10 Times Kenan Thompson Broke & Made SNL Sketches Funnier

10 Times Kenan Thompson Broke and Made an SNL Sketch Funnier

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the rare moments when Kenan Thompson broke character on SNL and elevated the entire sketch.

#10: Locker Room Motivation

Without a doubt, the sketch is completely stolen by Will Forte, who is later joined by host Peyton Manning. It begins, like nearly all “SNL” sketches, on a normal note, as a down-on-their-luck basketball team returns to their locker room at halftime. While the team captain seems ready to throw in the towel, their coach, played by Forte, decides to lift their spirits with a story about an underdog team that eventually won thanks to, of all things, a song. Once Forte begins busting his moves, the whole room, and the audience, completely loses it. And it’s made all the better by Kenan Thompson trying to hide his laughter by burying his face in his towel.

#9: Gospel Brunch

The sketch puts a hilarious spin on Food Network shows with Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones playing two TV personalities hosting a gospel brunch-themed cooking hour. Not only do they completely disregard every healthy option, but they also have no patience for anyone who refuses to fall in line with the theme of the show. After giving their first guest the boot, they welcome host Amy Schumer’s Southern chef who showcases her “healthy” smoothies made with a whole pecan pie. But when the prop blender malfunctions, Thompson and Jones can’t help but let a few laughs escape. They’re able to keep it together in the end, but the audience sure ate it all up, with a pecan pie smoothie to boot.

#8: “Morning News”

In this Cut For Time sketch, Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong play TV anchors trying to keep things business as usual in the wake of the Ferguson protests. The hosts avoid putting on their usually cheerful tone, but everything they say and do still ends up coming across as wildly inappropriate. Things only get worse when they launch into a cooking segment with a chef whose name brings up some bad feelings about the Ferguson case. Towards the end, when host James Franco runs in to declare that he is indeed the victim, Thompson can barely keep it together and has to look away. If this had made it to air, it undoubtedly would’ve killed even more.

#7: “Choreographers”

Not many “SNL” cast members can make Kenan Thompson break character without fail, but Maya Rudolph seems to have the magic touch. She proved it yet again when she returned to host in Season 46 and appeared in a sketch alongside Thompson. The two play rival choreographers trying to make amends and bury a few lingering feelings. Almost as soon as Rudolph enters the scene, Thompson begins to crack, and by the time she breaks into dance, he’s barely hanging on. It gets so contagious that the other cast members and extras in the scene couldn’t keep straight faces. And if you thought that would be the end, Thompson completely unravels later on while delivering a dramatic confession of love to Rudolph’s character.

#6: “Castrati”

Maya Rudolph also pops up in this Season 50 sketch, but for once, she isn’t the reason Kenan Thompson breaks character. That credit goes to fellow alum Andy Samberg. In the sketch, Rudolph and Samberg play a pair of Italian parents during the Renaissance era who proudly parade their son’s special singing ability, courtesy of a rather unusual procedure. As they try to pitch their idea to the Prince, he and his court pepper them with questions. When it gets to Thompson’s turn, Samberg unexpectedly calls him by his real name, causing him to momentarily slip. Something tells us Maya Rudolph may have coached Samberg on that little trick.

#5: “Scared Straight – SNL50”

For the “SNL” 50th anniversary special, the show revived the classic “Scared Straight” sketch, more than a decade after its last outing. This time, Kenan Thompson appeared alongside Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell as prisoners trying to straighten out some wayward teens. Now, when you’re sharing a scene with such heavy hitters, cracking up is basically inevitable, and Thompson didn’t stand a chance. As soon as Will Ferrell walked in, he was already gone and the audience loved every second of it. Things only got wilder when Ferrell tripped over a few lines, sending both Thomspon and Eddie Murphy into fits of giggles. Honestly, judging by Ferrell’s track record, we wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his outfit just before the live broadcast.

#4: “Courtroom”

This sketch about a man suing Jurassic World after his friends are killed rests almost entirely on the shoulders of host Donald Glover. As the park’s lawyer, Glover delivers a performance so absurd it borders on genius. His arguments are so ridiculously funny that Kenan Thompson teeters right on the edge of breaking character. At one point, after delivering what he clearly thinks is his knockout line, he casually sits down and pours himself a glass of water, nearly sending Thompson into a meltdown. Naturally, this only makes the audience laugh even harder. You can tell from Glover’s smirk that he knew exactly what he was doing.

#3: “The Muppet Show”

At first glance, this doesn’t necessarily look like the kind of sketch that would make Kenan Thompson break. But when you put an improv performer as skilled as Keegan-Michael Key beside him, you never quite know what to expect. Thompson and Key play two bouncers at a live performance of “The Muppet Show” trying to keep some rowdy hecklers in check. Cracks first begin to appear in Thompson’s composure when Key refers to Kermit the Frog as a dragon, but he manages to stay intact. However, when attempting to intervene in a chaotic situation between Key’s character and the disruptive Muppets, Thompson’s composure completely shatters… and the break is glorious.

#2: “Sexual Harassment Charlie”

Do we react to sexual harassment differently depending on who it comes from? That’s the premise of this sketch about Charlie, a folksy old-timey front desk guy who has to apologize to his colleagues for supposedly harassing them. Throughout the sketch, Kenan Thompson plays Charlie as a giggly, lovable goof, but you can still tell when he genuinely loses it. Right at the end, it’s revealed that Charlie wasn’t actually fired for sexual harassment, but for stealing company property and hiding a criminal record. This revelation is what causes Thompson to break character. Remarkably, his break also sets off Beck Bennett, marking one of the rare instances Bennett ever lost it on camera.

#1: “What Up With That?: Samuel L. Jackson & Carrie Brownstein”

When you have Samuel L. Jackson on your terrain, you can bet you’re getting at least one curse word. And during this edition of “What Up With That?,” we got multiple. After his big introduction, Jackson tries to talk about his charity, only to be cut off by Kenan Thompson’s Diondre, along with his over-the-top singers and dancers. By the time the music break finally wraps, Jackson’s patience is gone and out come the swear words. This catches Thompson by surprise and causes him to momentarily break character, which only makes the crowd lose it even more. Thompson later revealed that the first curse word was scripted, but the second was pure, unfiltered Samuel L. Jackson.

What’s your favorite Kenan Thompson character break? Let us know in the comments below.