Punkie Johnson on ‘SNL’ exit: “I didn’t really feel like I fit”

In a chat with Saturday Night Live vets Dana Carvey and David Spade on their Fly on the Wall podcast, Punkie Johnson unpacked why she decided not to return to the show for the upcoming 50th season.

As it turns out, she almost left ahead of season 49, and for the same reason. 

“I talked to my team,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Look, I don’t really know if I belong at this job, so maybe I should step away.” That said, “I told them super, super late, like right after I found out I got to go back.”

“And it was like, ‘Well, Punkie, you need a plan. You can’t just quit your job.'”

Johnson said the first half of that season was “tremendous” for her: “I think I got like three or four sketches on. … And usually I only get maybe two or three on the entire season, so I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’m killing it. Like, this is my season.'” 

As is common practice with SNL, a performer is paired with a writer, and in Johnson’s case it was Ben Silva — who left the show after those sketches aired.

Punkie says after Silva left she found herself without someone who could translate her stand-up sensibilities to sketch format. 

Ultimately, she decided, “I didn’t really feel like I fit, like I didn’t feel like that was my zone. That show is for a different type of person. I came from stand-up so I just thought everybody else came from stand-up.”

Johnson announced her exit at the beginning of August, insisting there’s no “bad blood” with the show. 

“I was part of one of the most elite institutions in comedy, and I’m so grateful. That’s still my people,” she said.