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In a hilarious interview, Nealon talks New England ties, hiking with Bill Burr, his Twitter and other funny things before stops in Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Kevin Nealon just might be the only tweeter tweeting correctly.

On the surface, the longtime New Englander’s tweets range from inane to absurd.

On a deeper level, they pull you into his comedy and leave you wanting more Nealon. 

The Connecticut-reared comedian’s work has always reminded me a bit of Andy Kaufman. But until a year ago, his feed was mostly dry, felt more like copy posted by an assistant.

Suddenly, last year: his own voice came through, in all its absurd glory.

A running bit: “the paperwork going through” on various adoptions of adult male comedians, from Danny DeVito to David Spade.

“Welcome home, David,” with a black and white photo of Spade.

He often rags on his buddy Conan O’Brien, like this photoshopped pic of Nealon with newlyweds Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce —  and a sad Conan in the far background. 

I spit out my iced coffee when he hopped on the “What I was like in the ‘90s”-trend with simply a photo of Ted Danson on the set of “Cheers.”

His tweets about being an old dad are [chef’s kiss] 

The brilliance: It’s not just internet gold. It’s also working through material — like being an old dad — and ultimately building hype for his stand-up special, “Loose in the Crotch,” his tour, and his YouTube channel show, “Hiking with Kevin.” (More on that below.)

When I mention a tweet grilling Conan, Nealon laughs.

“That was funny. It’s really just things that are spontaneous, off the top of my head. I think it’s the consistency that people like. I just like throwing them out there,” says the “Saturday Night Live” alum. 

“Social media plays a big part in making everything so accessible to people, as far as people getting into stand-up comedy. Between social media and YouTube, it’s just a whole different vibe now” compared to when he started out.

He’s rolling with it. He’s even got an Instagram account for his caricatures. 

Nealon, 72, grew up largely in Connecticut, graduating from Sacred Heart in Fairfield, and working a stint at Dunkin’ in Bridgeport. (I asked.)

He joined SNL ’87 and eventually hosted “Weekend Update,” starring in a smattering of SNL alum movies — many with New Hampshire’s Adam Sandler, including “Happy Gilmore 2,” now on Netflix. The “Weeds” actor hasn’t slowed down, with some half-dozen projects out in the last year alone — and five more upcoming projects.

“Loose in the Crotch,” now streaming for free on 800 Pound Gorilla Media’s YouTube channel, is Nealon’s first comedy special since 2012. Like his “old dad” bit, solid jokes center on aging: 

“I stand before you right now with a totally replaced left knee. And you know what? I feel like a 21-year-old who’s been in a horrible boating accident.”

I called the Emmy winner ahead of stops at the Wilbur Aug. 1 (tickets available here for tonight) and at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Aug. 8, to talk Dunkin’, how Instagram sparked his artwork, getting “ragged on” by Bill Burr, favorite SNL sketches and characters, Adam Sandler, Larry David, and more.

Boston.com: So I’m really excited you’re coming to New England. 

Kevin Nealon: I am, too. I love Boston. And I spend a lot of time in the Portsmouth area. A lot of memories there for me. My grandparents lived in Kittery, Maine, and we still have their home. So I spend a lot of time in Portsmouth and driving 95. I saw Portsmouth go from an old Navy seaport town to what it is today.

Boston.com: You grew up in Connecticut. Did you really use to work at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Bridgeport?

Kevin Nealon: I did. I’d be in the back making donuts. They had a window where you could look through and see the guy making donuts. That was my first stage experience.

Boston.com: [laughs] I love that.

Kevin Nealon: [laughs] I wanted to buy a guitar, and one job was not enough, so I worked at Dunkin’ Donuts for, I think, two weeks. Then, sadly for the manager, I quit shortly after telling him that making donuts was what I’ve always wanted to do, and convincing him I’d never quit. This is when I realized I’d be a good actor one day.

Boston.com: [laughs] Did you always want to be a comedian?

Kevin Nealon: Like a lot of kids, I’d go through phases — everything from a forest ranger to airline pilot to donut-maker [laughs].

Boston.com: [laughs] Dream realized.

Kevin Nealon: [laughs] The first time I performed in public was in Daytona Beach on spring break. I was in a shop getting my T-shirt spray-painted, and I was in there alone, making faces. Then I looked out the window, and there’s a whole crowd of people out there laughing and watching me. I got scared for a minute, self-conscious, but then I thought, this is kind of fun.

I was probably 20 when I thought stand-up comedy would be a fun profession. It wasn’t as accessible as it is now, with social media. At the time, it was more unrealistic and it concerned my parents.

Boston.com: You started out in New York. 

Kevin Nealon: At Catch A Rising Star. It was so tiny and smoky, and the comics were so abrasive and threatening [laugh]. I thought, “This is not for me.” Then I thought, “Maybe California’s a little more laid-back.” Plus no one I knew would see me failing. So I came out to LA, and eventually circled back to New York for SNL.

Boston.com: Was SNL always a goal? Dana Carvey recommended you.

Kevin Nealon: I gotta be honest with you: SNL was never in my sights. I never considered it because I was just a stand-up comic, not a sketch person. Then, like you said, Dana — one of my roommates — recommended me. I still had to audition. I basically did my stand-up, and a couple of characters Dana and I had riffed on. 

It happened quickly: I met with Lorne Michaels on a Friday; he offered me the job; Monday I was in New York City. So I didn’t really have a chance to even tell a lot of people that I got the show. I also didn’t trust it. In this business, there’s often so much rejection, the floor falling out from under you.

It took a year to really believe that I had this job, because the year before, SNL’s ratings were so low they were ready to pull the show. So we all lived out of our suitcases for the first year. It was real week by week.

Boston.com: After the first year, did you feel more at home writing sketches and acting? How did you acclimate?

Kevin Nealon: Well, I unpacked [laughs].

Boston.com: [laughs] Solid first step.

Kevin Nealon: [laughs] I had to recalibrate my comedy because I was thinking along the lines of jokes. Now, I’m on a sketch show; I have to learn about writing sketches and coming up with characters — SNL was a very different job description. But I never stopped doing stand-up.

Boston.com: Favorite sketches?

Kevin Nealon: I always liked Hans & Franz with Dana. When we wrote those characters, we never laughed so hard. They were just ridiculous [laughs].

I liked Mr. Subliminal Man. And I wrote a sketch “The Bathroom Attendant.” I played a bathroom attendant working in a tiny bathroom: one toilet, no stall, no walls. Harvey Keitel was the host. 

He came in, and I’m in a tuxedo in a very small bathroom [laughs], and it was him being very uncomfortable that I was helping him pull his pants down, and folding his toilet paper for him, bringing him newspapers. 

Boston.com: [laughs] That’s great.

Kevin Nealon: That’s one of the sketches I’m most proud of.

Boston.com: You’re close with a lot of SNL alumni. You’ve worked a lot with Adam Sandler.

Kevin Nealon: Oh, yeah. He’s so prolific with writing and acting, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve done maybe 13 or 14 movies with him. And stand-up — I was on tour with him last summer, playing these huge venues. He fills Madison Square Garden. It’s mind-boggling.

Boston.com: He officiated Taylor Swift’s wedding.

Kevin Nealon: Yes, but that’s only because I couldn’t do it.

Boston.com: [laughs] You interviewed him on your show, “Hiking with Kevin.” That’s such a fun premise — just interviewing people while hiking. What sparked that?

Kevin Nealon: “Hiking with Kevin” was very organic. I live in LA, there’s a lot of canyons with hiking trails. I used to hike a lot; I’d memorize my lines for “Weeds.” It’s also a very meditative practice for me — I do a lot of writing when I’m hiking. 

So I called a friend of mine, Matthew Modine — now he’s on “Stranger Things” — to go for a hike. We were so out of breath while we’re talking, we could barely understand each other. I thought it’d be a funny talk show. I posted it on Twitter, people really liked it, and I kept posting. Now I have my own YouTube channel.

Boston.com: You just had Oscar from “The Office,” which was great. You’ve got some great interviews. What are some favorites?

Kevin Nealon: Oh my God, Lauren, there’ve been so many great ones. [pause] Donny Osmond at Sundance was hilarious — we’re in snowshoes, and keep falling over. Bill Burr, where he was just ragging on me.

Boston.com: In a Red Sox hat, right on brand. He’s a local to Boston. You’ve also had Conan on a few times. 

Kevin Nealon: Oh, yeah. I’ve known Conan a long time. We rib each other a lot. He’s always fun. I know Conan and Bill Burr well, so I know how to push the buttons to get some kind of a reaction.

Boston.com: [laughs] You tweeted that you asked Larry David to come on and he said “No.” Which is a funny Larry bit. Did he really say no, or was it just a joke tweet?

Kevin Nealon: He really said “no.”

Boston.com: [laughs] Amazing.

Kevin Nealon: [laughs] He’s at that point where I don’t think he wants to waste time letting somebody down easy [laughs]. “Larry, you want to do this hiking show with me?”  “No.” Not even a “Goodbye” or “Thanks, anyway!”

Boston.com: [laughs] That’s awesome. And your episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — “Kamikaze Bingo” — is a classic.  

Kevin Nealon: That was so funny. Just to be in that world, it makes you quiver. It’s so uncomfortable [laughs]. 

Boston.com: I need to ask about your caricatures — Jim Carrey, Willie Nelson, David Letterman, Billie Eilish. You’ve got some fantastic portraits. You have a book of them out, “I Exaggerate: My Brushes With Fame,” with sales going to the LA Children’s Hospital. They’re amazing. Christopher Walken is on another level.

Kevin Nealon: Oh, thanks! That’s probably my favorite. I’ve always done caricatures in rough form. I’d sit at the table-read for SNL, and start sketching whoever was sitting across from me — Farley or Dana or Norm McDonald.  

I like to draw people; I sit outside and draw quickly. I’d never completed them with color until maybe five years ago. I saw, on Instagram, so many caricature artists out there that were so talented. I started studying their style. l love it.

Boston.com: You call the people in your book “catalysts” in your life. 

Kevin Nealon: I have anecdotes about each person, my experiences with them. It became more of a memoir than anything else. It’s everybody that’s been influential in my life, maybe an SNL guest host like Walken. Or somebody who’s made a mark in my life, like James Taylor.

Boston.com: You’re also acting a lot. You had two movies premiere at South by Southwest.

Kevin Nealon: Yeah, “Plantman & Blondie” [and] “Same Same But Different.” I have a couple more coming out. It’s funny, I do a lot of independent films, and after a couple years, you forget. I was watching TV recently, and this trailer comes on for a scary movie, and right away I’m thinking, “Oh my God, I want to see this.” And then the next scene, I’m in it [laughs].

Boston.com: [laughs] That was “Inhabitants,” (now streaming on Prime.) And what sparked “Loose in the Crotch?”

Kevin Nealon: This is the first special I’ve done in maybe 10 years. For some reason, I just wasn’t that interested in doing a special because there’s so many specials now. I don’t even think they should call them specials, because they’re not that special. 

Boston.com: [laughs] Regulars. 

Kevin Nealon: [laughs] The not-so-specials. 

Boston.com: [laughs] Right.

Kevin Nealon: But I’d been working new material, and thought: Why not do a special to at least document it, so family can see it down the road.

Boston.com: You’ve got a unique, absurdist style. You remind me a bit of Andy Kaufman at times.

Kevin Nealon: The three that influenced me the most were Steve Martin, Albert Brooks, and Andy Kaufman. And Garry Shandling was a mentor. He told me how important it was to be present. Be open to anything that’s happening in the room, or anything happening in your life. Explore it.

Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

Lauren Daley

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.

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