Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Live from New York, Brennan recalls ‘SNL’ stint

Lisa Ferguson

Friday, Nov. 19, 2004 | 8:46 a.m.

While most people who watched "Saturday Night Live" this fall likely chuckled at the show's spoofs of the presidential campaign and debates, Kevin Brennan experienced a bit of deja vu with each silly skit.

Four years ago the comedian helped write tongue-in-cheek bits about the 2000 race for the White House, which were featured on the NBC late-night series' "Weekend Update" segments.

The first "Update" story Brennan, who performs through Sunday at the Comedy Stop at The Trop, says he penned was about candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore, "and how they were pretty much the same -- they had similar backgrounds -- and how America really didn't have much of a choice."

Landing what could have been a career-making spot as a regular cast member was Brennan's intent when he initially auditioned for "SNL's" legendary producer, Lorne Michaels.

"When I met him, he said they already had enough cast members, so would it be OK if I got hired as a writer," Brennan recalled recently from his New York City abode. "I said yes, because usually if you write they'll put you on air."

During his two-year stint with the show, Brennan was occasionally called before the cameras to serve as a "Weekend Update" correspondent.

"The first time I went on air, I wasn't scared," he insists, although others may have surveyed the situation differently.

Moments before his maiden voyage onto the "Weekend Update" set, Brennan remembers, "I get a tap on the shoulder and it's Lorne Michaels, who you never really talk to ... I turn around and I go, 'What's going on?' He goes, 'Hey, if you could, smile.' That's when it hit me; I'm like, 'Oh my god, I'm going on live TV.' "

Being part of the process of crafting "Saturday Night Live" during 1999 and 2000 was "cool," he says. Given that it's a live show, "They don't really get a chance to perfect it. Even like on a sitcom, there's more of a chance to fine-tune it," he explains. "That being said, they put out a pretty good show every week by just like pasting it together at the last minute."

To hear Brennan tell it, behind-the-scenes antics at "Saturday Night Live" (including alleged drug abuse by cast members) were "not as crazy" as have been reported throughout the show's 30-year history.

"For a while, they were getting a lot of bad press -- that it was like a boy's club, and everybody was mean, and it was like crazy, and drugs and stuff," he says. "The worst I saw ... was like a big bowl of candy in the writer's room -- so if you wanna get all jacked up on candy -- but I didn't see anything worse than that."

When Colin Quinn, who had hosted "Weekend Update" during Brennan's tenure, left the series in 2000, Brennan says he auditioned to fill the vacant anchor seat ("Obviously, I didn't get it"). The gig was awarded to co-stars Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon; in the resulting "shake-up," Philadelphia-bred Brennan says he got the boot.

"It was a great learning experience," is how he summarizes his short-lived "SNL" run. "I wish I would have stayed there longer and made more money and become famous and all that."

Instead, he went on to spend a year warming up audiences before tapings of the ABC sitcom "Spin City." He has also guested several times on "The Late Show With David Letterman" as well as "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"; and recently made his fourth appearance on "Last Call With Carson Daly."

A comedic workhorse who got his start 15 years ago by performing at open-mike nights, Brennan (who declines to reveal his age) says when he's not on the road, he can be found most evenings onstage at comedy clubs throughout the Big Apple.

"On a Saturday night, I can do like seven or eight shows in one night," he contends. "The more shows you do ... the more you wanna keep doing them. You just kind of get in that zone where you're like, 'Lemme do another one.' "

Despite having made a mockery of headline-news stories through his "Weekend Update" work, Brennan says he tries "not to do too much topical stuff" in his stand-up act. "You always want good jokes that you can keep in your act for a sustained period ... That's what I've learned over the years."

Instead, he riffs about his childhood as one of 10 fair-skinned siblings in an Irish family: "I used to get really bad sunburns when I was a kid, and I always thought I should marry someone who's darker than me -- somebody Asian or Latino, or something -- just because then my kids won't have to have sunburns."

Nevertheless, stand-up comedy is "not as financially rewarding as it could be," he concedes. "You make more probably as a TV writer, so you kind of keep having to pay your dues. But as far as emotionally rewarding and (being) rewarding on different levels, it's still pretty rewarding -- I'll have to give it that."

Comedy has unexpectedly become the Brennan family business: Kevin's younger brother, Neal Brennan, is the co-creator/co-executive producer/co-writer of the Comedy Central hit series "Chapelle's Show," starring comedian Dave Chappelle.

"He's doing OK," the elder Brennan says of his little brother's successes. Neal also co-wrote the 1998 comedy flick "Half-Baked." According to www.imdb.com, Kevin appears in the film as a pothead.

"It's weird to have it become like the family business. On the other hand, I guess it's good because if I'm destitute, he can throw me a job."

That's unlikely to happen, seeing as how Kevin Brennan says his stand-up act has never been stronger, thanks to lessons he learned during his "Saturday Night Live" days.

"You get so used to being in a comedy club that things don't really faze you," he explains. "But when you're doing TV live, you really get a sense that you have to deliver -- there's no practice; no, 'Cut, we'll do it over again.' You really kind of learn how to perform better, because of all the pressure on you."

Out for laughs

Shelly McCarty -- who quite literally runs (and hosts) the weekly "Laughs at the Beach" show at The Beach nightclub -- will emcee Quarters for Kids, the benefit concert/information fair for abused children, being held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. Scheduled to perform are the Platters, Franky Perez, the Scintas, LoveShack and Killian's Angels, among others. Admission to the inaugural event is a minimum 25-cent donation.

If you don't have tickets to funny dude Jamie Kennedy's show tonight at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, don't fret: Stay home and catch the star of "Malibu's Most Wanted" and "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" as he hosts the eighth season of the Comedy Central stand-up series "Premium Blend," which debuts at 10 p.m. (Cox cable channel 56).

Also headed to House of Blues is Lewis Black -- profiled here in May -- who'll headline a pair of shows Jan. 14-15. John Bowman is the scheduled opener.