Kevin Nealon’s Five Funniest TV & Film Roles
By Ben Youngerman, ArtsQuest Marketing Manager
Since debuting on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as a standup in 1984, comedian and actor Kevin Nealon has been a versatile and hilarious part of many of your favorite TV shows and movies.
In honor of Kevin Nealon’s standup show in the Musikfest Cafe presented by Yuengling on May 7, here are five of the comic’s funniest roles over the past three decades…
Pumping up with Hans & Franz on Saturday Night Live
The late-80s and early-90s on SNL were packed with iconic characters, including the iron-pumping tandem of Hans & Franz! With fellow cast member Dana Carvey, this was one of Kevin Nealon’s first big roles on the iconic show. Brought back in 2014 for a series of insurance commercials with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Hans & Franz are still pumping you up almost 30 years later.
Doug Wilson from Weeds
Appearing on all 8 seasons of the Showtime series Weeds, Nealon played Doug Wilson who was arguably the show’s funniest character. Riding the ups and downs of Nancy’s pot dealer career, Doug Wilson gave us classic moments like this banjo montage.
Weekend Update Anchor on Saturday Night Live
“I’m Kevin Nealon, and that’s news to me.”
For three seasons between 1991-1994, Kevin Nealon was the anchor of SNL‘s longest-running sketch Weekend Update. Nealon skewered the news and acted as the straight man for legendary character bits such as Adam Sandler’s “Operaman” and Chris Farley’s “Bennett Brauer” (watch below).
Being Humiliated in Adam Sandler Movies
If you’ve seen any of Adam Sandler’s many movies. You’ve seen Kevin Nealon. He’s had roles in Happy Gilmore, Anger Management, Eight Crazy Nights, Little Nicky, and more. Although, as Nealon explains to Conan O’Brien, it seems like Sandler is always trying to embarrass him on camera…
Mr. Subliminal on Saturday Night Live
Perhaps (definitely) Kevin Nealon’s best SNL character is Mr. Subliminal (hilarious). The character made many (not enough) appearances in sketches and Weekend Update segments throughout the late-80s (gnarly) and early-90s (phat).
Harness the good energy. Block out the bad. Get tickets to see Kevin Nealon at SteelStacks.
