Kenan Thompson had ‘depressive feelings’ and nearly quit ‘Saturday Night Live’ — here’s why

nypost.com:

21 seasons under his belt — but he nearly quit the show shortly after starting. In his new memoir, “When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice From a Professional Clown,” the comedian, 45, confessed that his “SNL” beginnings were “marred by a ton of rookie mistakes.”When Thompson started on “SNL” in 2003, his confidence “sunk to an all-time low” when he “tanked” a sketch written by T.

Sean Shannon called “Randy the Bellhop,” according to his book.It was a sketch featuring fellow cast member Rachel Dratch and guest host Alec Baldwin.

Thompson would play Randy, an incompetent bellhop. “I was excited for the first opportunity to showcase my chops on the big stage,” he said in his book. “Thing was, I couldn’t make it through dress rehearsal.

I stuttered over this one line and couldn’t ad-lib my way out of it.”According to Thompson, he “spiraled into a full-on panic” and he heard an “involuntary ‘Oh no!'” slip from “someone’s mouth.”“If a slip up like that happened at Nickelodeon or in the movies I’d done, we could just do another take,” he said, referring to his Nickelodeon show “Kenan & Kel,” which ran from 1996 to 2001. “At ‘SNL,’ there was a lot riding on the live performance, obviously.”Because of his flubs, the sketch didn’t make it to air, he confessed.After that, the sketch writers “and every other writer avoided me like COVID,” the comedian wrote, and Thompson thought he had lost hope to “get a character of my own.”He felt like he wasn’t doing a good job, and when his first season on the show finished, “I didn’t even think I’d be asked back,” he said.