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    In His 15th Season At 'SNL,' Kenan Thompson Still Knows How To Play It Funny

    Thompson has lasted longer than any other performer in Saturday Night Live history. He's so likeable that the writers sometimes use the action line "Kenan reacts" when they need to get a joke in.
    by Eric Deggans Oct 16, 2017 5 minutes
    Thompson seems less concerned with superstardom than steady, quality work. (The actor is pictured here at a No Kid Hungry event in New York City earlier this year.) / Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images

    It was an odd sketch, tucked near the end of Saturday Night Live's season premiere, long after Alec Baldwin's crowd-pleasing Trump imitation and two performances by Jay-Z. Actor Ryan Gosling played a soft-spoken rock flutist performing with a motley trio in a run-down bar. He gets a call from the police during the show, and has to tell his bandmate/roommate that his good jeans have been stolen.

    There was only one reason the sketch was even nominally funny: Kenan Thompson.

    At a rehearsal the Thursday before SNL's premiere, Gosling and SNL cast member Kyle Mooney pretended to play flute and keyboard while real musicians provided the notes offstage. Thompson, meanwhile, gave notes on how to balance that fakery with their lines for maximum impact, guiding the scene as much as the show's actual director.

    That preparation, professionalism and instinct for the funny has for 15 seasons — longer than any other performer in the show's history.

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