Look at me now: Keenan & Kel

Today's jog down memory lane takes us to two chaps who starred in a hit 90's Nickelodeon show, Kenan and Kel. If you've never heard of it then allow me to quickly brief you. Friends, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell played two onscreen best buddies growing up in Chicago, Illinois. Basically the  premise of the show centred around their mischievous and very, very goofy antics. That's it.  Kenan and Kel ran from 1996-2000 and was a favourite of many youths around that time. I would watch it and laugh intermittently, it hardly rendered my stomach to ache or sides split. And this was due to the ridiculousness of the characters. Namely Kel, (the slimmer one) Kel was the epitome of prized idiot. And in my opinion it wasn't particularly endearing. Anyhow I suppose he deserves credit - he played this role with great aplomb. Kel's facial expressions were beyond stupid and so was his behaviour. In short, come to think of it it was as though he was mocking retarded people.

(And I just don't dig that). Keenan, (yes, the chubby one) was the slightly more sensible of the two but he was still a buffoon. But from what I recall he had a little grocery job which housed a lot of the shows jokes. As with most sitcoms there are running gags and sayings and Kel was privy to his very own. He was a kid who would constantly jabber on about loving orange soda. Alongside the customary "Ah, here goes!" line that would have the studio audience in fits of instructed laughter. 

After Nickelodeon pulled the plug on Keenan and Kel the two pals went on to do various things, must notably starring together in the 1997 film, Good burger. It's unconfirmed whether it took Keenan's agent very long to pitch the script to him after telling him the name of the film. Good burger was tepid at best and I couldn't stomach much of it so I switched over after a few minutes. (What, it was on TV, do you think I would have gone to the cinema to see that tripe).  Anyway, I'm sure the hardcore fans (and reluctant critics) watched it to the end and came away with their various takes on it.  Apart from that clucking turkey Keenan also went on to star in the film, Fat Albert. Again, it's unknown how his agent pitched this movie to him. 

So, we arrive at the usual question that is obligatory with these jaunts down  memory lane... What on earth are these two dudes up to now? And how do they look after the passing of time. Well as you can see - not too different such is the case with many African Americans. Yes,  the adage 'Black don't crack' instantly springs to mind. (Does that really even make sense when you think about it?)

On quick inspection Keenan, now 35 is still pretty portly and has basically the same face, albeit slightly older (OK, OK, perhaps his head is larger). Moving on to Kel, well as you can clearly see he also looks relatively the same and also at the age of 35 he now has stylised facial hair and has dropped the docile face. Oh and he is still alive. In 2006 a false internet rumour did the rounds stating that Kel had died which lead many fans to worry and speculate as to whether it was true or not. This terrible rumour was of course proved false and his fans were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. OK, moving on, in 2003 the two buddies went head to head for a role working on Saturday Night Live. With Keenan winning and subsequently he has worked on the show ever since going from strength to strength. On the other hand this left Kel to shoot films even channel 5 don't show and make sporadic guest slots on TV. Alongside this he is also a loving family man who's 14 year old son loves to  reenact hilarious scenes and sayings from his fathers former show. Brilliant.

You would be forgiven in assuming that these two guys often get together to grab a bite to eat and reminisce about the good old Nickleodeon days, but, sadly, this is not the case. Kel was quoted in an interview saying that Keenan doesn't want to be seen with him in any form of media - or have his name mentioned around him. Ouch. Why the animosity? Maybe the two have had beef, or Keenan just had beef. An unnamed source speaking on behalf of Keenan claims that he feels embarrassed about his comedic past and now would prefer to be taken for a serious, African American rotund thespian and being linked to a man who carved out an early career mocking mentally defective individuals just doesn't help his cause. Charming.

Demola, TCC