Punkie Johnson on the real reason why she quit ‘SNL’: “That show is for a different type of person”

By February of last season, I was like, nope, I’m done. The season before that, I questioned it, I talked to my team. I was like, ‘Look, I don’t really know if I belong at this job, so maybe I should step away,’ But 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.’

I think I got like three or four sketches on the first half [of this past season]. 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.’

[However] I never grew up in sketch, I never went to a sketch school. 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 standup so I just thought everybody else came from standup.

I started having conversations with people and everybody was like, ‘Oh yeah, we went to school for this.’ I’m like, ‘Y’all went to school to be here?’

Ever since word got out that I’m not going back to the show, my phone and opportunities have not stopped. It’s crazy.

Punkie Johnson speaking to the ‘Fly on the Wall’ podcast on why she finally decided to leave ‘SNL’ ahead of its 50th season.