Even after spending twenty-two seasons on Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompson still gets nervous when performing.
The actor and comedian was a guest on the Wednesday (October 29) episode of Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson's IMO Podcast and explained why he's often anxious when onstage. Thompson spent decades in entertainment, first starting as a child actor on former Nickelodeon shows All That! and Kenan & Kel.
Around the 25-minute mark of the interview below, Thompson recalled the "confidence" he exhibited while auditioning for All That! "It helped because I do get very nervous. I still get nervous for every show," he told Obama and Robinson.
"Especially for stand up. That's why I don't do stand-up, because it stresses me out," he continued. "Like, if I have a gig, that's all I'm thinking of the whole day for days out. I can't not focus on that."
Thompson added that when he visits a different city, he passes time in a hotel by watching TV or writing instead of going out, acknowledging that it feels "wasteful."
When Mrs. Obama said that being on SNL seems "terrifying" and that she could never guest star on the show, Thompson had a different opinion. "Yeah, my heart goes out to that because I know that feeling, but I just don't have it there," Thompson said. "[I'm] very comfortable there. We did a lot of sketches growing up and then the live factor doesn't bother me much, because it's a large group of people doing it together."
"And there's a lot of people like getting you to where you need to be. And, like, all I gotta do is read the words. I can do that," he added.
Thompson was selected to join the cast in 2003 after auditioning at the same time as his longtime collaborator Kel Mitchell. The entertainers still work together occasionally and are planning a third installment of their Good Burger franchise.