Punkie Johnson loves keeping Lorne Michaels on his toes.
On a new episode of Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade, the former Saturday Night Live cast member revealed all the creative ways she used to “mess with” her ex-boss—including sending him some “really unique” gifts.
“I used to mess with him a lot,” Johnson said of Michaels. “I was one of the people who just wasn’t afraid to interact with him. When he comes, everybody acts crazy, like he’s the principal or something.”
“One day we were just sitting there having a good time,” she continued. “And I looked at Lorne and was like, ‘How you doin’?’ I think I drove him crazy to the point where he just started ignoring me. He was like, ‘I don’t have time for your games.’”
Johnson revealed that she would playfully refer to the SNL creator as “Mr. Michaels” just to get a rise out of him. “He’s like, ‘Don’t call me that. My name is Lorne,’” she said, laughing. “Then I started writing him letters. Like, ‘Hey Godfather, just want to let you know I love you.’”
“I would get him really unique gifts,” she continued. “I know he owns goats, so I got him a ‘Goat Daddy’ shirt. One time, I asked him for a present for his birthday. I said, ‘Hey, can you buy me a goat for your birthday? I’ll just come visit it from time to time.’ He just shook his head, like, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with this girl.’”
Johnson, who first joined SNL as a featured player in Season 46, announced at the beginning of August that she would not be returning to the show for its upcoming 50th season. During Fly on the Wall, she called her departure a “mutual” decision.
“It’s a big decision,” she said. “With me and SNL, I feel like it was more of a mutual thing. Because I can tell you right now, February last season, I was like, ‘Nope, I’m done.’ The season before that, I questioned it. I talked to my team and was like, ‘Look, I don’t really know if I belong.’”
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