Earlier this month, Punkie Johnson told a stand-up audience during a Q&A that she was leaving Saturday Night Live after four seasons. Of course, that news was everywhere by the following morning, and she quickly released a video clarifying there wasn’t any bad blood and it was just the right time to move on. Fans, however, were hoping they’d get more of an explanation, and that finally came a few days ago when she appeared on a podcast with SNL vets Dana Carvey and David Spade and talked in way more detail.
The entire appearance on Fly On The Wall is worth listening to, as everyone involved is hysterical, candid and knows the inner workings of Saturday Night Live very well. In it, Punkie Johnson talks about how she came from a stand-up background and never totally felt like SNL was her place. She was able to figure out how to play the game and do some work she’s proud of, but it never felt completely comfortable, especially after writer Ben Silva left the show. That cast member/ writer relationship is a key factor in finding success on the show that people don’t talk about enough.
The way Saturday Night Live works goes something like this. On Monday, there’s a big pitch meeting where everyone talks out random ideas, some of which are fully formed and some of which are just vague concepts. For example: David Spade threw out the idea of a caveman who is afraid of caves as a possible pitch someone might bring up. Afterwards, people then form smaller groups where they start writing ideas. In a perfect world, one of the writers, if they liked an idea, will approach one of the cast members and ask to work on that idea together.
Well, after a few years on SNL, Johnson finally found a writer she clicked with in Ben Silva, who also previously wrote for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. According to her, he knew how to turn her “scribble scratch” into an SNL format that worked. The two started collaborating on a regular basis, and this past season, she started finding, by far, her best run of success on the show. They apparently got 3 or 4 of their sketch ideas on the show during the first half of the season, which was more than she’d ever gotten in an entire season before, but then he got married and left Studio 8H and she felt like she was back at square one. Here’s a portion of her quote…
I had a tremendous first half of the season. I had a writer, and I think I got 3 or 4 sketches on first half. Usually I only get maybe 2 or 3 on the entire season. So I’m like ‘Oh man, I’m killing it. This is my season.’ But then my writer left. Oh my god when Ben Silva left, I went down. I spiraled because he’s gone and everyone has their groups. You can invade them if you want, but everyone already has their familiarities. I couldn’t break those walls down. I had special moments after that, but after that I was like, if I don’t have Ben…
Success on Saturday Night Live, of course, has a correlation with talent, but it’s also its own eco system that is absolutely reliant on collaboration. If you look at the most popular cast members of all-time, chances are you will find both writing partners who they formed a close bond with and other writers and cast members who found space for them in what they were doing.
It’s really a two part thing. First, you need to figure out how to get your own sketches into a place where they get picked to be on the show. Having the right writer helps with that tremendously, as you can together produce more pitches and chances are, the writer has a better sense of how to put the script together to maximize the potential. Second, you can get significantly more screentime if other writers and cast members approach you about being in things they wrote separately. That’s the only way you can appear on the show if none of your own ideas get through.
Ultimately, it seems like Johnson didn’t want to start that process over when Silva left. She’d finally found a space to be successful on the show with the right collaborator, and when he moved on, she felt that was the perfect time to move on as well. Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings at all for anyone involved. The comedian was very complimentary of creator and longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels, saying he’s one of only four men in the industry who has ever believed in her, and she’s ready to go do her own thing, as she’s already getting offers inside and outside the stand-up world.
As for Saturday Night Live, it'll return this Fall for the much anticipated 50th season. Former cast member Maya Rudolph will join the show for frequent guest spots to play Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and there will no doubt be plenty of fun anniversary related surprises and specials.
