Julie Conlon
Student Life Editor
The saying goes you only have one chance to
make a good first impression, and Spring Weekend for many at Keene State College is not the best place for that. According to Twitter and Facebook posts, many students wish to forget some drunken follies and outrageous activities they participated in over the three to four-day weekend.
But on Saturday, April 20 approximately 1,300 students had the opportunity to make an impression on one of Generation Y’s favorite comedic actors: Kenan Thompson.
KSC Social Activities Council brought the “All That” and “Kenan and Kel” star and current cast member of Saturday Night Live to campus to headline Saturday night’s comedic event.
Thompson said Keene became his first impression of New Hampshire on his first visit to the Live Free or Die state. Upon arriving he immediately commented on the city’s lack of racial diversity when he took the stage in Spaulding Gymnasium the night of April 20.
“Noticed you guys have a slight shortage,” he said, referencing the color of his skin, “I got in a car and drove up here and as I was driving I noticed fewer and fewer black people—but that’s all right. I’m grown up now, I can deal with that.”
Thompson later described his first view of New Hampshire as different and “interesting” when he said, “It’s very scenic here. It looks like Navajo country, like Native Americans, with the sprawling hills and all that.”
The “All That” star wasn’t the only visitor to have this observation. His opener, Drew Thomas, a comedian from Atlanta, began his time with stories about the differences between white and black people, poking fun at his audience, the majority being white college students. Thomas said he also has not spent much time in New England and commented on the city of Keene and the campus, saying he liked architecture and therefore appreciated that look and feel. He also noted he felt the KSC campus could make an excellent backdrop for a “horror flick.”
But horror was not the theme of the night; instead comedy reigned, and for five dollars, students sat for over an hour and watched their favorite Nickelodeon star share stories and behind-the-scenes secrets from the sets of “Good Burger” and “All That,” to name a few.
Thompson thanked the crowd for “coming out to black night,” referencing his and Thomas’ race once again and noted the date, April 20, and said he could not imagine a show more fitting than on that particular day before he launched into an hour long re-telling of the highlights of his career.
He began with his Disney days and said he enjoyed his time with the network.
“I feel like I had a good Disney experience,” he said, “I can’t speak for everybody. Poor Britney Spears.” He similarly commented on his time with Nickelodeon and said, “I had a good Nickelodeon experience. Can’t speak for everybody. Poor Amanda Bynes.” He then suggested his crowd of 1,300 write Amanda Bynes a “nice letter” to comfort her in her current time of desperation. While on the topic of Nickelodeon, Thompson said the infamous Slime tasted like vanilla pudding. “It gets in the weirdest places,” he said, shuddering.
The star then sang the “All That” theme song with his crowd as they erupted in applause and praise.
“‘All That’ was fun in the beginning,” he said, “My favorite character to do was Pierre Escargot. Wasn’t that fun?” Thompson muttered a comment about sticky orange soda which prompted his fans to more applause before he shared his ‘ultimate’ career move.
“My ultimate experience is summed up in a little movie called ‘Good Burger,’” he said, as his famous quote “Take my order, b–,” was drowned in a sea of applause.
Such familiar comments are what the students of KSC came for—the impressions and memories made years ago came alive for students who once spent afternoons in front of the TV watching Thompson on his various shows.
KSC junior Jenna Foley said when she heard whispers that Kenan Thompson of “Kenan and Kel” would come to KSC, she thought it was too good to be true.
“When I first heard about it I thought it was a rumor,” she said, “I was really impressed with SAC that they were able to get him to come.”
Ryan Mahan, SAC events coordinator, said he had the idea to take KSC’s 2013 Spring Weekend in a different direction, beginning with a concert by country artist Chris Young on Friday followed by a night of comedy on Saturday. According to Mahan, SAC payed $25,000 for Thompson’s show.
Like many in his generation, Mahan grew up a fan of Thompson from his Disney and Nickelodeon days.
It was for this reason Mahan envisioned the spark Thompson would set on campus.
“We grew up with him in the ‘90s,” Mahan explained, “He’s just been a presence in our lives throughout and now that he’s on SNL it adds another group of people. It’s not that he’s just a child star that we roped in and has been off the face of the earth for five years—he’s this on-going presence and his career is still going.”
Erin Zoellick, SAC president, credited Mahan with what turned out to be the weekend’s main event.
“It was mostly on [Mahan] this year to decide to do a bigger event. He wanted to have another option for people,” she explained. The senior said they sold approximately 300 tickets the day of the show.
For such followers as Mahan and others, Thompson’s performance did not disappoint as the crowd laughed from one story to the next. For students more familiar with Thompson’s recent work, the comedian discussed his current projects as he finishes his tenth season with Saturday Night Live. He described SNL as “The one place where you’ll see Mick Jagger walking around in the background. Or a unicorn. Either way they’re both pretty.”
Thompson continued to drop names and tell humorous stories of his famous peers, particularly spending time and a good laugh on actor Samuel L. Jackson. Thompson said he had always wanted to meet Jackson because he assumed the actor would carry himself in the same manner in which he portrays his characters on screen. Thompson could not have been more wrong.
“I wanted to meet him because I thought he’d talk like [expletive],” he said, “But when I met him he was like, ‘Hey you got to try this tuna tartare.’” Such stories, which could only be told by Thompson are what had the crowd intrigued. Thompson ended his talk by inviting students to ask him questions, a portion of the show Thompson said was his favorite. Many asked him to do impressions from movies or particular SNL skits, which, like a good sport, Thompson obliged.
Senior Andrew Sullivan said he liked the question and answer session. “I thought it was cool that he gave kids the chance to take his reign,” he said, but noted an awkward moment when one student attempted to make a racial joke that fell flat. “It was awkward, that one kid who said he wished he was black,” Sullivan said.
Thompson said he was impressed by the specificity of the students’ questions.
“I felt like they were good solid questions. We didn’t get into politics and nothing too deep but it was all through stuff that I’ve done which means they must have been watching and that’s as complimentary as it can get. It feels great.”
Thomas added he was blown away by the crowd’s interest and present appreciation for Thompson’s career. “I was amazed because it really let you know the body of work that you have,” the comedian said with a nod to Thompson.
Senior Ashley Clarke said that listening to Thompson share his stories brought back old memories.
“It was nice to reminisce old memories with him,” she said. The senior noted, however, the show was not what she had expected.
“I expected something different from him. I expected something a little more comedy, but it was nice to make a trip down memory lane.”
Similarly senior Maria Avery said she anticipated Thompson doing stand-up like his opener, Thomas.
“I thought Kenan was great,” she said, “It was a different kind of show than I was thinking it would be. It was interesting to hear his story about his career, which you don’t get to hear very much from people in the public eye,” the senior continued, “I thought that was cool. I thought that was funny. Kenan is more of the sketch comedy star, so it didn’t really make sense to me that it would be stand-up. It was great regardless.”
Zoellick commented on the format of Thompson’s performance and reiterated that Thompson was never advertised as a “stand-up comedian.”
She said having Thomas open for Thompson allowed for students to have the stand-up comedian experience while also reliving Thompson’s career. “It was the best of both worlds,” she said, “We were able to knock out both. You got a laugh and you also got to learn about Kenan Thompson and his life.”
And the first impression Thomas left on the crowd before Thompson took over certainly lasted for many in the audience.
Sullivan described Thomas as “funny” and “definitely professional” when he said, “Thomas knew what he was doing and he knew his audience. He was pretty funny; everyone was laughing.”
Avery agreed and said, “I thought the opener was great—he really set the tone for the rest of the show. He was really funny. He knew his audience really well.”
Still, some students remained stuck on the fact that Thompson was not what they had expected in terms of comedy.
Clarke said she had more laughs from Thomas than Thompson. “He [Thomas] was hilarious. That was worth my five bucks—he was really, really funny and we enjoyed that the most.”
Thompson commented on the format of his show and said, “I’ve only done one comedy club in my whole life, only because it’s new to me.” He said all he needs is a friendly audience to get up, start talking, and begin making people laugh.
“It’s just about experiencing what it’s like to have a microphone in your hand, making people laugh whenever you can. The interesting thing is getting from the next laugh to the next laugh,” he said. “I try not to take it that seriously,” he noted, “I don’t write my shows out. I just go up there and talk. That’s why I like the Q &A the best, because it’s exciting—it’s the one thing that’s different every show.”
KSC had one chance to leave a solid first impression on their beloved TV star and newfound-favorite comedian Thomas. Thomas described the atmosphere of the KSC students in attendance in one word: “awesome.” “You can’t ask for nothing more,” Thomas said. As for Thompson, the star had one chance to leave a good first impression on his KSC followers. He said that on stage, he lives “very much in the moment.”
He said, “I think a lot more of your sense of humor comes across that way. When you write a sketch you’re writing towards the tone. Especially on Saturday Night [Live] you’re writing toward the tone of this show. But when you do stand-up, you hear people listen and you hear people laugh at the things you would laugh at yourself and you’re like ‘oh so I can be myself and people will still laugh?’—that’s a good feeling.”
If Thompson left Keene feeling good and students left his show laughing and reminiscing, then it appears to be a win for all.
Julie Conlon can be contacted at
jconlon@keene-equinox.com