When we talk about recurring characters on Saturday Night Live, it’s typically in reference to the ones that broke out into the mainstream of popular culture. It’s Debbie Downer and Mr. Robinson and the Church Lady and Wayne and Garth. Quietly, however, SNL boasts a much larger arsenal of deep cut recurring characters that never quite became household names but are still treasured by the show’s hardcore fans. Not surprisingly, Kenan Thompson has several of those, and he busted one out last night to my absolute shock.
During a really funny sketch about a cruise with all manners of over-the-top European entertainment, Harry Styles and Chloe Fineman’s characters kicked it over to Jean K Jean for some comedy stylings. If that name sounds familiar, you’re no doubt a fan over a certain age threshold. Thompson played the ridiculous character eight times between 2008 and 2013, typically on Weekend Update. In short, he’s a stand-up from France’s version of Def Comedy Jam. He speaks in English but then after every joke, he shouts “Zut Alors.”
I’ve embedded the entire sketch below. I’d highly recommend watching the whole thing, especially for Styles and Fineman who fully commit to their insane accents. If you just want to watch the Kenan bit though, it starts at 3:23…
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I would call the audience out here for not applauding harder, but to be honest, it took me like ten seconds to process what was happening too. Jean K Jean is definitely not a character I ever thought I’d see again, and since he was casually introduced as part of a segment without much fanfare, my brain just assumed I was getting another odd European caricature from a random cast member similar to the several that came before.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kenan Thompson’s long SNL tenure is how little of his success is related to recurring characters. He definitely has his share of favorites and is more than capable. Darnell Hayes from Black Jeopardy is, of course, beloved, and his take on Diondre Cole in the What Up With That sketches is considered by many on the show to be among the best character work we've gotten. There’s an alternate timeline in which he just spent his career playing the hits, but for the most part, he’s focused on creating original characters and stealing moments in sketches for the last twenty-plus years. Plus, he's thrown in some heater impressions.
As for the rest of the SNL episode this week, it was a ton of fun. Styles, hosting for the first time in more than six years, once again proved why he’s a natural. He was up for so much more beyond just that wild European accent. He played everything from a White Castle employee to a lawyer in a standoff with Sebastian Maniscalco. He even addressed all the haters accusing him of queerbaiting in both his monologue and a Best Buy sketch. I can’t wait to see him host again at some point in the future. Fingers crossed Kenan will still be on the cast and bust out another deep cut character none of us see coming.
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