Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Kel Mitchell: Comedy Royalty

Kel Mitchell is an icon in his own right. As a comedian he ranks among the best including Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, Kevin Hart and more.

In April 1994 when All That premiered on Nickelodeon, Kel Mitchell was amongst the original cast of young people who would go on to make television history.


The sketch comedy series saw Mitchell perform a number of now iconic characters, including: Ed (from Good Burger), Coach Kreeton (from Coach Kreeton), Okrah (The Okrah Show), Repair Man (from Repair Man), Pizzaface (from Earboy) and Clavis (from Mavis & Clavis).

Mavis and Clavis was the beginning of Mitchell becoming one-half of a dynamic duo opposite Kenan Thompson that teamed up for various other projects including the movie Good Burger and a self titled All That spin-off series, Kenan & Kel (which ran 4 seasons).

It was during his time creating memorable scenes on All That and Kenan & Kel that he became known for his famous catchphrases.

"Aw, Here It Goes" - was consistently said at the beginning and ending of every episode of Kenan & Kel as well as the phrase being used for the title of the show's now iconic theme song by rapper Coolio. The phrase was also used for the title of a October 1998 paperback Kenan & Kel novel and a two-part episode called Aw, Here It Goes To Hollywood (Part 1, Part 2).

"Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger, can I take your order?" - was used in every Good Burger sketch from the All That series and was used once again in the Good Burger (1997) film and the Good Burger 2 (2023) sequal. A pop-up restaurant that was a real life imitation of the one from the sketch and film was also created - SEE HERE. In 2015, Mitchell's long awaited reunion with Kenan Thompson took place on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The reunion saw Mitchell reprise his role as Ed in the Good Burger sketch - SEE HERE.

"Who Loves Orange Soda?" - a phrase used to acknowledge Kel Kimble's (Kenan & Kel show) obsession with orange soda. The phrase as well as used for the title of a season 2, episode of the show (Episode 4). The dialogue usually included Kenan:

Kenan:

Who loves orange soda?


Kel Kimble:

K-K-Kel loves orange soda.


Kenan:

Is it true? Is it TRUUUUE?


Kel Kimble:

MMMHHMMM! I do, I do, I do-oooh!


Today, his catchphrases and the cultural impact they made can be seen in gifs, YouTube videos, Tik Tok, and everywhere.

Mitchell was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as T-Bone in the 2000's animated series Clifford the Big Red Dog in both 2001 and 2002 respectively. From 2015 to 2019, he starred as Double G on the Nickelodeon comedy series Game Shakers. Mitchell competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2019, placing as the runner-up with his partner Witney Carson.

More recently, he has dedicated his time to being a youth pastor at Spirit Food Christian Center and subsequently released a book entitled, Blessed Mode: 90 Days to Level Up Your Faith. Although this is not the first time Mitchell has seen his face on the cover of a book thanks to author Steve Holland who wrote a series of books based off of the Kenan and Kel duo including: FranKELstein.

We'll have to see what the future holds next for Kel Mitchell.

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