If you're a 90's baby, or more recently have discovered shows like All That and Keenan and Kel through TeenNick's 90's are All That, you know and recognize Kel Mitchell very well. This comedian has made his claim to fame from sketch comedy, to certain sketches turning into Motion Pictures (ie Good Burger) and even cartoons for your younger siblings to enjoy (Clifford the Big Red Dog). More recently Kel has been focused on more than just acting. I've had the pleasure of chatting it up with Kel (and coughing it up; I was sick during this interview!) last week. Read&Indulge as Kel talks about giving back to the community, his new acting projects in the works, and being saved.
I: You know I have to talk to about The 90’s are All That with Keenan & Kel and stuff. I don’t wanna say that’s what people relate you with but that’s what you are well known for from people my age and younger. Because I am from that decade of All That & SNICK & Keenan & Kel *laughs* But how did it feel to relaunch the fanbase from those shows?
K: It felt great! I mean I’m very humbled and touched by it like, it’s so many people that loved it and wanted to be it back. The funny thing is a few years ago, people hit me up on Facebook and Twitter like “We wanna get the shows back”, and “We are petitioning to Nickelodeon, will that make them bring it back?” and they actually did it like, it actually came true, it actually happened. So, it’s a blessing for them and I’m excited that I was such a big part in so many people’s childhood, you know?
I: Yeah *laughs* because my brother’s 13 and he just started watching it on TeenNick, he’s always all “Let’s Watch Keenan & Kel!” I’m like I’ve already seen all of these episodes when I was younger than you!
K: Right! Yeah, I’m getting that too like Parents coming up to me and Kids too like, it’s their very first time watching it, that’s cool for me like, that’s hot.
I: Do you still keep in touch with the cast members of All That or Keenan and Kel or even Good Burger?
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| Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell |
K: Yeah! I mean a lot of us bump into each other out here in L.A. Really the main way we keep in touch is Twitter *laughs*we all keep in touch like that. Like Josh Server [All That], Alisa Reyes [All That], Angelique [All That], they’re like heavy on Twitter, so we all kinda keep in touch like that.
I: What’s your favorite memory of all these shows you’ve done as a teenager?
K: Wow! My favorite memory of all the shows? Ooh, that’s a lot of stuff. I know that I enjoyed Mystery Man, that’s a movie that I did with Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, all of these wonderful comedians, that was just a dream come to work with all of them, it was like an All-Star Cast, that was a lot of fun; and I know one of my funniest memories from Sketch Comedy was on All That where me and Keenan we just couldn’t get through the sketch at all, I put that on my site as well, it’s one of my fond memories because we couldn’t get through it, we were laughing, and they actually kept it and put it on air. That was a really funny moment.
I: I know a lot of people didn’t know that around the time you were filming these shows you had a family of your own. You were married, and had a son. How was it to kind of juggle working and having a family?
K: It was deep. When I actually had my family that was like towards the end of the shows. It ended in like 2000, and my son was born in ’99. It was around the same time so I didn’t have to juggle it as much, you know what I mean? But we definitely made it work, it wasn’t really hard at all. That’s what’s cool about being on a kids show, you get to get all of the kids’ swag. My kids’ love getting all of the “Spongebob Swag” *laughs* the Clifford The Big Red Dog stuff from PBS, I worked on that show as well. They just enjoyed it, it was fun. I could take them to the set, because I didn’t have to worry about them hearing anything bad, because it was a kids show.
I: Yeah that works out really well. Fast Forward to now, I see you have a lot of different stuff going on. I see your Orange Soda Campaign, to start off *laughs* and I see that you are doing a lot with the youth, like The Back House Party and To Save a Life. Could you talk a little bit about these things for your fans?
K: Definitely, I definitely will. Well The Backhouse Party started because I saw kids dancing on YouTube. My fiancée’ saw them dancing on Youtube, and they didn’t have a place to, you know, express their talent. And we wanted to have a safe place for kids to come in the inner-city of Los Angeles, so we shoot the show in Compton, California, right there in the city, and we have kids come out and have dance competitions. It’s freestyle dancing so we don’t have anything choreographed or anything like that. They come out, battle, have a good time. We show them about jobs that they can get that they haven’t really thought of. So that’s how we came up with The Back House Party. You can check that out at www.thebackhouseparty.com.
Also, To Save a Life; I love the Lord, He is definitely the reason I’ve been able to do things I’ve done. I definitely like to let other people know about that. You have to be ambassadors for Christ so, that’s why I’m letting everybody know about it. That’s why I have To Save A Life on my link, for teens that are going through things. I speak at a lot of different high schools. Kids go through a lot of different things, a lot of different stress. Suicide, drinking, drugs, all type of different things happen that they deal with every day. They just have to realize that it’s a lot of spiritual welfare going on as well, so I just wanted to give them that opportunity to give themselves to Christ, and change their life around, and just know that there is a better way. I: I was looking at your videos and I saw that you were putting out a message about being saved, what made you make the decision to be saved? And what advice do you have for people looking to be saved as well?
K: I did it at a very young age, I grew up on the Southside of Chicago and my grandfather was actually a Pastor. You know, one day we were doing the Benediction, and they asked did anyone want to come up. But after you do that there is a second part: you have to be willing and obedient. Even through my career in Chicago, I wasn’t obedient; there were a lot of sinful things that I did, a lot of things that were disrupting my life. Recently, I’ve been very willing and obedient to what the Word says, and things have just been amazing. I don’t worry about certain things, I don’t fret about certain things. I just have a stillness in my heart that it’s gonna work out. Because I know that it’s something better that I’m doing, as far as letting people know that it’s all about Him. I kinda wanted to do this for teens and people my age going through some of the things I went through, such as Divorce, or drinking because you’re stressed out, you know? It can hurt you, so I definitely wanted to let people know that it is another way.
I: So is that what prompted you do to do the other projects such as The Back House Party or did that come from another reason?
K: It’s a little bit of both. Like The Back House Party, I’m a dancer. If you watched All That or Keenan and Kel most likely you saw me dancing. I’ve been dancing for years, I’ve done it in theatre as well. When I was acting I was also taking dance classes: tap, and all that good stuff. I started The Back House Party because I know that dance is a good way to express yourself. I wanna give that out, and also give advice while we’re there. If you’re meeting me for the first time, you are definitely gonna hear about Christ in some point in that conversation. *laughs* so it’s definitely a good way to minister to the kids.
I: Okay! Do you have any projects coming up as far as movies or television?
K: Yeah, I do actually. I have a cartoon coming called Wild Riders with MTV’S Rob Dyrdek, he’s a Pro-Skater as well. It’s a show about a skating crew called the Wild Riders, I play a guy named JJ, it’s a really, really funny cartoon. That’ll be out in December on Nicktoons. Then I also have Motor City on Disney, that’s also a great cartoon. It’s about Detroit but in like 229999 *laughs* crazy future. It’s a great, great show. It’s like the Terminator mixed with The Fast and The Furious. And October 4th, I have a film called Dance Fu, and it’s about a guy that can only fight when music is playing *laughs* it’s a great movie. Cedric the Entertainer is in the film and directed it as well, Affion Crocket, Katerina Graham from The Vampire Diaries. It’s a great film, very, very funny. I liked working with all the comedians in the film as well. Can’t wait for you guys to see that movie. October 4th.
I: Well that’s exciting. I know that people are ready to see you come back on the big screen, your fans are gonna be really excited about that.
K: Aww, thank you, thank you.
I: Do you have anything to add for the readers of The Reddlipstick Blog?
K: Thank you, I appreciate you guys having me on The Reddlipstick Blog. Make sure you check out KelMitchell.Net for updates on what I have going on, hit me up on Twitter @IamKelMitchell. Thanks for having me on! I like the name of the blog, it’s cool *laughs*
-Kel was a pleasure to work with and has such a nice spirit! I really love the message he is putting out for teenagers about being saved and knowing the Lord. He puts out a bold message, something we love here at The Reddlipstick Blog! I'm looking forward to all of the projects he's putting out! Visit his website for clips, updates and so much more!
Twitter: @IAmKelMitchell
Website: www.kelmitchell.net
Youtube: MrKelMitchell
2 comments:
What project are you most looking forward to?
Cool interview!
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