Kel Mitchell Reveals What He Did to Surprise ‘SNL’ Writers in ‘Dark Jordan Peele’ Take on ‘Kenan and Kel’ [Exclusive]
Kel Mitchell made a guest Saturday Night Live appearance during the “Kenan and Kelly” sketch which surprised fans, but they weren’t the only ones who he surprised on SNL.
Keke Palmer, who hosted SNL had the idea to revive the classic Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell Nickelodeon comedy Kenan and Kel, but with a dark twist. While working at Rigby’s, Palmer played “Kelly” who tells Kenan she’s pregnant with his child after he blasts her for charging $5,000 worth of orange soda on her tab.
In the sketch, Devon Walker “auditions” for Mitchell’s role, but is denied the role – because Mitchell arrives on set and in character. He pulls some sweet karate moves but is gunned down by a robber as Palmer cries out that Mitchell is really the father of her baby.
Kel Mitchell surprised ‘SNL’ writers with those sweet karate moves
During an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Mitchell couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about the sketch. He said the script was written when he arrived on set – “shout out to the SNL writers!” But what wasn’t included was the swift footwork and karate moves he improvised during the sketch.
“As far as the physical comedy, I brought that to the table because they were like, Kel-Fu, that was written in there,” he laughed. “And they were laughing. They were like, ‘Yo, we didn’t know that you were going to do this Kel!’ They thought I was just going to say it. And then I did all this physical comedy. They’re like, ‘Oh, yes, yes!'”
“I went for it on stage,” he exclaimed. “You know, I love doing physical comedy and I was like, this is total Kel Kimble. This is something that my character would do. So I’m like, let’s go 100%. Let’s bring it in there.”
Kel loved the ‘dark Jordan Peele’ version on ‘SNL’
Mitchell shared how he got involved in the SNL sketch. “Keke, obviously the host that week did an amazing job all while pregnant,” he said. “They had a meeting, and this is one of her ideas that she wanted to do. Kenan loved it, the whole SNL cast and crew loved it. And so they were like, ‘We got to get Kel. We got to get Kel on this.’ So Keenan was like, ‘I can just text him,’ you know what I mean? So he hits me up and I’m like, ‘Yes, I heard the idea.’ I was like, ‘This is super, super funny.’ It’s like a dark Jordan Peele take on Kenan and Kel reboot.”
“I’m like, this is genius, of course. And when I got there, shout out to the SNL set designers. I mean, they turned that around in 24 hours and it looked exactly like the Kenan and Kel set, super amazing,” Mitchell said. “A fun time, Kenan and I had a blast. We were having fun, surprising our fans this whole year. So this is fun.”
Is a ‘Kenan and Kel’ reboot in the future?
In this era of nostalgic reboots, does Mitchell see Kenan and Kel returning? “You know, we talked about doing a special or a special night with Kenan and Kel, and it just so happened that Keke had this fun idea, so this kind of gave the fans what they’ve been looking for. But I know they’re looking for even more of that. So we’ll see what happens.”
In the meantime, Mitchell is working with World Vision to give back this holiday season as a celebrity ambassador for the global non-profit. “Around the holidays, it’s a great time to give and show love to others. And that’s why I hooked up with World Vision,” he explained.
“They have a wonderful gift catalog. I love World Vision, because I’ve been in the family entertainment business for years, and it’s important to them to help out families, help out families in need,” he continued. “Put a smile on a kid’s face, and take away hunger as well. And they’re doing this in 100 different countries and also within the U.S. as well. And you can donate by getting on the gift catalog and picking one of the gifts that can help a family and change their lives forever, overseas or right here in the U.S.”
