Don't Bet On Michelle Obama Ever Hosting Saturday Night Live

She is a lawyer, a New York Times bestseller, a former first lady, and a mother, but could Michelle Obama be a comedian? According to Michelle herself, the answer is no. The wife of former President Barack Obama has taken the stage plenty of times, but she draws the line at live sketch comedy. In a chat with "Saturday Night Live" great Kenan Thompson on her podcast, "IMO," Michelle admitted that the thought of performing on a show like "SNL" is too daunting for her. "I've been on talk shows, I've done skits with people, I've done — but 'SNL?' I would never do that," she told Thompson, the longest-running cast member of "SNL." "It would be terrifying." 

It is not to say that Michelle lacks a funny bone. In 2016, the former first lady collaborated on a comedy rap song about going to college with "SNL" alum Jay Pharoah for CollegeHumor (now called Dropout). Also in 2016, she performed a live sketch on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which The Atlantic even deemed "'SNL' worthy" — we may have never known about Michelle's perfect comedic timing if it weren't for that talk show cameo. Nonetheless, Michelle doesn't think she has what it takes to be on the renowned late-night sketch comedy show. Imagining the possibility, Michelle told Thompson on her podcast, "I wouldn't sleep that week. I'd be worrying, I'd be worried about looking at the camera — I don't know how you do that."

She may never want to join the cast of "Saturday Night Live," but Michelle Obama still gets featured on the show from time to time. Several female cast members have played Michelle in a variety of sketches, including the one and only Maya Rudolph. The comedian portrayed Michelle during a 2008 episode of "Saturday Night Live," accompanying Fred Armisen's Barack Obama. Rudolph told Parade in 2009, "Mrs. Obama was really hard to do," she admitted. "I think she's really cool. And she's a totally fantastic lady. And I just didn't know how to do her justice."

However, Rudolph noted that her Michelle was better than her Barack impression, which she said she had to perform in front of him. The former president made a cameo on the show in 2007 while campaigning for his first term. In an episode of "The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast," Seth Meyers admitted that Barack's appearance was "the first time I thought, 'Oh! He could win.'" Now that life has slowed down for Barack and Michelle, perhaps the political couple would be open to pursuing new career paths. Their charisma — and Michelle's frequent quick wit — would really get them far in the comedy sphere!