When we talk about recurring characters on Saturday Night Live, it’s typically in reference to the ones that broke out into the mainstream of popular culture. It’s Debbie Downer and Mr. Robinson and the Church Lady and Wayne and Garth. Quietly, however, SNL boasts a much larger arsenal of deep cut recurring characters that never quite became household names but are still treasured by the show’s hardcore fans. Not surprisingly, Kenan Thompson has several of those, and he busted one out last night to my absolute shock.
During a really funny sketch about a cruise with all manners of over-the-top European entertainment, Harry Styles and Chloe Fineman’s characters kicked it over to Jean K Jean for some comedy stylings. If that name sounds familiar, you’re no doubt a fan over a certain age threshold. Thompson played the ridiculous character eight times between 2008 and 2013, typically on Weekend Update. In short, he’s a stand-up from France’s version of Def Comedy Jam. He speaks in English but then after every joke, he shouts “Zut Alors.”
