Pete Davidson describes the hilarious and excruciating process behind his multiple tattoo removals

Following his breakout starring role in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, Pete Davidson has been getting more acting gigs. For the Saturday Night Live cast member, that’s meant two things. One is that he was able to move out of his mom’s basement, the other is that he’s decided to get rid of some of his many (many) tattoos. And the removal process has been quite a journey.

Ostensibly, the comedian was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers (weekdays at 12:35aET on CTV2) earlier this week to talk about some of his upcoming projects (Davidson voices the titular character in the upcoming Marmaduke animated movie and is also set to play Joey Ramone in a Netflix biopic about the iconic punk rocker).

Talk, however, drifted from Davidson’s love of acting to the ordeal that heavily tattooed actors often have to endure: hours and hours in the makeup chair.

To avoid having to show up to set three hours early (call times are typically in the 7 to 8am range to begin with), Davidson has chosen to pare down his body art by having some of his more visible ink removed.

“So now I am burning them off, but burning them off is like worse than getting them,” he told Meyers, referencing the extreme pain associated with tattoo removal. (The same pain your parents warned you about when you declared your intention to get a dolphin encircling a peace sign tattoo back in high school.)

The removal treatment that Davidson is undergoing requires him to wear goggles during the procedure leaving him unable to see anything as it’s going on. Because of that, he said, he and the doctor doing the removals have some extremely funny conversations.

“Before he goes to laser each tattoo, you hear him announce what the tattoo is to make sure if you want to keep it or not,” explained the comedian.

“So I will be sitting there all high off the Pro-Nox [nitrous oxide] which I actually quite enjoy, and then all of a sudden I’ll hear, ‘Are we keeping the Stewie Griffin smoking a blunt?’ And I have to sit there and be like, ‘No, Dr. G.'”

“So it’s not just that one day you will have to have them all taken off,” replied Meyers, clarifying the situation, “you will also have to hear them audibly described to you by a medical professional?”

“Yeah,” Davidson confirmed. “It’s really embarrassing.”

Still, it’s not as though Davidson is undergoing all this extensive laser tattoo removal torture for nothing. For him, it means a few extra hours of sleep each night that he’s filming. And for us, it means a valuable lesson in body art selection.

“If you’re going to get tattoos,” he advises, “just make sure you really, really want it — and aren’t on mushrooms.”

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