Kenan Thompson on hosting the Emmys: ‘Keep it fun and keep it moving’

nypost.com:

Kenan Thompson will host the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Monday, Sept. 12 (8 p.m.) on NBC.The 44-year-old comic has come a long way since playing Junior on “The Steve Harvey Show” before moving over to Nickelodeon, first on “All That” and then co-starring with Kel Mitchell on the long-running sitcom “Kenan & Kel” (1990-96).Thompson joined “SNL” in 2003 — the show’s first trouper born after its 1975 premiere — and has been a mainstay ever since, creating popular characters including “Black Jeopardy!” host Darnell Hayes, Diondre Cole (“What’s Up with That?”) and celebrity impressions, including Al Sharpton, Bill Cosby and Harvey).

A six-time Emmy nominee, Thompson snared a statuette in 2018 (Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics) for “Come Back Barack,” which he sang on “Saturday Night Live” with Chance the Rapper and Chris Redd.Thompson, 44, took some time out from preparing for his maiden gig as the Emmys host to answer a few questions from The Post.Did the offer to host the Emmys surprise you, or was this something that was discussed in the past (but didn’t work out for logistical/scheduling reasons)?It was a total surprise!

A little shocking because it’s a grand-scale call and if you turn it down then you think, “When are they gonna call back” and what does that look like?

I didn’t want that, so it was like, “I guess I have to do it!”How much rehearsal time goes into the hosting gig?Not enough!