Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson performed at Goldstein Auditorium during parents weekend, entertaining a crowd of all ages with stories from his career.

1. Key Moments of the Night

When Thompson gushed over his 15-month-old daughter, the audience cheered and had one collective “awwwwww” together. Another moment that drew in the crowd’s attention was when Thompson declared, “I messed around and got the job and now I’m going into my 13th season of SNL.”

2. Kenan’s comedic style

In an interview with The Daily Orange, Thompson declared that although he likes comedy, he “considers himself more of an actor just because of how I grew up and stuff like that…I respect stand up so much, like when you say comedian you’re usually talking about stand up.” So, when Thompson took the stage, his style was more about telling his life story and moments in his career than improv or stand up comedy.

3. The Age Gap

Since it was parents’ weekend, the audience was all ages, with parents, grandparents, young children and siblings. Despite the wide age gap, Thompson was able to make everyone in the audience chuckle. Everyone sitting in the audience was able to relate to and understand Thompson’s jokes, such as jokes about SNL hosts (he thought Liam Nesson was “really cool”) and memories from the filming’s his older shows and movies (“All That,” “Fat Albert,” “Goodburger” and “Kenan and Kel”).

4. His Stories

Thompson shared behind the scene details from many of his projects. One of the stories that resonated with the audience was when he filmed “Fat Albert” with Bill Cosby. Originally, Thompson did not get the role because a “scary” Forest Whitaker, who was the film’s director at the time, did not like his style. However, a couple of years later, Whitaker was fired, and Thompson eventually became the star of the film. “They gave me the job and another fat suit,” he joked to the crowd. He continued, “At the time, Cosby was one of my idols.” Thompson also told a more candid moment, when he shared what Cosby said to him after the filming of the movie: “When the movie comes out, you’re going to need two dicks because the women are going to be all over you.”

5. His Closing Words

Before wrapping up his act, Thompson shared some heartfelt advice to undergraduates and recent graduates who want to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. “Don’t do it,” he joked. On a more serious note, he encouraged these individuals to “Follow your dreams. Don’t listen to the word ‘no,’ but pursue what makes you happy and be smart.” Lastly, he closed out the show by saying “Remember, no means no, but yes means twice,” and the audience shared one final laugh.

Published on September 25, 2015 at 10:30 pm

contact:ldana@syr.edu