Everything that went down when Kenan Thompson came to Temple
SNL actor gave Temple students real advice and jokes along the way
Last night in Tomlinson Theater, Kenan Thompson was the Xfinity Presents, Professor of Entertainment. He answered questions by Temple Students about SNL and the in’s and out’s of the entertainment industry.
Kenan started off the Q&A with stories of his past gigs as a child actor and how he came to SNL.
“I got a phone call that Tracy Morgan was leaving, so they needed more blackness on the show,” he joked.
It was that type of humor that made the Q&A feel like it was not a school related event, but more of a laid back conversation between an Atlanta comedian and a bunch of curious college students. He talked and joked about everything, from smoking weed to Amanda Bynes, he did NOT hold back with what he wanted the audience to hear from him.
Many who asked Kenan questions began by saying they aspired to be a talk show host or to be on a show like SNL. One of the students, even asked if he could send him his skits to see if they were funny or not. But to my surprise and to the student as well, he told the student that he did not need to see the skits because his opinion does not matter.
“I could say that it’s funny or not, but it doesn’t matter what I think. If you think its funny and you’re happy with it, then you have to fight for that skit and believe that it is worthy to be on a show like SNL or any type of medium you want it to be in” Kenan said.
Yes, Kenan kept the crowd laughing with every joke or comment that he made about his career. But he also provided the right type of wisdom that does not require to be told in a complicated manner. He joked about not wanting to preach to us, but we all knew that he wanted to us to succeed to never take a “no” from anyone.
One of the highlight moments of the Q&A came from the questions regarding his personal life and SNL.
What was the craziest thing that has happened to you on SNL?
The Ashlee Simpson shit. I never thought she wouldn’t perform! She did a whole hoedown and I was laughing as we went to the next skit.
What kind of pressure do you get from performing live on SNL?
It’s a serious pressure to perform live since we, as a cast, want to impress you guys. It’s all fun and a job I love to do. You could be performing and be like ‘Shit is that Mick Jagger or an unicorn walking past you in the studio?
Would you want to act in a sequel of Good Burger?
I wish, I’d be down! We’re going to look old if we don’t do it now.
What other career would have you chosen (not in the performing arts)?
SWAT, they are the last level of defensive and they are only called when it goes down that bad!