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Kenan Thompson's Road To NYC -Event
Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist
Kenan
Thompson’s
Road To
New York Talent Show
Veteran
NBC-TV, Saturday Night Live personality Kenan Thompson served as the
Host/Sponsor for his “Road To New York City” comedy talent search. The contest
was held in several cities with two categories, youth and adults. Local winners
were selected from each city and were flown to New York City where they performed
for the final round at Caroline’s on Broadway in New York City and the chance
to sit in the audience for the airing of Saturday Night Live.
 |
| L Center LA Winner Ethan Klein & MC Kamil McFadden |
Road To
NYC was introduced in 2010 by Actor/Comedian Kenan Thompson and his friend
Executive Producer Cherie Chiles Buchanan and her Simply C360 Production
Company. They originally invited young comedians to come to New York to spend
time with Thompson at SNL and to perform at a comedy club in the city. Since then,
there have been comedy showcases in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los
Angeles and Miami. Their objective was to aid up and coming comics to get to
the next level and provide the winners with the ultimate NYC experience and
perhaps discover the next big star.
 |
| Teen Comic LeRoya Sanford & MC Kamil McFadden |
As part of the “Road to
NYC” search, two youth winners and two adult winners attended SNL. The youth were
guest at the dress rehearsal and the adults sat in the audience for the live
show. Thompson had a one-on- one meeting with all of the winners at the show.
Our coverage included the last road show
which was held at the Barnsdall Gallery in Los Angeles, California. The show
was brilliantly hosted and kept upbeat by actor Kamil McFadden, star of the
Disney Channel’s “K.C. Under Cover.” The LA version of the show was won by Ethan
Klein who made to trip to New York. Several acts performed including Teen Comic
sensation LeRoya Sanford, Rapper/Actress Nay Nay Kirby and Rap/Dance duo
Trend-N-Topic among others. Professional Talent Manager Kazembe Ajamu fielded
questions from the young audience of showbiz hopefuls during an after show
Q&A Session.
 |
| L-R K Star & Wildchild AKA Trend-N-Topic |
 |
| Trend-N-Topic in action |
 |
| Actress/Rapper Nay Nay Kirby |
In talking with the
show’s Executive Producer Cherie Chiles-Buchanan, she explained what motivates
her to do this show and take it on the road every year. She smiles and says, “I
just love people. I love to see people win and I just believe that we share
advice, information and resources with each other. Someone might benefit from
what I know, or I might benefit from what they know, and I think it’s just
important to do that and create a platform for young people and adults to win.”
 |
| L-R Comic LeRoya Sanford & Gabrielle Nevaeh Green |
 |
| Cherie Chiles-Buchanan |
Chiles-Buchanan has seen many children come her way to get into the “biz” and
has this advice for parents who are over zealous and too anxious for their little
poopsy-woopsy to make it and do all of the talking instead of letting the child
talk for themselves. She explains, “As parents, we want to take over. I’m a
parent, I want to run my kid’s lives. I want to do everything for them because
I feel like I can do it better. However, we have to let our children mature and
be responsible and even be accountable for the things that they do and the
things that they want. Especially in this industry. Children have to be
professionals. I don’t care how old they are, they have to know what they want,
they have to go after it and they have to learn how to act as professional as
their adult counterparts if that makes sense.”
 |
| Q&A with Pro Talent Manager Kazembe Ajamu & actor Kamil McFadden |
Thompson expressed
his enthusiasm saying “I’m so thrilled that we have engaged so many talented
performers at our various events across the country. We’ve found some great
comedians during our search and I couldn’t wait to share in their excitement of
performing in New York City for the very first time.” Thompson is in his 15th
season on “Saturday Night Live,” making him the show’s longest running cast
member.
©
2018 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
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DID Hear It From Me!)
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