Josh Kingsley

With the combine in full force over the weekend, as is the rest of the Chiefs offseason. Teams like the Packers, Jets, and Ravens are hard at work creating ample drama for the NFL. GM Brett Veach is doing his thing in prep for the draft. As of this moment we may or may not have either starting OT position open. Frank Clark has played his last snap for K.C., ending an era of playoff edge rushing dominance. Word on the streets is our defensive backfield may look different soon as well. The NFL draft is in less than two months and it’s in KC. There is plenty to cover.

I will get to some or all of this in the near future. For now I have more pressing matters.

Travis Kelce: Budding Celebrity

Travis’ brand took a major step forward last weekend when he joined the likes of Peyton Manning, Charles Barkley, LeBron James, and Eli Manning hosting Saturday Night Live. SNL is an institution similar to McDonald’s. Haters abound, the popularity of SNL doesn’t make sense to many, and the success is sometimes puzzling. However, they are extremely successful, are never going away, and everyone has consumed at least some of it at some point. If you’ve gone away, you’ll all be back at some point too.

This was a huge move for Travis Kelce. His party boy appearance is 100% authentic. Hosting SNL proved to me, and most likely producers as well as GMs everywhere, that his professional approach to football is not only authentic, but repeatable. Getting up to speed in a short period of developing the monologue and learning lines is a tall task for actors that live the life. That accomplishment for a pro athlete is even more impressive.

Full Episode Review

I missed the live version, and cannot remember the last time I dedicated a Saturday night to watching TV. This is when the Peacock subscription pays off. SNL episodes there are a tight 70ish minutes. It was a nice, and quite modern, way to watch the show. I am a huge fan of live music, sports, theater production, etc. Seeing SNL in person looks like a fun experience. It also looks like a longer commitment that most think. Getting into a studio for a shot that takes two hours to air takes effort. I am totally open to it, but also interested in the fast track if not physically there. This was great and easy to focus up and take in. That all said, here is my comprehensive review of Kelce’s performance.

Quick note: he was not in the cold open sequence, but Keenan Thompson (the Kelce of the SNL cast) popped in as OJ Simpson. Man, I love the bottomless pit of content SNL keeps taking on that guy. They can go to that well until the end of time.

Opening Monologue

The opening monologue does two things: set the tone for the show, and separate the stars from the field. This sequence is the most boiler plate portion of the show. The host is in the spotlight without a safety net. Hollywood A-listers bomb this often. I have not been on SNL, but I have done some on camera work. (For the record I have a face for radio and much prefer the spoken stuff.) Scenes like the open have many moving parts such as timing, marking, and the writing side of production. Let me expand on the last part first. I expect no less than a team of four writers and Kelce assembled that monologue. Travis’ first task was doing the dance of contributing, but more listening, to ensure something came together in a voice he could actually deliver authentically. The toughest pitfall to avoid was writing it all himself.

.

.

After the writing came the memorization and coaching for timing and inflection. Finally, after all that he added the factors of a live audience, walking out the door on his cue, standing in the exact place, making proper eye contact with the camera, and then not messing up what he practiced. Our dude NAILED it. His timing impeccable, his personality on display. I loved the self-deprecation, interaction with his family, Mahomes impression, and true focus. He still has work in the arena to remove his nervous tick of messing with his ring. However, my main indication of effectiveness was the band. They all hung on every word, chuckled the whole time, and outright laughed often. Travis truly gave it all he had.

.

American Girls Café

Kelce’s first skit featured him as a weird dude playing with his dolls. SNL always does a great job showcasing awkward situations and this was no different. The scene featured a café setting where parents take kids for lunch dates including their dolls. From what I can tell with 10 seconds of research this setting does not exist in real life, but it seems like it should be a thing. My daughter would have been all over that concept at 6-7 years old. Travis plays a guy in his 30s there with two dolls and no kids. He totally hams it up as the dedicated doll dad oblivious of how creepy he appears. Solid first skit.

.

.

.

Self Defense Class

The next Kelce skit was an SNL standard offering. They showcased Kelce as a caricature of himself with added absurdity. He played a self defense instructor with an eye on the soft side of self-confidence. Travis’ Kurt Lightning gently built confidence in his students, and then quickly beat it right back out of them. SNL piled the absurdity as they added an old lady playing Russian Roulette. I definitely laughed.

.

.

.

Miss Glenda Funeral

The absurd factor upped a touch in this skit as Kelce plays a funeral host. His character was Dylan, the nurse and lover of a recently deceased family matriarch. The skit followed as he continually revealed touches he made with the family’s deceased loved one. This included adding a talk box, displaying the body in a very casual way, and playing loud music. The scene ends with a dance party, the corpse shot to space, and a reveal that all the family money went into the stunts. No video readily available for this one.

.

.

.

Straight Male Friend

This was my favorite skit. SNL has a knack for creating nonsensically satirical commercials and this was a gem. The skit hilariously plays on the stereotypical differences between guys and gals with focus on how we all manage our personal relationships. Well worth the watch.

.

.

.

The Exes

Kansas City native, Heidi Gardner, did some heavy lifting on this episode. This was an instant classic. I have not been single in a long time, but I remember dynamics like this. The scene starts in a restaurant where Gardner sees her ex, Kelce, walk in. Gardner’s character assures her friend three years is long enough and she’s in a spot to talk with her ex. The conversation goes immediately to the water works as Gardner’s character makes it clear she is not over her ex, Kelce. Kelce’s character introduces his pregnant fiancé, and Gardner loses it. The comedy ups when Travis mentioned they went on one date. Gardner corrects saying three: dinner, movie walk. Travis reminds the walk was between dinner and the movie.

Then the moment of the night happened as Gardner introduces her new boyfriend, Jason Kelce. Travis took at turn with the tears. The dating landscape is a war zone!!

.

.

.

The Parent’s Skit

Our scene starts with parents bringing their three adult kids home to sit them down for a talk. The kids justifiably think the worst suggesting things like health issues. SNL absurdity quickly follows as the parents use a bad rock song as the platform to tell them they are on their way to becoming swingers. The main focus is on the mom fooling around with her new video game playing loser lover played by Kelce. The dad adds comedy of total compliance as the kids watch in horror of the ridiculousness. Again, no video, but plenty of laughs.

.

.

.

The Continued Fling

The show took another stab at the dating world. This scene once again pairs Gardner and Kelce as mostly off, but sometimes on, lovers. The extra layer is Gardner blowing off a first date with Garrett from Hinge, the app designed to delete, leaving him a “sucka at Buccacino’s” to meet up with Kelce. Things get even more awkward as the trio works through the situational singularity of them all. Again, no video, but this one had some nice laughs. Also some nice reminders of how wild things are out there in the digital app dating world.

.

.

.

The Couples Retreat

The last episode featured good old fashioned SNL nonsense. A group of couples embark on an affection free game show trip with a cash prize. The show was about as reasonable as most dating shows on TV today. Chloe Fineman and Travis play the couple that ruins everything in the most ridiculous way. It was a great night cap for the show.

.

.

.

Kelsea Ballerini

I have to start with a quick mention of musical guest, Kelsea Ballerini. She has an incredible voice and stage presence. I would love to see rock and gospel albums from her in the near future. She has the range to pull them off. A good old fashioned, classic country album would be cool too.

.

.

.

Conclusions

Travis Kelce is a star. His podcast with his brother Jason put him on the sport entertainment map, and this was his step into mainstream. Travis prepared for this like a pro. This was simply another playoff game for him and he shined as expected. His acting chops were quite solid as he embodied the characters as opposed to simply playing them. What really caught my attention was his full participation. Travis was in every skit but the cold open and the weekend news update. That’s impressive on a high level. Simply put, this was the best athlete performance since John Cena, who is an actor by definition.

Travis Kelce is building a brand and setting himself up nicely for a post football career. I am all about this. He does not appear overeager to move on from football, and I do not expect this to take anything away from his primary focus. –> . the Kansas City CHIEFS. One day, hopefully in a decade, Travis Kelce will be a lead in movies. Howie Long, Terry Crewes and Terry Bradshaw paved that way, but I expect Kelce to dwarf them all. He is simply on another level foundationally. Travis Kelce will land bigger, more impactful roles. I don’t consider leading a TV series out of the question either.

Real wild claim: he has award nomination potential in him. I’m here for all of it.

.

Final Bonus

The best skit the show filmed was actually not listed above. That’s because of time constraints — I guess — they had to cut it. It featured Jason Kelce and Creed Humphrey who joined Travis in this spot, which inexplicably did not make it. Enjoy it here!!

.

.

.

.

Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom

.