DATE: Friday, July 25, 1997                 TAG: 9707250075

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

``BURGER'' BOYS ARE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO OF OUR DAY

THEY ARE THE KINGS of kid comedy.

Autograph hunters pursue them with a fervor reminiscent of Beatle-mania. Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell are stars of not just one, but two of the most highly rated shows on Nickelodeon: their own ``Kenan and Kel'' situation comedy and the comedy-sketch show ``All That.'' Now they have their own big-screen movie, ``Good Burger,'' a buddy comedy opening in theaters today that is so dumb-dumb it's meant to be supremely cool.

And here they sit, in person - laughing and joshing about the whole thing.

``Hey, they know already that we're 19, so no need to write that,'' said Kenan, the chubby one, and the quieter, more subtle one. ``At least, I'm 19. Kel is 18, but we're playing age 14. Actually, we're playing guys who are 14 but are actually 10.''

They are, in fact, playing Dexter and Ed, fast food clerks at Good Burger, a little burger stand that faces major competition from Mondo Burger, the corporate monster that has moved in across the street. It's the little guy vs. the big guy. It's David vs. Goliath. It's Abbott and Costello (with Kenan as Abbott and Kel as Costello) or Martin and Lewis (with Kenan as Dean and Kel as Jerry). But, more uniquely, it's Kenan and Kel, the self-described comedy team for the kid and teen generation.

The duo has millions of noisy fans who have cut into Kenan and Kel's mall time. Kenan vividly remembers the time a bosomy fan asked him to sign her cleavage. ``I'm kinda shy,'' he admitted. ``I think I signed her shoulder blade or something.''

Both admit that their comedy skits are pretty off the wall ``but we know the responsibility. I know kids look up to us - little kids,'' Kenan said.

``Can you imagine if we picked up a gun, or something like that?'' Kel chimed. ``That wouldn't be the thing to do. We can still be cool. We can still be funny without doing things like that.''

The more experienced of the two is Kenan. The Atlanta native was in 1994's ``Heavyweights,'' as well as one of the chubbier players in both ``Mighty Duck'' movies. Three years ago, at age 16, he got the job on ``All That,'' a kind of ``Saturday Night Live'' for kids on Nickelodeon.

Kel, who is from Chicago, had never had a show business job before. He was one of more than 100 kids who showed up to audition for ``All That'' back when he was 15.

``I was late,'' he recalled. ``I'd had two tests that day and may have flunked them both. It was a bad day. I got up there and I forgot the whole monologue I was going to do. They asked me to come back. For some reason they laughed at me. The next thing I knew I was on the way to Orlando, Fla., and in the show.''

Kenan remembers that ``the first time we really hit it off was when we played these two old men, Mavis and Clavis. They can't hear. They can't see. They're pretty funny. We were on the same wave.''

Kenan is the straight man. He's manipulative and something of a con artist. Kel is always guileless and getting into trouble. That's the way they play it. ``But we can switch,'' Kenan contends. ``Sometimes we switch the roles.''

Thompson and Mitchell's popularity quickly blossomed. ``Good Burger,'' a skit from ``All That,'' became the basis for the movie script.

Brian Robbins, who directs both the TV shows and the movie, said: ``They aren't Hollywood guys. They grew up in Atlanta and Chicago, and they both were sent to church. They're disciplined performers. They know it's important to be on time, to know the lines and all that, but they still have fun.''

Kel, who resorts to drag for one scene in ``Good Burger,'' said: ``It isn't the first time. I once played Yo' Girl, a girl who lived in a yogurt jar. I also did an impersonation of Oprah.''

Sitting together with them, there, indeed, seems to be no competition. They don't upstage each other. They leave the dumb and silly stuff behind, even though they can still kid around. ``No, we're not really as dumb as Ed and Dexter,'' Kenan said. ``They're characters. We're Kenan and Kel.''

Their mothers travel with them. ``Kenan's mom is the real bulldog,'' Kel says. ``My mom just goos and says, `That's my baby up there.' ''

When not working, they hang out together.

``Kel used to stay over at my house,'' Kenan said. ``We'd go to shows and critique movies.''

Kel wants a music career outside Nickelodeon. He was a guest rapper for teen group Immature on their song ``Do My Thing.'' Kenan directed ``We're All Dudes,'' the music video for ``Good Burger'' and plans to take film courses at UCLA. Before that, they both have to deal with immediate stardom. Already, there's talk of a ``Good Burger'' sequel - set in a haunted house. MEMO: "Good Burger" review/E10 ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Nickelodeon stars Kel, left, and Kenan, move to the big screen with

"Good Burger."

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