Speaking with “Saturday Night Live” veterans David Spade and Dana Carvey on the “Fly on the Wall” podcast, comedian Punky Johnson discussed her decision to leave “SNL” ahead of its 50th season.
Johnson revealed that she began to question her role on the hit comedy show before the 49th season. “I talked to my team. I said, ‘Look, I don’t really know if I belong in this job, so maybe I should step away,’” Johnson said. “But I told them very late, after I found out I had to come back. And it was like, ‘OK, Punky, you need a plan. You can’t just walk away from your job.’”
Johnson decided to stay on as a cast member for the 49th season, saying that during the first two weeks, things were “tremendous.”
“I think I got three or four drawings in the first half. [of the season]”I usually only get two or three in the whole season, so I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm having a great time. This is my season,'” she added.
But after the departure of her writer Ben Silva, Johnson again questioned her place on “Saturday Night Live.” “If I tell him something, he knows how to put it in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ format for me,” Johnson said. “And if I try to put it in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ format, that’s the hard part.”
“I didn’t really feel like I fit in, and I didn’t feel like this was my niche,” Johnson added. “This show is for a different type of person. I come from stand-up comedy, so I thought everyone came from stand-up comedy. I started having conversations with people and everyone was like, ‘Oh yeah, we went to school for this.’ I said, ‘Did you guys go to school to be here?’”
Johnson first joined “SNL” in 2020 as a featured player on Season 46. Her other credits include “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Adam Ruins Everything,” “Corporate” and “Space Force.”
