Comedian and actor Chris Rock raised some eyebrows last month during his appearance on "Saturday Night Live," but said in a recent interview that he doesn't understand the fuss.
Rock said he tested the jokes in comedy clubs and they were well-received, and referenced one of the late Sam Kinison's controversial "Saturday Night Live" appearances from nearly 30 years ago.
"I work my jokes out the same way they do polls for the president," Rock told Rolling Stone Magazine.
"I go into clubs randomly – nothing to advertise that I'm going to be there – and try out the jokes. If they work, they stay in the act, and if they don't, they don't stay. And those jokes seemed fine.
"Anyway, it wasn't any edgier than when Sam Kinison did the jokes about Jesus' last words – and I was with him that night, his guest at 'Saturday Night Live.' I was at [comedy club] Catch a Rising Star, joking about crack at this white club on the Upper East Side, with no one laughing except one guy in the back row, who turned out to be Sam.
"He's like, 'Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? I'm hosting 'Saturday Night Live.' You want to come?'
"I saw him do Jesus' last words – like, he was doing the hammer thing, banging on the stage. I watched him snort coke right before he went on! I was [singer and Christian] Pat Boone compared to that night."
Kinison mimicked a nail being driven into his hand, and said that Jesus' last words were: "Not the other one! Not the other one!"
During Rock's "SNL" monologue on November 1, he made light of the Boston Marathon bombings, the Freedom Tower, Christmas, and other sensitive subjects, and one of his sketches parodied the Islamic State.
While Kinison was temporarily banned from the show following outrage over his joke, NBC has helped Rock promote his upcoming film, "Top Five."
