We met comedian and actor Kel Mitchell as a young teen, when he and his partner in crime, Kenan Thompson, were introduced to the general public on Nickelodeon’s “All That.”
The hit show was sketch comedy, a theme song by TLC and performances from top hip-hop artists.
And it was a dream for Kel, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago rapping and doing graffiti.
“These are those who only a 12 months ago I used to be just listening to on a CTA bus,” he told me on this week’s “Renaissance Man” of “All That’s” musical guests.
“And now I’m chillin [with them]. And so they were giving me advice. It definitely was like, ‘Yo, that is amazing without delay.’”
In fact, returning to his Chicago homestead after production was humbling.
“I remember my parents, after I got here back home, was like, ‘Take out the rubbish.’ That’s why I really like my family,” Kel told me.
They kept him grounded as his star was rising.
He was raised by good stock.
Each of his parents are actually retired, but his mother was a teacher and his father was a psychologist.
They knew that they had a category clown on their hands, in order that they packed his schedule with anything they may find. Boy Scouts, the church and, later, acting.
“They tried the whole lot after I was a child. And I mean, I did every activity you may possibly consider. But acting is the one which stuck with me. Shout out to ETA Creative Arts Foundation … They sent me to the theater in our community where we used to observe plays they usually had a summer program. And after I stepped into that theater, that’s after I was like, ‘Yo, that is it. That is what I need to be doing,’” he said, adding, “It was only a positive thing to do.”
After which there was also the church, where he was a fixture.
He was within the choir and his youth pastor was also a sensei there who taught the children martial arts.
He credits the theater and the church for keeping him on the straight and narrow as a child in Chicago, where there have been so many land mines for impressionable children.
“I really like my city because I all the time say, like, there’s two sides. There’s the incorrect side and there’s the nice side. You realize, for the youth … we’d like to support the nice side, the things which are occurring inside our community,” he said.
“But yes, the thing about it’s that I saw lots coming up. I lost some friends along the best way.”
Even in maturity, he’s leaned on the church and his faith, as he openly handled depression and addiction.
He’s now a youth pastor and writer of “Blessed Mode: 90 Days To Level Up Your Faith.”
And last 12 months he put out “Prank Day,” an illustrated novel for youths.
He’s now a Christian rapper and considers himself an “ambassador for Christ.”
But that doesn’t mean his tastes in comedy aren’t edgy.
His influences were Martin Lawrence and the whole forged of “In Living Color.”
And in fact, there’s his longtime pal Kenan, who had him on “Saturday Night Live” a couple of months ago to reprise his role from “Kenan & Kel,” the “All That” spinoff sitcom.
“Keke Palmer was [hosting ‘SNL’]. She had a fun, fun, fun idea of doing ‘Kenan & Kel,’ where she would play [a new character in the world of the kids’ show]. And ‘SNL’ was like, ‘Oh, that is great. We’re going to do it,’” Kel said.
Kenan texted him, asking him to fly out the subsequent day.
“I’m within the constructing they usually transform the whole set,” Kel said of the “SNL” studio. “It looked identical to Rigby’s store in ‘Kenan & Kel.’ Keke is amazingly talented. And we surprised her, because she didn’t know I used to be going to find yourself being in it. So she was excited.
“And yeah, man, we had a blast doing that. Shout out to ‘SNL.’”
That mini-reunion was just an appetizer to the essential course because he and Kenan are also about to start production on “Good Burger 2.”
It’s a long-awaited sequel for fans who grew up on the 1997 movie, which has endured and continues to rope in recent audiences.
“You’re talking about ’97. There’s little kids who weren’t even born [then], they’re having Good Burger birthdays,” he said.
“I just think it’s so awesome that it has a special place in people’s hearts.”
“We took an extended time to work on the script,” he added, promising good family fun and celebrity drop-ins.
“It was cameo crazy,” he said of the unique. “So I’ll say this: [There’s] cameos on steroids on this one … And numerous the those who you really liked in the primary one are going to return back.”
So prepare for the Kel Mitchell renaissance along with his newest flick.
As he said, “It’s happening.”
Detroit native Jalen Rose is a member of the University of Michigan’s iconoclastic Fab Five, who shook up the faculty hoops world within the early ’90s. He played 13 seasons within the NBA before transitioning right into a media personality. Rose is an analyst for “NBA Countdown” and “Get Up,” and co-host of “Jalen & Jacoby.” He executive-produced “The Fab Five” for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series, is the writer of the best-selling book “Got To Give the People What They Want,” a fashion tastemaker and co-founded the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, a public charter school in his hometown.