Kenan Thompson Opens Up About Family and Fatherhood: 'It Feels Like Christmas All the Time'

Longtime comedian Kenan Thompson tells PEOPLE his 4½-year-old daughter Georgia Marie is the one bringing the funny at home

By
Emily Strohm
Emily Strohm
Emily Strohm is a Senior Editor at PEOPLE. She has been at PEOPLE for 11 years and has written nearly 40 cover stories for the magazine.
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Published on May 14, 2018 10:00AM EDT

As Saturday Night Live‘s longest-running cast member with a hilarious start on Nickelodeon’s ’90s sketch comedy series All That and a starring role in its spin-off Kenan & Kel, Kenan Thompson is known for making people laugh.

But at home, the comedian says his 4½-year-old daughter Georgia Marie — whom he welcomed in 2014 with his wife, model Christina Evangeline — is the one bringing the funny.

“She makes us laugh, really,” he says in the latest issue of PEOPLE. “She’s the funny one. I try to make them laugh but I think they’ve heard enough from me, just from watching the show.”

“Kids are hilarious,” adds Thompson, who just celebrated his 40th birthday. “They say the darnedest things, but that’s just because they don’t really know what they’re saying, and that just makes much more funniness happen.”

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Kenan Thompson Celebrates His Daughter's Birthday At Walt Disney World
Kenan Thompson and daughter Georgia. Chloe Rice/Getty

Kenan Thompson and daughter Georgia

Kenan Thompson-People
Joao Canziani

Kenan Thompson

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Since becoming a dad, the actor says that watching his daughter grow up has been his greatest joy.

“Watching her progress, I remember my buddy sent her a bicycle, and I thought it was way too early,” says Thompson. “Now she’s just whipping around on that bike like it’s nothing and I’m like, ‘I remember when you didn’t understand what pedaling was.’ ”

He adds, “Now it’s just like, ‘Dad, can I ride my bike?’ I’m like, ‘Of course you can, you blessed child. Of course.’ You just sit there and watch your magic living its life and it’s unbelievable. Home life is a beautiful thing.”

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As for expanding their family in the near future, Thompson is all for it.

“I wanted a full basketball team, but I think we’re good with maybe two,” he jokes. “It’s just the sweet thing. It’s like Christmas all the time.”

For more from Kenan Thompson, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.