By Frederick Churchville, News Correspondent

“Saturday Night Live” comedian Kenan Thompson just sort of stood in Blackman Auditorium, some mild pacing woven in with his speech. No props, no crazy costumes – just him, a red-and white-letterman jacket, a single spotlight and a microphone. He spoke calmly, staying collected and self-possessed, as he told the story of his career to a crowd of more than 900 Northeastern undergrads who were given the chance to relive their childhoods with the familiar teenage star last Sunday night.

Thompson, who gained fame almost 20 years ago on the Nickelodeon series “All That” and “Kenan and Kel,” is now a member of the cast of “Saturday Night Live.” Even with his popular television career, Thompson said he likes to do college events.

“I thoroughly enjoyed myself,” Thompson told The News after the show. “It’s a rare opportunity to get to do stuff like this.”

The 33-year-old performer, known for playing eccentric characters like the semi-educational, bathtub-dwelling Frenchman Pierre Escargot on “All That” and the wildly overbearing Lorenzo MacIntosh on “SNL,” talked about his career and held a question and answer session, sharing some laughs with the audience along the way.

“I like it being raw,” Thompson said. “It’s different. I get to just wear whatever, step up there and just start chatting. I’ll say one thing and maybe not know if it landed, but then I’ll just move onto the next thing and that will land huge. It’s fun.”

Northeastern’s chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity organized the event because of the connection they believe students have with Thompson, Kappa Sigma major events and programming chair Jeff Deslandes said.

“Not many celebrities have the ability to relate to an age group’s entire life span,” Deslandes said. “From ‘Mighty Ducks 2’ and ‘Heavyweights’ to ‘Saturday Night Live,’ we’ve grown with his comedy and sense of humor.”

Organizers say that while getting personalities to come and perform at the university is a complicated process, the show came together well because working with Thompson was easy.

“Kenan and his agent were unbelievably easy to work with,” Deslandes said. “We all enjoyed the experience and wouldn’t change anything if we did it again.”

Thompson said this is one of many events like this he’s done at multiple universities, and plans to continue doing college shows in the future. But while he is a fan of stand-up and live performance, he said these types of shows still make him nervous, even after his long career.

“I like doing TV and movies, stuff like that, and being able to relax,” he said. “I get very nervous before stand-up shows … I’ll just be pacing around the room until it’s time to go out.”

Thompson made it clear that he is not the personality that some of his characters over the years may have suggested he is.

“Me and my on screen persona are really, really different – I’m, like, really laid back and reserved,” Thompson said. “For comedy’s sake I like really high-energy things with sharp points, and very loud words. But for everything else, I just like natural conversation.”

Some of the most memorable and personable moments of the show came during the question and answer session, when Thompson addressed questions about what his favorite characters to play have been, his thoughts on the restaurant Waffle House, whether his old “All That” and “Kenan and Kel” partner, Kel Mitchell, really likes orange soda and what kind of household appliance he would be.

“Some questions were a little over-the-top, but overall I think most were relevant – and hilarious,” said Kappa Sigma Treasurer Jeremy Cisneros, who helped organize the event. “I now feel personally closer with a celebrity I grew up watching as a child.”

Audience members also appreciated Thompson’s visit.

“I grew up with Kenan,” said Kelly Winter, a middler international business student who attended Sunday’s show. “It’s really exciting to have him come.”
Thompson said doing a question and answer session was his favorite part of the night.

“I tell my story every time – that story can’t change,” he said. “But the Q&A is when I really get to interact with the audience and where a lot of it livens up, ’cause everyone wakes up from being in the dark.”

It seemed like everyone wanted to know: Where is Kel?

“As far as I know he is married and living in California,” Thompson said. “That is all I know.”

And does he really love orange soda that much?

“I think, somewhat,” he said. “But no one likes orange soda that much.”