fuck everybody but i mean everybody knows that i'm saying especially denzel i'm kidding but this is my boy denzel yeah um but my question is how do you deal with friends resenting you or

not i'm not talking about heckling i'm talking about tension within your friend group. Because I've seen you roll thick and thin, meaning like you've had, I don't know if it was periods or shows or whatever, where you had a lot of friends around and then where you didn't have a lot of friends around. And I'm wondering if you went through a cycle of like saying yes too much or not or you know what I mean? or not or you know what i mean yeah but it was a lot easier you know before i got married for people to just be fine just being around you know what i mean you were fine with them being around they or they were you know what i mean like once i got married it was kind of like oh you're family and if i'm not like really in family like people just kind of like you know yeah since themselves or whatever because you're not helping with the kids you're not helping us do anything you know yeah so are you a really are you really afraid yeah it kind of becomes like a little more apparent based on their participation so people kind of just fade

away or whatever and now i'm on the other side of it it's like i'm not calling all those people to be around me just because you know i'm saying like i'll be at the show by myself like it's all good and i will leave by myself like i have no problem no problem with that. You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, I kind of don't mind it. That sounds a little like you're a little feel-away about some of the people. Am I wrong? I don't. It was just, it was kind of just an error. You know what I mean?

Got it. You know, it was a lot of fun having a lot of people around. And now it's like, I'd rather go see a lot of people and then be able to like come and go as i please yeah without them being at your job and your room and or just group traveling like that you know i mean i don't mind groups but i meet the group there type thing yeah that's what uber that's what uber black so. You know what I'm saying? All right. And fine.

Okay. So what makes you feel lonely? Do you ever feel like, what are the trials of your life? I mean, the biggest is, you know, a daily reminder of, you know, my situation, basically, because, yeah, I'm in a, you know, a co-parenting situation. You know what I'm in a co-parenting situation. It's not like every three days I'll deal with that issue. It's like every day because

I want to be in my kid's life. I want to be around them. I want to be in her life. We are friends. We have a bond. We're married for 10 years. I don't want to think that that can all just be thrown in the trash and just be in the past. There's going to be a lot of Christmases be thrown in the trash and just be in the past. You know what I'm saying? There's going to be a lot of Christmases and birthdays and Thanksgivings and things like that.

And I would love for everybody to just get along. You know what I'm saying? So I have a daily reminder of that. And that's very hard because it starts as soon as I wake up in the morning. I got to see, you know, what are we doing about getting into school or what's their plan? You know, this, that, and the other, blah, blah, blah. in the school or what's their plan you know this that and the other blah blah blah um so it's definitely like the most ongoing thorn in my side only because it's you know an emotional thing basically and it it's not necessarily where either one of us wanted it

to be when we first started out together or whatever but it's where we're at yeah i'm saying we're trying to make the best of it that That's, you know, my family and stuff like that makes me very emotional. Or people that I have love for that I hear are struggling in any sort of way. You know what I mean? Like, even watching your specials, it's hard to watch the non-comedy points. You know what I'm saying? Or when it gets too real, it's like, that's my buddy up there. You know, these are things I never knew.

I didn't know you were, like, one of ten until I watched three mics you know what i'm saying like it explained a ton but that's that was by the way that's the point yeah you know that's the point explain everything all right let me explain you know how i'd seem very overly like somber let me explain how we got here on a plane this is me a somber guy but even in in the blocks one it's like it's interesting to watch you know what you think or what you don't think people would have to deal with because of you know he's so funny so smart he's so connected he's so this he's been doing it for so long he's so blah blah blah blah blah so like to witness other people's like tribulations like yeah you know it resonates with me because it's like what happened to the Garden of Eden?

You know what I mean? Like, why can't we just swim around and kind of candy type shit? Like, why does she got to be so fucking real? Somebody said in like my ayahuasca crazy world said in the spirit world, being a human is like a tough assignment. Yeah. It's like being a traffic cop. Yeah. Where it's like, yeah tough assignment yeah it's like being a traffic cop yeah where it's like out there yeah you fucking it's not it's like it's not gonna come to you this

shit is not that easy people hate it yeah it's not people like oh fuck i gotta go be right oh well this is a separate thing but when you were talking to mike dyson how scared were you i wanted where there's a clip, explain to people what happened on your, was it on your podcast or on his podcast? It was on his podcast. So he had done our podcast the day before as a favor to us. It was our hundredth episode.

And he was like our second guest, you know, like our first guest was Kel basically. So we didn't, we don't do a lot of guests. We just, you know, talk to each other,

me and my partner, shout out to Tani. Shout out to you already know podcast. I hate to plug on you. I'm sorry. Please, please, basically. So we don't do a lot of guests. We just talk to each other, me and my partner. Shout out to Tani. Shout out to you already know podcast. I hate to plug on you. I'm sorry about that. Please, please, please. So he had so much fun with us on our pod, he was like, you guys should come do mine. So it was like a day later or something like that, because it took like a day to schedule

it. And it was like, okay, the next day we'll go. So we go sitting there with Who Kid, you know, weeding mushrooms everywhere. You know, everybody's happy. I'm chilling because, you know, weeding mushrooms everywhere. You know, everybody's happy. I'm chilling because, you know, I don't do all that stuff on camera or whatever. And, you know, I'm not a mushroom guy like that, you know, hard on the stomach. You know, I was just chilling. I was just, you know, there and everybody, you know, was having a good time.

And, like, I have this N-word hang up, you know what I mean? I try not to use it. I don't like it. I don't like how free a lot of people are with it oh you've always felt that way it's been stronger lately especially having kids yeah um but no i was guilty of using it freely you know as a younger person before i was i guess was awakened to the nuisance of it all i'm guessing embarrassed say this same here you know what i mean did a joke with it like like it's nothing like a a gigantic unforced error on my part yeah but you know everybody you know is allowed to you know mistake and learn but it says the guy who's never on social media go ahead yeah

but the refusal to make that conversation make sense is what bothers me you know i'm saying a lot of people don't even want to talk about it they just want to use it yeah i'm saying and it's like i don't know that's a problem for me um but he said something along the lines of if i'm not an n-word i'm nothing and i was like well i'm not gonna let you just sit in that and think that without offering you know another way i know it's fun it's like an intervention yeah it was almost and i try to intervene any anytime i hear people talking there'll be a really funny sketch by the way yeah and it didn't matter who it was it just happened to be the most ferocious man walking the planet yeah and i've known mike for, you know what I'm saying?

And he's a partner in our company type thing. So it's a family affair, but at the same time, he's a bit of a loose cannon. So at any given moment, he can forget that I'm sitting here as his friend, and he can just see someone that he's disagreeing with and it could he could see Trevor get out of control yeah exactly you know it's just like is that a jerry curl what the fuck is going like no I don't have a jerry curl like at all like what's happening what's happening right now um I kind of saw early on that he was just trying to make a point and he doesn't necessarily love to be challenged because it is his perspective you know what i mean and he's not wrong in his perspective but

i didn't want him to like just let that go without trying to lift him up out of that you know i mean that's a very dark statement to say especially when you've accomplished so much you know what i'm saying and i was just like it's also not a great look on the seven-year-old that might be watching that clip either. Well, I would bet it would just be like incredibly confusing. Like, wait, what do you mean? Like, I don't even know. Maybe they've never heard the word. I heard it a little bit or whatever.

And then you're like, what? I mean, it wasn't confusing to me because I kind of know what are you. I know that perspective. It's like I know the argument that he's doing. It's like protection against getting hurt by society. So you go, well, what difference does it make? Et cetera, et cetera. I'll be the one to tell the joke on you first.

Right. It's a version of I don't give a fuck. You think I give a fuck? I don't give a fuck. So then it's like rising. So for seven, eight, nine, ten seconds, I was like, oh shit, he's mad. You know what I'm saying?

But I never thought he would be like to the black. Because I don't be trying to press people to the point where it gets physical anyway. Like if I was to stand up and be like, what you say? I know what kind of reaction that's going to bring out of a person. So I was never going to let it just go there. But at the same time, you know, I ain't no pussy. You know what I'm saying? And it's also just an opinion.

So like my opinion is just as valid as yours but right now yours is sounding kind of wild right now my guy my guy straight up and did how did it I don't remember how it ended it ended with everybody kind of throwing their two cents in and we talked about it and went back and forth a little too long and then eventually got back around to it like a happy topic. He was laughing again, you know what I mean? And he was, you know, being a kid and then he gave me my respect. He was like, I like, man, you a deep dude, whatever, blah, blah, blah.

For you know, standing my ground, I guess, or whatever. But you know, that is, you know, a fight that we're really fighting in black America. You know what that is, you know, a fight that we're really fighting in black America. You know what I mean? Like, you know, the proudness to represent what's in the mirror. You know what I mean? It's like an ongoing struggle. So when it reared its ugly head in one of my heroes like that. Yeah.

Like I couldn't like just not speak on it. I'm like, that's just crazy to me. Well, you also see he's 55. Yeah. You're 40. So, you also see he's 55. Yeah. You're 40. So it's like strong. Somebody 65, strong. It's like in them, really strong.

55, very strong. 45, less strong. It just takes time. But it's crazy to me to kind of witness. Yeah, because you're right. Our generation is a little more removed from it. But Chris Rock isn't. That's the guy who I was thinking of.

Went to a segregated school in Brooklyn. That is a conundrum. The first, not just a segregated school, year one of segregated school. That's crazy. He's got crazy stories of janitors saying shit where you'd be like what yeah man he's i mean yeah they're his stories to tell but he has like wild like it that's not possible stories and it breaks my heart because this is a hero of mine so not knowing that side of him growing up it was like that cr was as big as the colorado

rockies you know what i'm saying like it might as well he's still alone i know i know it's disappointing it looked better on him you know what i mean in our eyes like because he was the one like talking for the people like that's just baseball you know what i mean so bought that his own out of the budget good for him you guys spent 15 grand But he didn't make no money. He blew it all on the logo. Yeah, nope. Michael Jackson put the fucking trampoline thing. He built it? I didn't know that.

He paid for it out of his own money. Did you ever see Michael Jackson live? No. He mortgaged his house or something to have that moment at the Super Bowl or whatever. And that was his iconic statue moment. That way he got his money back on that. Yeah, I'm sure. Chris got his money back on that. Yeah, I'm sure. Chris got his money back, too.

Yeah, he did. Did you ever see James Brown live? Nope, but we got Al Sharpton, so I'll take that. That's why he wears his hair like that. Yeah, no, I remember. What's the best live show you've ever seen? My first concert was the Isley Brothers in Orlando, outside. That was incredible.

And then I've been very lucky to be on shows that had a couple songs from very cool people. All that had a great, great list of people. And then SNL has an incredible list of people. Rob Markman Oh, right. Oh, yeah. T.J. I watched Bono swing from fucking microphones and shit. That was dope. And I watched Paul McCartney close it down and do 10 more songs when you know we weren't even anymore prince forget about i saw prince in vegas prince might be the ultimate like i never saw anybody just grab their different instruments and shred them all it's the only guy the guitar seemed like it was part of his body yes like it

was like he knew it too well and you know some guitarists like kind of like look at their hands it's not even once in a while it's like a place like i'm just itching heels while playing it's just unbelievable there was a show in uh 2004 in las vegas 7 30 james brown 9 30 dave schmell crazy and like i went to most like this is never gonna happen even i was like this is who's sticking around it wasn't it that it was like it well like james brown was sort of like not it was probably didn't sell out till late right that's like crazy no it was so it was was like, this is never going to happen again. James Brown opening for Dave. No, no, it was separate shows.

Oh, separate shows. It was like just House of Blues, 7.30 James Brown, 9.30 Dave Chappelle. House of Blues was special. Yeah. It was very special like that. That's crazy. All right, buddy. I don't, is there anything else, emo, anything we haven't covered?

I think I try to stay even-keeled because I am very emotional, you know what I mean? And I know that, you know, it's painful to cry, you know what I mean? It's painful to go there, and it takes a while to dig you up out of that, you know what I mean? Especially for tourists or whatever, it's hard for me to change my moods. So when I'm in a down one, it's like, man, I hope something comes along that's going to lift me up out of this. Probably why I watch a lot of, you know, movies that I like over and over again. I know the joy is there. Like I know Groundhog Day is going to make me laugh.

I know Trading Place is going to make me feel good. You know what I mean? And that's like probably my go to to escape the things that I can't control that are making me sad kind of thing. You know what I mean? And I would much rather stay in the middle than be a lot on either side. I don't want a whole lot of hyperactive activity if the other side of that coin is gonna be so far down.

You know what I'm saying? I would much rather just stay kind of like, hopefully on an upward trajectory or whatever trajectory I'm sorry I'll cut it if you need me to if you email me I can email somebody about that moment and then we'll get into it there

here's my point to say I'm proud of you doesn't even you know what I mean it's like I doesn't even you can say it. Polar, no. Somebody told me somebody said I'm proud of you

to Polar and she goes, you can't say that. It was like a peer. I'm proud of you little guy. It's like your four years are going to be but we've been like, you know, similar, but I'm it's not this. there's not really a word it feels like seeing you is like a bit of like uh all right all right we're still good like

everything's you know what i mean like it's still we're still both yeah everything's still everything from i remember 1995 yeah yeah we're still going okay it was still the same thing same life we're going right okay yeah we out here so yeah we out here we're still going okay we're still the same thing same life we're going right okay yeah we out here so yeah we out here we're outside yeah um so i'm like just appreciative of your existence oh man as a as like a guy on my tv but also it's like a dude that i get to see in text yes well thank you number one number two you know you don't have to say any of that. You know what I mean? Like, I would feel it just because of our banter.

Like, our banter is so real and so, like, back and forth. And, like, I know, or maybe we both know that neither one of us has to do this kind of thing. You know what I mean? There's so much other shit that we could be doing with so many other people that people that we you know know or spend more time with or whatever or are closer to but i get excited when you hit me because i am such a fan you know what i mean and i have been for such a long time because we i'm a fan of people that we laugh in conversation as opposed to like forcing anything you know what i mean yeah and it's when it's very natural like those are the people that i would prefer to even be around so watching you you as a friend, you know,

ascend to where you're at and blah, blah, blah. You know, I could say I'm very proud of you. You know what I'm saying? Because you've done a lot out here and you've, you know, you carved a lot of senses of humor for people, including mine. I think I still have the season one and two DVD. You know what I mean? Like I watched that shit as another

companion that I just yeah would make me happy if I was like stuck in Vancouver or something right really knowing how to live life yet you know I'm saying yeah that guy that's gonna take himself to dinner by himself or just walk up to people and be like hey I'm Keenan like would you like to like get to know me and be friends and show me around and like get into adventures like i'm glad you put season two episode four on yeah yeah one and two good dvd um yeah there are good dvds i i mean i hope that's what people take away from this is that chapelle show was a good show yeah but i mean also like that was only the big you know kind of starting era but after after even the Have Bake, because we watched Have Bake religiously before I even really knew that you were behind it.

And then I noticed. And then it was like, shit. And then came the show. And then came your stand up and blah, blah, blah. So it was like, yeah, man, you boldly stepped out here in a bunch of different ways. And, you know, always, you know a bunch of different ways and you know always you know rose and risen to the top you know head of the class kind of situation because you are funny you know i mean and you are a good dude i say i'm proud of you only because it's like my opportunity

to say so you know yeah it's not like you need to hear it or what i said right it's i we both know we're like a touchstonestone. It's nice to fucking high five you when we're on our way to play different games. It's great. It's great. So is there anything

happy about this podcast or it's all just blocking? Trying to get to the bottom of it. Oh, I guess we could do. All right. Tell us one thing you're happy about. Oh, I forgot to ask the main question that I always forget. Movie of your life, biopic.

Who plays you and what's the character arc? I think Roy Wood. We can get him. I think the character arc is the guy that the people don't know. You know what I mean? I work so much on television, they think they know that person. But podcasting is a great window into it. Because not even in talk shows, you still have to do kind of the talk show.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But podcasts, I can sit here and just like, I don't even have to raise my voice. This is my natural speaking voice. People are like, oh, he's kind of boring. Great. You know what I'm saying? But that, I think, is the journey. You know what I mean?

It's not super dark behind the curtain, but it's different. Right. It's different. But I guess who was that guy when he started, and who are you now? That guy was very Atlanta. You know what I mean? Not necessarily street, but hood. Just down with everybody and moving with how we all kind of middle,

lower middle class kind of moved in Atlanta. You know what I mean? Growing up just very black and very aware of that and hip-hop and this, that, and the other. The guy on TV is much more eclectic and broad and open to the world. You know what I'm saying? But my personal perspective is very black-centric. Yeah. Chick-fil-A.

All day long. From the Dwarf House, the original, 24-7. Y'all don't even know, dog. Hey, man. Y'all don't even got no 24-hour Chick-fil-A's no more. And played by Roy Wood. Have you compared thighs? Very similar.

I look at his older, like, kid pics. Bro, we look like twins. I have a picture that he posted of himself where he was, like, 10 or something. The one from, like, a week ago? Yeah. Like, the Little League one? Yeah. Yeah.

I was like, I'd look and have that exact same picture in some sort of way it's funny when you can tell what year something is from the quality of the photo like the gloss where you're like i yeah that's 1989 what's even crazier is you kind of can't tell now with movies there's like a 20 years kind of technology window where it could have been 94 or it kind of could have been 2003. You're absolutely right. It's weird. Yes.

It's like the end of analog, beginning of digital. Kenan Thompson was our guest, ladies and gentlemen. KenanThompson.com? I'm in the process of acquiring. I'm in the process of acquiring I'm in the process of acquiring Light a candle Say a prayer

.net .net You got.net That's great Did you even talk with.biz or.tv I don't think I did I don't think I did KenanThompson.net

It's under construction we'll throw you a link free yeah uh the great king of thompson thank you very much It wants to have it real, my man All you have to do is open, open up your hand, my man Now that she was 19 years old