Saturday Night Live sensation Kenan Thompson will perform a stand-up comedy routine in Bailey Hall on April 15. Tickets will go on sale the Thursday after Spring Break, March 29 for students and on March 30 for the general public.Last month, the Cornell University Programming Board announced that Thompson’s SNL co-star, Seth Meyers, will perform in Bailey Hall on March 27. Tickets to see Meyers are sold out, according to the Cornell Concerts website.Thompson is entering his ninth season of SNL, NBC’s long-running sketch comedy series. His memorable characters include D.J. Dynasty Handbag, Virginica Hastings, Weekend Update correspondent Jean K. Jean, Lorenzo McIntosh and D’Andre Cole, the disruptive singing talk show host on the wildly popular sketch, “What Up With That.” Thompson’s noted celebrity impressions include Bill Cosby, Rev. Al Sharpton and Whoopi Goldberg.The Atlanta-born comedian was an original cast member on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series “All That” from 1994 to 1999. Thompson and his “All That” co-star, Kel Mitchell, went on to debut in a spin-off sitcom, “Kenan and Kel.”“I think Kenan is the man. You can never have too much Kenan,” Mikella Goldman ’15 said. “I just wish Kel would be there too.”Thompson starred in Bill Cosby’s 2004 flick “Fat Albert” and has appeared in films including “Mighty Ducks 2,” “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “Snakes on a Plane” alongside Samuel L. Jackson and “The Boss’s Daughter” with Ashton Kutcher.According to CUPB President Tajwar Mazhar ’13, who is also a Sun staff writer, Thompson was one of, if not the most, popular choice within CUPB.“He has such a great nostalgic factor. I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely grown up on Nickelodeon,” Mazhar said.Students said they were excited for a second chance to see an SNL comedian at Cornell this year.“I’d rather Cornell get as many big names as possible, rather than people nobody has heard of before,” Evan Neiderhoffer ’15 said. “It’s more exciting that way.”Russel Silver-Fagan ’15 said he thinks it makes sense for CUPB to bring another SNL cast member to Cornell given that tickets to see Meyers are sold out.“I’m excited for Kenan Thompson’s performance because I think the style of comedy for each performer is unique,” he said.
Original Author: Danielle Sochaczevski