NBC Universal and Comcast Xfinity have teamed up to give one college a guest lecture from NBC Saturday Night Live (SNL) veteran cast member, Kenan Thompson.
If you don’t catch SNL often then you may remember Thompson from his hit movies Fat Albert, Good Burger or Heavyweights. But, if you’re a 90s baby, you may be familiar with his television debut on Nickelodeon's all-kid sketch comedy series All That, which was followed by a spin-off show, Kenan and Kel.
To vote for the chance for Thompson to visit Eastern Michigan University, students can go to http://www.xfinityprofessors.com/ to vote and they can also participate in a series of tasks such as taking an online quiz or watching a video. For every task completed, students will win additional entries to attend the lecture. The school with the most votes will win a performance by Thompson in their college town.
The contest is open now through September 28 and the winner will be announced on that date.
Did you always know that you wanted to be an actor/comedian?
I started doing acting in school and church plays. I did a lot of comedy relief, but I didn’t know much about it. After I began working at Nickelodeon, I only started to take comedy seriously because they made us.
Thirteen seasons on Saturday Night Live is a long time, what was your all time favorite skit that you performed?
“What’s Up With That” is my favorite skit to do of all time so I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do it one more time.
I still remember you from the Nickelodeon days of “All That” and “Kenan and Kel.” What did you enjoy most about your career at Nickelodeon?
Everyday was fun. It was my first job. I was like, well if this is what having a job is like then sign me up. It was a playground. It was also cool being around other Nickelodeon shows and stars and going to the Kid’s Choice Awards. It was my first introduction to the people I had seen in the movies and on TV.
What does a typical day off look like for you?
Daughter time. She is 15 months now so just playing with her whenever I can.
So, this contest that you are having where you will give a guest lecture at a college campus sounds pretty awesome. What made you decide to get involved with something like that?
They polled college kids on who they would want to see and I was in there along with Jimmy Fallon and some other people who were chosen to participate. They basically told me that the people wanted to see me and I was like hey, well I want to see the people.
What are you hoping to get out of this experience and what should the students expect to get out of it?
If they have questions about sketch writing or anything like that then I can answer. I just want to have a good time and reminisce about the good old days. I want to engage them in some kind of way.
What advice do you have for college students who may be interested in pursuing a career in acting or comedy?
Get ready for the long haul; it’s a lot of work. There is no way that anybody can sell you to somebody else if you don’t have the ability to back it up. It always comes back down to doing the work.
