This Is Kenan Thompson’s Single Most Hungover ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sketch Ever
Kenan Thompson has been on Saturday Night Live for a record-breaking 21 years, but the making of one sketch felt even longer than that.
When Thompson first joined the cast of SNL back in Season 29, he made history for being the first ever cast member born after the show’s premiere on October 11, 1975. Today, the career of the 30 Rock Iron Man is, itself, a record of the show’s ups and downs in the new millennium. Throughout his tenure, SNL’s writing staff has asked Thompson to take on immense challenges on a show known for being the most demanding workplace in comedy. But one of the largest obstacles that Thompson has ever faced on SNL wasn’t just self-imposed, it was himself, the night before a big pre-tape.
Don't Miss
On last night’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Thompson said that, the night before he, Amy Poehler and Will Forte had to film the sketch “1-800-555-PHUNK,” wherein Thompson played will.i.am in a fake commercial featuring the fake Black Eyed Peas, the three SNL hall-of-famers stayed out all night drinking, which made the shoot more miserable than an actual Black Eyed Peas concert.
Sadly, the sketch in question isn’t available on any of the official (or unofficial) Saturday Night Live online platforms, but fans who watched the episode on October 8, 2005 will remember how it spoofed a real-life Best Buy commercial featuring the Black Eyed Peas that was only slightly less shameless than the SNL version. In “1-800-555-PHUNK,” the much-maligned pop group, headed by Thompson’s will.i.am., Finesse Mitchell as apl.de.ap, Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder as Taboo and, hilariously, Amy Poehler playing Fergie, danced around Wendy’s grand openings and Bar Mitzvahs offering their services as music’s biggest sellouts.
“We used to go after it,” Thompson said of his partying habits back in his early SNL years when Meyers asked him about an infamous night when he, Poehler and Forte stayed out partying until 4:30 a.m. only to get picked up for the video shoot at 6 a.m. “Maybe even 5:30,” Thompson corrected. “I was will.i.am., and I put on heavy dreadlocks. Heavy, hot dreadlocks. And we were all the Black Eyed Peas early in the morning,” Thompson recalled. “That was back when we used to shoot 90 miles upstate for some reason. We used to do all our pre-tapes up there.”
At this Upstate New York shoot, Thompson and his buddies had to come up with ways to distract themselves from their pounding heads weighed down by giant wigs and the intensity of the Woodstock sun. “It was very painful, so we started coming up with bits like calling our former selves,” Thompson said, explaining how he would pretend to be his drunk self calling his more responsible alter-ego. “I called ‘Shoulda Keenan.’ Like, Shoulda Keenan is at home in bed, and he gets a phone call from Crazy Kenan like, ‘Hello?’ ‘Hey man, you think you can come pick me up?’ ‘Where are you?’ ‘I’m on the side of the highway.’”
Funny enough, the side of the highway would be a perfect place for a new Black Eyed Peas billboard — they gotta book those birthday parties somehow.
