SXSW: Chance the Rapper and Kenan Thompson on working together at SNL

Adding to the list of Saturday Night Live cast members present at this year's South by Southwest, Kenan Thompson joined Chance the Rapper for a quick session on working together at SNL and life during a pandemic.

In a very quick and low-key conversation, Chance the Rapper, whose full name is Chancelor Bennett, spoke about his respect for Thompson. In their conversation, Bennett shared a story about the time he first met Thompson, and how it helped him grow.

Bennett, a longtime fan of SNL, tried to get into the studio when he was 19. As security was trying to escort him out, Thompson and SNL cast member Leslie Jones stopped them and brought Bennett to their office, where he said they "smoked him out."

"(You) told me that I could do whatever I want and if I wanted to write sketches for the show, the next time I come, bring some sketches, so I did," Bennett said.

Thompson has had a long-standing career on the live show—17 seasons worth—and said when Bennett brought his sketches back, he blew them away. Chance the Rapper has been responsible for a number of skits, including one where he played a reporter who was out of his depth.

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The pandemic actually served as a sort of blessing to Thompson, who said that it helped him slow down, stop straining himself and put family first.

"It's given me that time back with family because before it happened, I was probably overbooking myself just to have that work and that security blanket," Thompson said. "I probably would have missed a large chunk of this whole year out of my kid's life, so I'm looking at it, trying to take the blessing from it wherever you can find it."

Even having to do comedy from home, Thompson said SNL is evergreen because it is constantly evolving. Though he has a new show, "Kenan," coming out on NBC, SNL is in another category for him.

"I'm like never in a rush to leave it because I've never seen anything like it," Thompson said. "There's not a lot of live shows even left, so it never gets old because it's sketch comedy and it changes every single week."