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That's promo cod TBC only at Draft Kings Sports Book. The Crown is yours. Wake that ass up in the Morning's the Breakfast Club? Morning, everybody, It's the j n V.
Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. You got a special guest in.
The building, the legendary Ken and Thompson. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome man, Thank you very much.
Good one of my brothers.
You feeling and we're checking in man, Happy Black History month?
History Month. How you feeling thrill? My brother? How you feeling like energy? Like great?
My energy is great, man. Like you know, we're having another good season over there. It's forty nine, about to be the fiftieth. It's getting real over there, man, That fiftieth celebration. I think it's going to be big, was a lot of people.
So think about Keenan, you wouldn't even know if he was doing bad. Keenan the meatia is always the same.
Tourist, energy man. Let me take my glasses.
Yeah, we're good.
Good.
I would go to ask, you know, when you see so many things pop up on social on this.
World is it?
I guess it's good for you because you're like, oh, yeah, this is it.
This is yeah, absolutely, I mean yeah, I mean characters in the world or events in the world definitely help, you know, kind of trigger ideas and stuff like that, especially the crazier the better, or anybody that sounds funny the better. But at the same time, you know, it's hard on comedy these days. You know, you gotta like really be smart about your approach, especially you know, depending
on the topic and stuff like that. You know, I don't really go out there to offend people necessarily, but sometimes it happens, and you know you gotta like learn from it, hopefully and just move on, you know, knowing that you know your intentions were good in the first place. Kind of thing, like we're just trying to heal basically, that's what That's what comedy's supposed to be doing.
Is there anything that you won't touch or that y'all come together and be like this would be funny, but not right now?
Yeah, I mean especially you know, we on network TV, so it's not like we can just you know, say and do whatever. But at the same time, you know, some topics it might be too early to be trying to you know, find a laugh on kind of thing. And you know, some certain topics ain't nothing funny about it.
So like too soon, like Donna Rowlins like to say, too soon. You think there are some too soon topics.
You know, there's definitely I mean, Gilb but Godfrey killed his career with that, you know what I'm saying, Like I don't remember when we tweeted something about like nine to eleven or something, and it was just like, you know, there's no reason to like try to be the first one with a joke on that topic necessarily, and it'll probably be too soon for two hundred years kind of thing, you.
Know, just because it was such a large tragedy.
Bringing up people old tweets. Can it don't do peace?
You know what I'm saying. But like that was that, But that's cool. It was.
It was not anymore. So yeah, you gotta be just gotta be smart about it.
And you know, you got a new book out. When I was your age, I should have brought the book.
I wanted to hear us to have it propped up.
I'm slipping when I was your age, Life lessons, funny stories and questionable parenting advice from a professional clown. First of all, what made you want to write a book? Because you always have been a very private person.
Yeah, it's the longest title ever.
I just felt it was time, you know, like a lot of people, I guess in my position, a lot of my heroes have written.
Books, you know what I'm saying.
You got seven two yea working on third, so uh yeah, and people approached me. I was just trying to, you know, make sure I had enough to talk about it for like people that actually read books, you know. And luckily I worked with a great collaborator, DIBs Bear shout Out, you know, and yeah, we put together a pretty good book. From what I'm hearing, like the people that have read it seem to enjoy it, you know what I'm saying. It's not like three hundred pages or nothing, you know,
which was kind of strange. I'm like, damn, that's my life story, so you know, but it has definitely been, you know, a really cool thing to share with the world and you know, tell my story to my parents' story and you know, siblings, you know what I'm saying, and like let people, you know, kind of know the real me, the origin story kind of thing that I don't necessarily get to tell on you know, talk shows and stuff like that, because you usually want to just
talk about the current thing you're there to promote or whatever.
So yeah, it was a cool experience.
Explain the long ass title because it's a lot there.
Yeah, you know, it's just like I guess I've been doing it for so long that I had, you know, a lot to kind of display, you know what I'm saying. So I had to kind of explain what my position is in this world so far in a capturing kind of title and kind of tell people like what the bo kids so they want to grab it and read it,
you know what I mean. And like that's probably why the title is it's so lengthy, but you know, it's also some comedy there, because yeah, it is so long and yeah, the good word ise of like being a
professional clown and stuff like that. You know, like I take that really seriously, like I'm an actor, you know, so like when I'm clowning around, it's usually for higher kind of thing, you know, as you can see, like my demeanor is pretty pretty level, you say, like I don't really even be getting stressed out on my demeanor doesn't change much.
But yeah, big tourist energy over here, you know what I'm saying.
And like, but you don't seem hard headed though most touruses I know hard headed.
I get stubborn about when I think I'm right, you know what I'm saying, But like, no, I'm very good with the flow kind of thing.
Do your kids take you serious?
Or they always see daddy as the clown and the joke and the laster.
I'm the clown and I'm definitely in their way, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm in their way for having fun or whatever they want to do. Like you know, when they're around their friends, they don't want, you know, old fuddy daddies around them, you know, so they definitely think they're funnier than me, and they probably are. Like they definitely like make me laugh. But that's that dynamic.
You know, You're you could be you know, Michael Jordan's son and think that your dad just only plays basketball as opposed to being Michael Jordan.
Yeah, you know, why do you call your advice, your parenting advice questionable?
I was that your parents advice was questionable, which one of the.
I mean, it's probably mine, you know, just you know, coming from a place where like I don't know everything right away, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm just figuring it out kind of on the fly as the girls.
Basically, Yeah, but we all are though, Like being a parent is on the job training. Like there's no manual for parenting. So I don't even beat myself up when I don't get it right. Actually, I'll apologize to my kids and try to do try to do better next time, exactly.
That's it.
And yeah, I mean when you when you give advice to people, it's not like I want to be like, you know, I'm the official voice.
On parenting kind of thing, you know what I'm saying.
So you should be able to question like what I'm offering kind of to the world if it doesn't work. For you and your household kind of thing, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm not trying to.
Like tell everybody exactly what to do with their kids.
Basically, would you want your kids to get in this industry?
Sure?
I mean if they take it seriously, you know what I mean, Like I got drama faces tatted on my back, you know, so I take it very seriously. And growing up, it was you know, there wasn't no automatic you know, there wasn't as many platforms as there are now so many, like, you know, different kind of ways to get into the business.
It was very specific. You audition, they.
Tell you yes or no, you know, and coming from Atlanta, the auditions were less and less. It was mostly commercials or theater stuff like that, which I'm grateful for because like my theater training is like, you know, that's everything, you know what I mean, Like that taught me everything about being an actor and being around other actors that have been in the business a long time, you know, done a movie here and there, some Spike Lee joints
or whatever. But when you're in between the times, that's when it's like your real dedication, you know, through because being a starving artist is no joke, you know what I'm saying, And it's a reality for I would say more than the majority of people you know in the business, Like like a lot of people are like living like check to check, especially if you don't know how to subsidize with another job.
So, yeah, you.
Got a chapter title called I'm Glad I went broke? When did that happen? You've been You've been working since at least nine and.
Foul, yo, Yeah, like I've been blessed to continue working. But yeah, I had a bad accountant and it came to the light around ninety nine, like around two thousand, which was really bad timing because that's right when I left my consistent gig, you.
Know what I'm saying.
So then I went into being an adult actor for hire, and that is very.
Hit and miss.
So there was, you know, some good jobs like I did Felicity that was cool, And I got to meet jj Abrams when he was young, you know what I'm saying, And that's like a priceless kind of a friendship, I would say, just because he's grown to be, you know, such a major force in the industry.
But it was like six months until love Don't Cost a thing, you know what I mean.
I was happy to get love don't cause things. My brother Nick's movie, Yeah, we had in my house, you know what I'm saying.
I was like, yeah at your house.
Yeah, I was ridding this house that had a bunch of space or whatever. But you know, we was young, so it was like, yeah, move all the furniture, the silence, just you know, throw a party and like invite everybody kind of thing back in those days.
So that was fun.
But it was still broke, you know what I mean, like just money enough for the rent kind of thing. And yeah that you know, the account was was dirty, and I ended up not letting that be the end all be all of what my life is going to be.
So I just you know, moved back to Calamn and continue.
How much did they account and get you for.
A million and a half? Damn something like that.
I mean that was you know, my contractual like deal at the time or whatever. But for like overall, Nick, yeah, for a few years or whatever, and then yeah, I never saw none of it.
So you that ain't funny. You walked away from you over there about that point, So you walked.
Away from Nickelodeon the overall deal, I was just up, you know what I mean.
You didn't feel like, you know, we wanted to continue like Kenannickhill to college, like we couldn't figure it out basically, and we were just like, I think we should just go figure out what it looks like for us to.
Be adult performers for the world.
And it was just like reproving grounds as almost like it was almost like starting over, you know, because like everybody wanted to treat us like kids or keep us in a category or whatever, and we just had to
like learn how to prove ourselves. And for me, you know, SNL was that the biggest bridge, you know, as far as like adults taking me seriously as an adult because we were already grown, you know, we was in our twenties, you know, so we didn't want to be like thirty years old still trying to play a kid on Nickelodeon. And yeah, the time end of that was just it
was just crazy. So it was a couple of years of like, man, I don't know about this whole like, you know, one job here, one job there, like every few months kind of thing, because the bills come, you know what I mean, every month, no matter what and yeah,
you know, thank god, life goes in the cycle. So when I was feeling down, I would, you know, get a gig, and that would like, you know, start trending upward, and then you know, trending further up from loved on cost Thin to the barber shop too, you know what I mean. And then Barbershop too, left there and like went to audition from enc and out, like do.
You remember that when you auditioned and they called you back and said you got the part?
Do you remember that one?
Because it was a long process, you know what I'm saying, Like, came to New York straight from Chicago from shooting barber Shop, like feeling great or whatever, and then seeing what you up against and it was every black comic you could even possibly think of. Right, So I had to do stand up at the stand Up New York. I had never done I stand up before. It was a nightmare.
And then I saw Call and I hadn't seen him in a while, you know what I'm saying, Like at the audition and that was awkward, but it was like, you know, good luck, good luck or whatever. And then I did three minutes of something terrible because I wasn't a stand up comic. I didn't know how to address the crowd at all. I think I just started with.
That was part of the audition.
You had to do stand up. Yeah, you walked up there was like HI.
Said Hi.
I think I just went right into like ol shopping or something like talking to Arnold Schwazennigga, you know what I mean, just like like a kid in his own room, basically like playing in the mirror kind of thing. And yeah, it didn't go well, but they saw something and I got a call back that was in the studio that felt more comfortable.
I was used to that, you know what I mean.
So I did that same kind of stick with a couple more minutes added on or whatever. And then I went home for a week and didn't hear nothing, you know what I mean. And that was just like torture. Thought it was rat I thought it was over. I thought I ruining. And you know, SNL was one of
those jobs. If you don't get it, you live with that, you know, kind of for the rest of your life, or if things go left when you do get it, you know what I mean, Like that's not an experience you really just forget or like be like, oh that's in the past.
I could just move on like it stays with you, you know. So yeah, that week was torturing. And then they called.
They were like, all right, we want you to try one more time at the Live Factory.
I was like, more stand up, you know.
What I mean, Why didn't you just tell him I'm not a stand up.
I didn't want to rock the boat, you know what I mean, trying to.
Get a job stand up.
Stand up is the most difficult thing I feel like anybody can do in comedy.
It really is.
And I also wasn't really aware of the second city and groundings of it all because I'm at an improper I just like started working, you know, from like age twelve, you know, from doing commercials to theater to you know, movies or whatever. So I didn't really have a chance to like go to school for performing necessarily, like that was my school. So yeah, more stand up and I
you know, I didn't want to rock the boat. And it was a terrible night for me because the other four people were actually stand ups, you know what I mean, And they were killed JB. Smooth for Ness Mitchell, you know what I mean. D Ray It was you know, it was a lineup and they was destroying.
And then I went up there and did my little bullshit and like.
What were you were you first? Were you fourth?
For your second? I was last?
You went after d ray JB and Mitchell Yes.
Christ yeah, and Kyle Grooms and like Kyle Room.
Yeah, I think Kyle, but I know Kyle was in New York, but I think he was in LA too, But I know I went last after a bunch of brilliant for Front for Comics, and I was so nervous. Man, I was drinking out the sink because that was the bathroom and like the bar was over there, so I didn't want to like go back and forth, you know what I mean, like interrupt or anything like that.
So you really really wanted to kill it, but you couldn't get you.
Know, but I was so nervous, Like I was just like, man, I can't quench my throomb, drinking.
Water, drinking water, New York warter back. Then I'm like.
Killing it up with the sink water and like still and I was just like crazy nervous.
But I didn't get booed.
So that was, you know, definitely not a dagger, because if I would have got booed. I don't even know if I would have wanted the job, because would have felt like I didn't deserve it. But then after that, they called the next day, and then I think they called on a Saturday and I was in New York on Monday.
Yeah.
Wow, And now you're the longest run of cast member. Want I want to go back to this one point five million?
How does the how do you lose one point five million?
Do? Because I know you said it, but I know people are listening, like, how does that happen?
We gave that dude power of attorney when we shouldn't have.
You know, kids.
Yeah, I was a kid, and my mom was trying to protect me, you know what I mean. And he had helped her out of her like tax situations, like her and my dad's like tax situations. So she thought she could trust him, but she could trust him with like day thirty to fifty grand issues kind of shit. But like when it's like a million dollars on the table, you never know what people going to turn into. And apparently he turned into a demon. And you know, I'm sure his commerce come back to him. But if it
wasn't for that. I don't know, if you know, my track would be the same, because I was ready to settle.
Into Atlanta, you know what I mean.
Like I was ready to just be like, no, I'm good and like, you know, it's three out a half hours to LA so if they need me, they can call me kind of thing. But I don't think I would have been as hungry or you know, as you know, dedicated necessarily, like I was dedicated to Atlanta, Like Atlanta was, you know, my everything basically, so I was very comfortable there and very willing to just be like around the corner from my mama and be happy.
You couldn't suit the accountant or nothing.
That I did, and I won, you know what I'm saying. But he can't pay you know what I'm saying, So it's just paperwork.
Basically, you want to spend more money to sue them and not get no money.
Back one, you know. And I sued him for years and ended up winning. But I sued him because the IRS came after me, you know what I'm saying, and they were like, you haven't paid your taxes all the time.
I'm like, well that's what he was supposed.
To be doing, and he went ran, don't y'all see like I ain't got the money, like you know what I'm saying.
So, but and Uncle Sam don't care.
They don't care at all.
They want their money, you know. So I got my settlement and it's on that person now. But as far as like me getting that money back, and I knew it as soon as it happened, you know what I'm saying, I'm like, I ain't never.
Gonna see that money.
Yeah, I might as well just get back and start from scratch and just you know, forget about it. If it comes back, great, but you know it has yet too. But I've been blessed in so many other ways. Like I take those life lessons and just learn from them.
I'm so sorry for everybody in that situation because they don't teach us financial literacy. When when when the communities we come from, but then we get people that we think are supposed to have our best interest in that way, and they take advantage it. Just like, how can you ever trust my man a black man?
God damn, an elder black man?
How can you trust somebody ever again?
Because like you want to try to keep hope, you know, you want to try to keep hope on humanity, you know what I.
Mean, Jackson, just you try to keep keep alive, you know.
But yeah, I don't know, man, Like I've never been one to be like, oh he's a piece of shit, So this next person might be you know what I mean, Like everybody has a chance to kind of prove themselves to be what they are.
Those guys, when did you get comfortable on Saturday Night Live? Because you had to be nervous, you know when you first starting off, you with all these people that's been there before, and when did you get comfortable?
It took a while because you have a writer's burden on that, Sonela, and I didn't come from that, you know. I just came from being given scripts and then I do what I do and like if we added something, then they'll put it in or whatever. But I was never like part of that process. So it was like a learning thing as I went along. And I don't think I was like comfortable, comfortable until I got my first personal idea on the show and that was like season five.
Wow, Yeah, Scared Straight. Shout out to Scared Straight.
Why that role in particular?
What Scared Straight?
Yeah? Like, why did that make you the most comfortable.
Well that was just the first one that I got on, and I was like, oh, I finally like made my.
Sense of humor makes sense in this place. Godcha, you know what I mean.
So yeah, Like I just felt like up until that point, my ideas were going all over the place. I didn't really know how to really collab with writers, or I would collab off of their ideas as opposed to something personal to me, you know what I mean. And then like I started to like learn how to bring forward the black zeitgeist, you know what I'm saying, and like make that appealing.
That's gonna go on after fifty. I remember when I interviewed you on my late night show, you said you think you should end it?
That I mean, I thought it would be a good number to stop at it if that was the case, But I don't think it is. I think they gonna keep it running, you know what I'm saying, Like, it doesn't make a difference if it winds up stopping at seventy two, it doesn't really matter. But fifty it just felt like such a good package, just like, you know, here's fifty years of SNL time Warner. You know what I mean, so that around o'clock or whatever, DVDs, this, that,
and the other. It's just a nice would number, Like if they get to a hundred, great, if they get to two hundred, you know what I mean, incredible, It doesn't really matter. But I've never seen a TV show outside of like a game show or soap opera go past thirty years, you know, twenty, Like that's just crazy. So I didn't really know how long it was gonna take it then if dude was going to retire, you know after that year.
Lord Michael, Yeah, it might.
Be you know, it might be smart to pose it or something like that. But at the same time, Tina can do it. I can do it, you know. Yeah, Steve Higgins, There's a lot of people that can keep it going. It's just will it have the same support, you know, like budget wise kind of thing, Like if you slash the budget, it's a completely different show. And then that's not fair to whoever's in that chair. So
it's up to them, you know what I'm saying. But from what I'm hearing, I think it's probably gonna continue.
Did you ever feel like you didn't have support of the culture of the community you know, because starting off as a new culture, any black comedian that's on Saturday Night Live, they will say, oh, he's the talking black or he's not that funny. It's like the hate comes first.
Did you ever feel it?
I mean, yeah, and anytime I do something that's you know, pushing boundaries or anything like that, there's a lot of pushback, you know. So I definitely felt like the majority of black people weren't like, yo, Saturday Night Live is my show, you know what I mean. It just felt like, oh, you on that white show, you know what I mean when people talk to you about But you know, I took that and was like, all right, well that's how
y'all feel. You must not really know, you know, kind of the history of the show and who's really come out of there, you know what I'm saying. And it's just as much our show as anybody else's kind of thing, because you know, we have, you know, the biggest start probably in movie history coming out there.
Yeah, you know, yeah, I've never heard people say that there's token blacks on that SNEL.
It just was always there wasn't enough of enough black.
It was you know, one at a timing for a while.
You know, because the black people they have are black. Yeah, Eddie didn't try not to be black. Tracy Mugan didn't try not to be black, like they went for it.
They I don't think Tracy can help himselfing, you know.
But yeah, that was part of the conversation that I was talking about when it was time to get more black women in the show.
You know.
It's just like my quote that was heavily misquoted or whatever was just the fact that, you know, the pool to choose from isn't large basically as far as the people that ready to do that show. Like, like I personally didn't know about the ground.
As a second city, you know what I'm saying.
So let alone you know, a whole bunch of us knowing about it, and yeah, it's just, you know, it's slim pickings sometimes. So it is kind of one at a time as far as like discovering the next person that is ready, you know, because a lot of us might have other interests athletics, you know, music, business and stuff like that that might seem cooler to the culture
and stuff. So you know, when it is time to like look for the next you know, they might be you know, they might be slim choices kind of thing, but I think that's expanding. And you know, the more we, you know, continue to display the fact that we can do it and that you know, you should open up the doors and look a little harder.
If that's the case, you know, you find your.
Leslie Joneses and your ego Wodhams, you know what I'm saying, and you shild Jamadas and and you know, you give people, you know, an opportunity to show you that we can do this as well kind of thing. And you know, I think that's kind of like what my words should have been in that in that quote, you know what I'm saying.
I don't even remember the quote.
The quote that they say I said was that, you know, black women ain't funny, But that's not what I said.
It was like, that's better though, that's a good one.
The person writing the story black women Ain't funny comes says black women ain't funny. You know, that's basically how they blasted me, like for a while, and you know, Leslie was mad, like before she met me, she was like, let that motherfucker come over here and I'll burn his ass up.
First of all, I didn't say that.
And when we first met, you know, that was clarified in two seconds, because you know, when you and me, you know, I'm not outside the culture like that.
You know what I'm saying.
I don't disrespect my black women at all, you know, like because like how would my mother look at me?
How would my sister look at me?
My cousins, this, that, and my that. I'm not an idiot, you know what I'm saying. And I'm not detached from the world either like that, you know what I'm saying. So I would never say something so egregious. But my point was, yeah, man, like this, it's I'm sure there's small, low numbers, you know, in those improv houses wherever they might be. So if I'm wrong, let me be wrong.
But I don't think I am because I've been in the business a long time and I go to shows a lot, you know what I'm saying, And I be looking, you know, and I look back on history, like when you watch Chris Farley in his Second City Days or whatever, and you look at the background and his performance it was tim medals. It wasn't like it was tim medals, and A's Kevin and there's Joe and there's this that, and they are all black and together and only Tim got the shot.
It was just Tim metals there. You know what I'm saying, That was it.
The problem with headlines is there's no nuance to headlines because headlines can't be nuanced. Like if you tried the nuanced the headline, it looked like the title of your book.
So it has to be something quick, you know what.
It has to be sharp.
Yeah, So like I get it, and it you know, they did their job throwing me under the bus.
Like you know what I'm saying, That bus driven by black woman is no joke, you know.
But at the same time, you know, you got to look towards the positive, and the positive is it did open the doors for some people, you know, even if it was you know, me having to be the scapegold or whatever.
So I can't be mad at it. How much longer than I can be? But this guy got a plan?
How much longer does Keenan want to do? Us?
And L I mean, I don't know that that question continues to vary, you know, like it all kind of starts depending on like what the kids want to do and where the kids want to be, Like how much more time can I spend with them? If possible? And also like are people getting tired of my moves? You know what I'm saying, Like are people getting tired of seeing me on the show all the time?
And stuff like that.
So it also is a long schedule and takes up most of the year kind of things. So you know, it might be time for like to make room for other opportunities at the same time, but I want to see that fiftieth at least.
It is scary for you when you think about, all right, last time I walked away from a steady gig.
Yeah, damn not in no hurry to like get back to that. Yeah, I've been there, done that, you know what I mean.
You know that's a guarantee check.
Yeah, And it's a guaranteed way of life, which is rare for an actor, you know, like a lot of actors is at the airport, you know what I'm saying, and some casters going to New Zealand for ten years, you know, Like I can't really afford to do that with you know, small children, you know what I mean, Like I love them, So.
The fifty if you might walk away, see that, See how trying to put you on the head.
It could be, it couldn't. It all depends. It all depends on, you know, how that season goes as well.
You know what i mean, because like right now, we only have way through forty nine and that's a lot of ideas and a lot of sketches. There's a lot of chances to do something like brilliant and stuff like that. But it's also a lot of chances to kind of like, you know, show people that I've been there a long time, which is like it's not necessarily great when you're trying to create things fresh and new and you want to show to feel fresh and new, you.
Know what I mean.
So I've been you know, kind of happy to be in the background or see like Devin get a sketch on finally, you know what i mean, like for himself kind of thing like he did, you know on Saturday. You know, like I was like very happy for him for that, like cause other things have been like collaborative or he'll have a part here and there, but a whole sketch to himself. I think that might have been his first one on Saturday, and that's a that's a big step, you know what I'm saying, and that's how
the show continues to move on through history. So if I need to move to the side to allow for those things to happen and just like come in at the end of the schedule or whatever and help or whatever.
I'm good doing that.
Like I've had my moments where you know, I put up an idea and like people are singing it as they decorate their Christmas tree, Like what's up with that?
You know what I'm saying?
And that's that's something that like went hyper viral and like I hear about it to this day. I did that for the first time fourteen years ago, so I'm crazy like that maybe seventeen years or what well season?
What season man twenty one?
Yeah, fourteen years ago, so you know what I mean, Like that's a long time, bro, And we do twenty shows a season. That's a lot of sketches and a lot of different characters and stuff like that. So I mean, long story short, if i feel like I'm still creating and it's not a headache for people, you know what I mean, then yeah.
I'll keep it going.
Financially, you gotta be good.
It's not like you're gonna be in line at the food bank that you're in an ambassador.
Yeah, no, yeah, man, you shout out to the food bank. They're doing really really great things over there.
We're ambassadors there, we are, you know what I'm saying.
We're ambassadors for you know, leaving nobody behind, you know what I'm saying, And like I love that. Financial wise, yeah, we're doing all right, and we're going to continue to do so. But at any given moment, you know what I mean. And also, like you know, there's a lot of things going on in the world, so if anything happens, like you know, worldly, then you know, you don't have no control of it. Don't matter what we got in the bank kind of thing. So try to celebrate the day man, as it goes.
I was going to ask, you know, when you watch things that happen, do you have an opinion or as in, do you care?
Or is it?
The first thing is sketch? Right, So Shannon sharp cat Williams right, he's going crazy. Are you thinking, oh, this is a sketch and this is I'm gonna break it down? Or are you thinking, damn, why is he going at so many people?
Well, some things are obviously going to be a sketch, you know what I'm saying. Like, as soon as I saw it, I'm like, oh yeah, like this is definitely going to be a sketch only because like Cat Williams is a good impression, you know what I mean, Shanna Sharp is a good impression, and this is definitely a moment that everybody has seen, right, so it's gonna be like,
you know, whoever's first to get the sketch up. Basically at that point, there's a lot of nighttime shows that could have done it, you know what I mean, or whatever, But when we do it, it's on a different level because like our departments are crazy, like our whig department, our wardrobe, you know what I mean, our sets.
Like the audio, the whole team, you know what I mean.
Yeah, Like the whole team is like on super duper point because they've been doing it for forever and they take it serious.
They love it, you know what I mean.
It's a family, like a generational kind of family that worked there. So yeah, when I saw that, I was like, we're doing this for sure. I wish we weren't on break and everybody was texting like I know y'all about to do this. This weekend. I'm like, man, we all for another week. You can have bro and everyone, Oh my god, we gotta wait. But shout out the eggo man,
you know what I mean? She get it, like, yeah, they destroyed it, and I was I was eating it up because I was it was entertaining, like the first time I watched it and I was like, oh snap, you know he said spilling everything, you know, and I
was enjoying it that way. And then of course, you know, the elder started chiming in, and like when Dave chimed in, like why you're painting us with such a you know, why you're painting dirty, ugly pictures of us or whatever, It's like, all right, I gotta calm down, you know what I'm saying, Like take that into mind, the fact that you know it the bigger pictures. We are supposed
to be pushing uphill together kind of thing. And yeah, it was like all right, well, you know, maybe we shouldn't be, you know, lashing out or throwing each other under the bus or whatever. But you know, at first, I was like, oh, I love this.
You know, at a comedian, is that something you would want to get mentioned in? Would you want cat to say your name.
Nah, I don't want to be in No, I don't want to be and nobody driving at all, you know what I'm saying, Especially like you know, the topics that they were discussing. I'm like, I could be on the wrong side of this at any given moment if they want to mention me. But my perspective on that, in my mind doesn't have me on the wrong side of it.
But you know, people have their opinion.
You might be a plant to somebody.
Yeah, yeah, how you go from good Burger toes and L and be there for twenty years?
Yeah, you know, like that's that's his opinion on that, and it's dismissive unfortunately of you know, like Kevin's been showing up to work all this time, you know what I'm saying. It's not like even if he was like planning and being like, all right, here's a movie for you, he had to still do that movie.
He had to show up to this, you know what I mean, And.
Like, don't even if he was planning.
Like he wasn't planning, if he was just given an opportunity, that doesn't come as easy to others say it like that. You know what I'm saying, he still had to take it and run with it, you know what I mean, and do all the stand up and do all the other TV show movies and stand the other and like continue his track of professionalists. So like industry plants, unfortunately dismisses the work ethic.
Of an individual, you know. And I think that's a nepotism.
Like you know, a lot of people want to do for their children in any kind of environment, whether it's Hollywood or corporate America.
You know what I'm saying.
But if the child becomes successful, it's not just because the dad padded them along the entire time, you know what I mean. Usually they have a work ethic and they want to actually go out there and make those connections and make people see them, you know what I mean. So try not to dismiss the individual just because they have an opportunity that you might not have had.
Kind of thing.
And I want to shout out to two black men who first put Kevin in movies, Damon Dash and Russ Parr. Two black men put Kevin in his first project is that Nah? Before Soul Playing? It was definitely for Dynasty. It was a state state property, state property, state property define with Dynasty, he was in state property.
No people soldiers.
And Russ Paul put him into something too, but I can't know the name of it, but they were the first two people to put.
Him out the damn shout out to Russ's right, Yeah, man, Like anybody that's giving you a leg up in this business, like shout them out the whole time.
You know, do you make a call and well to people?
A lot of people, you know, I started young.
So the people that helped me, like work at Nickelodeon, they're not necessarily like names or whatever, but like the producers of all that in Kennicott was like Brian Robbins, you know what I'm saying, and Mike Tolan, and you know, Mike has gone on to do like more sports kind of documentary kind of stuff, and Brian is like the head of Paramount now, you know. But they were definitely
big helps. Lauren is a big help. Theater teachers, you know my high school, you know, drama teacher, mister Freddie Hendrix shout out.
You know, people like that, they're just as opposed to help.
Just gave me game, you know what I'm saying, And gave me game about surviving the game, but also how to like be a real performer and be professional and show up on time and kill it.
I was gonna ask, you know, do you make a phone call when you're about to do a skit or do something about somebody, you know, something happened to somebody that you effort.
You should You don't know.
I just take it, like you know, you got those calls before, like bro, oh.
Yeah, Steve Harvey didn't love it. You know, he didn't love it at first. You just ain't watch yourself, you know, because you know, he's a grown man from the streets of Clevelans or.
Whatever it is, you know what I'm saying.
He's just a big guy, you know, and like he comes from like the knuckle up generation where you have to and get it in the cold rocking factories or whatever. He did, you know. But yeah, at first he was like, hey, little rerun watch yourself.
All right?
No, so he calls you or you ran into it.
I would he would say it on his show, he was saying on the radio and like that. So I would like eventually like call in and be like, hey man, you good. You know, Like once we did like an interview or something like that. But whenever I would speak to him, it was always love, you know what I'm saying. But I just think, you know, he had to like make his stance kind of known for his audience play
with blah blah blah. But you know, Steve's also been another mentor because we was on his show back in the day, and he gave me a lot of game basically about just growing up and not.
Treating the business so young just because you young.
You know, there's a lot of like adults out here that's working really hard that's got like real problems when they go home, or like, you know, you know, life is serious enough, so you can't just be playing all the time.
Right, Basically, how fatherhood change you? Because you got a chance to call everything I need to know about life. I learned from my girls. I got four girls, you got two? Right, How how does father change?
I mean it really like showed me life outside.
Of my own personal perspective as far as how I approach the day, you know what I mean, like and living for others kind of thing, which was.
Like very different.
You know, like when you're in a relationship, it's different, like you're still both grown individuals, so you expect the other individual to like be able to take care of, you know, certain basics or whatever because they grow. But with a child, it's like, no, they need you for everything, you know what I'm saying. In their first few years, or the first decade, or you know, even for the rest of their life, whatever it is. They need you in such a way that it's like it never turns off.
And I had never really experienced that, you know what I mean, where it's like, you know, you have to be aware of you know, and know what's going on with your kids, like on a twenty.
Four hour basis, you know, three sixty five.
It's not like you can take a week off just because it's Christmas.
And what did you learn? What have you learned from your girl?
Patience?
You know, definitely a lot of patients emotion like being able to like just embrace having emotional moments, you know what I mean, Because when we were growing up, it was either suck it up, take a lap, do this or that, any other kind of thing, and never really like sit in what's really bothering you kind of thing, shake it off, you know what I mean, Like we had all those kind of like sayings from coaches and things like that, or you know, just growing up as
a man, you know, like you know, be a man, suck it up kind of thing, and you would hear that.
But they taught me like it's okay.
To you know, feel these feelings kind of thing and like understand what may be causing them and kind of work through it. But also like the perspective of a child, because we go around like, you know, kind of looking and not really seeing the world, maybe just because we're seeing it at our height, you know what i mean. When you're smaller, you know, you see probably a bigger picture and stuff like that kind of stopping smell of roses kind of kind of vibe.
Basically, who's your biggest critic?
Myself? Yep, because I'm I'm the one that sees it all. You know what I'm saying. Like some people watch things and they just enjoy it surface level, but I'm watching like all snap my shoes and tied or you know, little ship like my hair and I need a haircut.
You still got a hairline, though, you know what I'm saying. That's all a black man can ask for a certain You still got a headline.
God, bless you bless so like you know all that kind of stuff too. You know what I'm saying, like, oh I need a haircut, but like, thank god I do have hair kind of thing.
So that's a stab at you show.
Yeah, man, I get a haircut.
You're talking about your get a fresh ball to haircuts in a shape.
Shade.
I get a fresh ball. You know, it just starts right here. The headline starts mid the ball.
You do your own, or you go somewhere.
I go to my man every time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand, But you know what I don't.
I like, first of all, my guy right all the treatment there.
You go exactly in the conversation.
Yeah you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, I mean therapy is good. I love therapy too.
But you know when you go into a barber shop and you just kicking, it's like got all girls.
So it's good to get out the house and get shop. You know, that's it.
Charlemagne pampas himself, So I take my daughters to this uh.
Manicurist and Pedicurius. Charlamagne is always there.
They love me and there they like every time I go there, Like I see your friend, I went there the other day. Charlemagne is always in there.
They love it.
He take a lesson stay clean, you know, like I don't. I bite my nails unfortunately, man, habit.
No, man, you got to go get your manicure, pedicure ken you deserve it.
I can't sit there like that. I don't think I have patience to just sit there and like let people tickle me.
I'm also I'm also really ticklish.
You look ticklish?
Yeah, you know he looked ticulars. If that's the case, it's the truth, because when did you first realize that? What when I got tickeled as a little kid, you know what I mean, like I don't take a you know that was actually like, oh that feels funny.
Yeah, nobody does that. You was an adult though.
Now grown men shouldn't be tackling another because it usually, you know, they.
Just have a good time, you know nothing.
Oh my god, you and kel just reconnected too, but well not just recollect what y'all did a good burger too.
Yeah, man shout out to my brother.
Man.
Now, I don't know if to say how did y'all get back on good terms? And I don't know if y'all was having on bad turns.
No, I don't.
I don't think, I mean, but at the same time, you know, hearsay and stuff like that can push it in that direction if you don't get like the real answer from the individual. And since there was a period where we weren't really in that much communication, you know, they were probably englands of that kind of energy or whatever.
But once we actually did speak on the phone because we were doing a good Burger sketch on the Tonight Show or whatever, you know, and we had to spoken in years, you know what I'm saying, We knew we had to like at least talk before we go perform to each other. It was a two second reconciliation.
You know what I mean.
It was like time had never gone by, basically, and it was it felt like such a blessing to me and I feel like to him as well, you know, to have each other back in each other's lives, you know what I mean, because we do work so well together, and we had established, you know what I mean, something so beloved that it would be a crime to kind of just let it go into the wind just because you know, we wanted, you know, individual career identities.
Kind of thing.
You know, we didn't always want to be just Keenan and Kell, Like my name is Keenan Thompson and his name is cal Mitchell, you know what I'm saying, And like not a lot of people were willing to recognize that at the time. So that's kind of like where that drift apart started happening. And then, you know, as life does, you know, like different experiences are happening, so it just takes you and then you the next thing, you look up and we haven't spoken in seven years
or something crazy like that or whatever. It was, so for us to reconcile and do the Good Burger sketch that was six seven years ago something like that.
That was really really nice, and.
Then that was sparked a Good Burger too.
That's kind of sparked like, yo, I think we need to do this, and they were going to do a cartoon, and it was like, I think you should do the movie first and then do the cartoon. Like everybody's been kind of asking for a sequel since the first one kind of thing. It's like, if you're going to get back into that world, might as well do the second, especially if we hear you know what I'm saying, and we're young enough to like still do it with a passion and this, that and the other and try to
make a good movie. So you know, luckily we were able to like put it together and like get it green Lid. Shot it in Rhode Island, like thanks to artists for artists, and like my business partner, you know, Johnny Ryan, who's from there, and.
Like that's your production company.
Yeah, got a bunch of like you know whatever tax credits to make the budget make sense. And it was good for me because it was right up the street, you.
Know what i mean.
And my girls were in school till late June or something like that, so they were able to take to train up on the weekend, you know what i mean, as opposed to like having to shoot it in the middle of nowhere or something like that.
So it all became you know, a good positive thing.
And then we actually made something that people enjoyed, you know what I'm saying, And then it broke records, you know.
Paramounts plus his most watched original film.
Ever ever, you know what I'm saying, Like several weeks of number one, this, that and the other, so like it was it was all very positive, and it was positive for our company because it was like we make a history too, took the first Paramount movie, the Rhode Island kind of thing, you know what I mean.
So it was just like.
All, you know, all around really good and then also setting up as the you know, the Kenan and Killed world continues to grow now, you know what I'm saying, because we know we can go work on this project. You know, if he got a project, he can go do it. If I got a project, I.
Can go do it.
But if we come together and do something, we know it's going to be like pretty dynamic. So that that's a beautiful thing, you know, because we laid a lot of track work early as opposed to like having to figure it out middle.
Ages the cartoon's happening.
I don't know.
I think there's an opportunity to do even the third one before we do the cartoon, you know what I'm saying, Just because the second one did so well, you can continue that world and keep on keep on getting it, you know.
Absolutely. I wanted to ask you one thing.
Man, he was on Stephen Colbert Show, and you said that Seinfeld said, you told Seinfeld the old Colbert apology for what.
On that episode of Comedians and Cars that Colbert did with Seinfeld. Seinfeld was like, it was just a bit that I wanted to do for the sake of doing bits, So it wasn't even really that serious. But Seinfeld was saying like his show about getting coffee was way less stressful than colbert show, which is like obvious, but to me, it was like kind of like minimalizing Colbert's dedication, you
know what I mean. He's one of the most highly dedicated, intelligent, absolute formers that we have and the fact that he does it, you know, should be showing a little more respect kind of thing.
But I was just talking ship.
Starting trouble between the white men. But it worked.
All right. Well, we appreciate you.
Man, get his new book When I was your age life lessons, funny stories and questionable parenting advice from a professional clown, And thank you for joining us.
Put the glasses back on that, you know what I'm saying.
Thank you for having me man. Y'all need a guest chair.
Do you do waking baking?
Guess we are Jesse Larry and starts on Monday. Right, We're gonna have the new set up she got a different that's gonna be for the for the guests. Yeah, I came right before that.
You look at you actually could have been the first if you wanted to. You can bake in the morning. Who's that waken? Bake smoking, we eeding early?
I don't know nothing about that.
Okay, we're trying to hurt your kids.
Sponsors now and.
All that, right.
I mean, you know, sponsors are you know, easy to talk to, especially when you go and get in front of them.
Is like, man, I don't know what he was talking about.
Little drugs.
You know, he might he drinks early in the morning, but he's just talking.
Man. We keep everything legal.
Kenan Thompson, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, wake that answer up in the morning for Breakfast Club.