Kenan Thompson wants people to smile and wants to help people smile. From his early career on Nickelodeon’s sketch show “All That” to his later film work, the veteran “Saturday Night Live” cast member has had a long detailed career as a comedian.
Partnering with NBCUniversal and Comcast Xfinity, Thompson will host a special guest lecture at a select university later this fall. Students are encouraged to vote to bring Thompson to their school at http://www.xfinityprofessors.
Taking a moment to talk with us, Thompson discussed everything from his early beginnings to his “SNL” career to who’d he want to play on “The Walking Dead.”
What was it about “Saturday Night Live” that made you want to stay so long?
There’s no place like it, honestly you know. I haven’t been in a hurry to go be and do normal shows again. I’ve been there and done that. I grew up in it. It’s going to be there when I am done, so it’s not like I have to rush away from [SNL]. The experience of “Saturday Night Live” is like a once in a life time thing. I haven’t been in a hurry to close that chapter yet.
Do you think your experience on “All That” helped prepare you for “SNL?”
I hope so for sure. It helped me get used to being in front of a camera and stuff like that, doing characters and wigs and all that. As for as sense of humor is concerned, it’s something that’s always been in me but it definitely got sharpened in the Nickelodeon days and sharpened way further at “SNL.” It’s been like my college, my 13 year college.
What has been your favorite impression that you’ve done?
As present ones, Al Sharpton is one of my favorites. Jimmy McMillan, I wished people knew better. That was a real fun dude to do. He was like some New York guy that I think he wanted to run for mayor. My use of the campaign slogan was “The rent is too damn high.” He’s a really fantastic guy. I really enjoyed doing his impression. It would make me laugh because he was such a character. It was all in good fun. Word gets around. He recorded a video message back to me, and he was like, “I loved your impression.” It’s so awesome when people come out of the woodwork like that.
Do you like getting these responses of people you’ve done impressions of?
I try not to really offend anybody if you know what I’m saying. I’m just trying to have a good time. It’s hard to walk that line when you’re telling jokes. It’s good to hear when people are fine with it.
What would you say has been your craziest fan encounter?
I don’t know. Anytime anybody starts crying, that’s like crazy for me. I think it has more to do about what’s going on inside them at the moment than it does anything to do with me. It’s cool to see someone through something emotional and get them back to smiling. I like being able to help people smile.
What do you think it is about that slot of programming on Nickelodeon in the 90s that people are so nostalgic about?
We had a great cast on “All That.” We were lucky. We had a solid set of kids, and we all clicked very well together because we felt like our show was one of the kind from the very beginning. We went hard to the sketch route, and just do a straight type SNL thing. We were super focused on doing characters or whatever. I think that’s a special thing to find among your first casting.
Me and Kel [Mitchel] were best friends and having fun, and maybe it would be a good idea to give us a show [Kenan & Kel]. It turned out to be so. It was a cool thing. It’s cool to be a part of something, then witness a spinoff of it, then enjoy the spinoff as well. Like “The Walking Dead” and “Fear the Walking Dead.” I’m proud of it.
You ever think of trying out for “The Walking Dead?”
I would just want to be a zombie that they can’t kill. A special zombie. They’d have to find another way to do it.
One of my favorite movies when I was little was “Good Burger.” I watched it like everyday as a kid.
Oh yeah. Let me ask you a question. What do you think it was about that movie, that made you want to watch it all the time?
I think it was that you were so hopeful and acted so optimistic.
Optimistic. So, you’re saying it had heart? I have emotion. I do feel things. I want to make it as a real as possible. Some of it has to be down to the real world as possible. I know you’re doing a character and everything, but it has to be taken as seriously as Rocky and Bullwinkle sitting right there.
Can you tell me why you want to do a show at these universities?
I do standup a lot at a lot of different colleges. I’ve done it as soon as I got hired on the show. It’s something that we do. It’s always nice to get in front of people and hear what’s on their mind. I want to go out there and have a good time with some folks.
