Comedy icon Kate McKinnon recently stopped by the SmartLess podcast, ostensibly to promote her newest YA book Secrets of the Purple Pearl (the second in the Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science series), but the chat between she, Will Arnett, Jason Batemen, and Sean Hayes quickly became, in her words, “pure chaos.”
In between moments of schtick and (oddly) a lot of time dedicated to traffic fluctuations on various bridges and highways on and near Long Island, McKinnon did talk about her big break: auditioning for Saturday Night Live, the perennial sketch comedy program on which she appeared for 10 years.
“I was horrendously nervous,” she shared. “But then Bobby Moynihan… I guess maybe had seen me at [New York comedy theater] UCB doing a one-woman show. And he came up to me and he said, ‘Hey, you’re funny.’ And then I could breathe.”
Will Heath/NBC
That little boost of confidence may have done the psychological trick for McKinnon, plus the fact that though she usually prefers to “wing it” onstage, she rehearsed her audition an estimated “50,000 times.”
Reflecting on the remark from Moynihan, who had already been on SNL for a few years, McKinnon then launched into a bit, pretending to get all choked up, like an actress winning an Academy Award.
“I do credit him with everything,” she said, transitioning into a maudlin voice.
The three hosts quickly clocked what she was doing, and began egging her on with some “here she comes” and “preach it!” encouragements.
Through fake tears, McKinnon explained that “when someone reaches out to you in the dark, all it takes is one. Because when someone has the kindness to see you, then you get a little bit taller. And you can fly!”
Yuks aside, she added, “But if he had not done that, honestly, I would be in Romania,” referencing an earlier moment on the podcast when she said that had showbiz not worked out, she would have been an English teacher in a distant land.
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As far as her old shows at the UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade), it’s possible Moynihan saw one of the one-woman shows that, as she explained, involved a lot of unusual props.
“I did one [that] had a cake in it,” she recalled. “And a full rotisserie chicken and seven wigs. So I would have to bring all the wigs, and then I would stop at the Gristedes grocery store and buy a cake and a full rotisserie chicken and bring them down. And so I was lugging those. Those were exciting days, and just lugging a lot of props and wigs. I had amassed a collection of 45 or so wigs that were gross and had chicken juice in them. They got all chicken-y, and they got all cake-y.”
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Another very funny moment on the podcast came when Arnett realized that his cohost Bateman and McKinnon were in a movie together, Office Christmas Party, a project that neither showed any indication of wanting to talk about.
You can listen to the full SmartLess episode here.