The White House Correspondents’ dinner is making a move back to comedy after announcing that this year’s ceremony will be hosted by “Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson.

The annual black tie event, which brings together journalists and administration officials, is well known for its comedic grilling of US officials and is set to be held on April 25.

Having veered away from its long held tradition of a comedic host last year amidst criticism of Michelle Wolf’s controversial set, the association is returning to its roots with the announcement of Thompson as host alongside entertainment from Hasan Minhaj.

“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America. I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy,” White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl said in a statement Tuesday.

“We’re looking forward to a lively evening honouring the most important political journalism of the past year,” Karl said.

The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live First presidential debate Before Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump, there was Will Ferrell’s George W Bush. Ferrell’s brashness as the then-presidential candidate, as well as Darrell Hammond’s uncanny portrayal of Gore, are comedy gold. What’s truly amazing, though, is that this skit seems to imply that Bush is too stupid to win the presidency – which he of course did, a month to the day after the sketch aired. Sounds familiar, right? The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton address the nation Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin made history for a reason – it was perfect in every way and could only be magnified by the addition of Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton . Under the guise of presenting a nonpartisan message about the 2008 presidential campaign (the skit aired on 13 September, 2008, two months before Barack Obama’s victory), Palin, who was John McCain’s running mate, tries to pitch herself as the perfect candidate for the presidency. Poehler’s Clinton, in turn, exclaims: “Noooo mine!” The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live The wolverines SNL’s first skit was also one of its best. In this inaugural sketch, which aired on 11 October, 1975, John Belushi teams up with his fellow original cast member Michael O’Donoghue to play a foreign man trying to learn English, only for his tutor to display an unsettling fixation on wolverines. Both apparently drop dead before a denim-clad Chevy Chase steps in to deliver the now-iconic line: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” Absurd, goofy and slightly odd, this sequence set the tone of the sketch show for decades to come. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Joint session In March 1991, George H W Bush addressed Congress on the end of the Gulf War, prompting several bouts of rapturous applause in the process. That moment, naturally, was spoofed on SNL that same month with Dana Carvey as a self-congratulatory president and Michael J Fox as his confused vice-president Dan Quayle, who struggles to clap at the right times. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Steve Martin does a musical Before Alec Baldwin took the record for most appearances as SNL host, Steve Martin held the honour despite never being a regular cast member. As you can see in this cold open, he just wasn’t that bothered about joining full-time. The skit opens in his dressing room where he becomes nostalgic over his old King Tut costume. From there, he bursts into a Broadway-style performance reminisces about the good old days. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live The Bush twins While Will Forte did an admirable impression of President George W Bush, it was Tina Fey and Amy Poehler who stole the show as the Bush twins, who communicate in a secret language by adding the letter “b” to everything. “B-what b-about the b-weapons b-of b-mass b-destruction?!” The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Donald Trump, president-elect press conference He may have hated acting out Donald Trump's creepy, bizarre mannerism, but Alec Baldwin's portrayal of 45 won him an Emmy and plenty of acclaim. For good reason: Baldwin's version of Trump is so good it's actually rather unpleasant to watch. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Sean Spicer press conference Melissa McCarthy was a better Sean Spicer than Sean Spicer ever was. From the giant stick of gum to the low mutter of “oh boy” before trying to read out the name of the leader from “central Asia”, she mastered every single tick the former White House Communications Director had. Arguably the best moment is “Spicer” raging at New York Times reporter, Glen. Trying to flog some of Ivanka Trump’s jewellery comes a close second. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Democratic debate Before he drew acclaim for his portrayal of a pouting, tantrum-throwing Trump, Alec Baldwin nailed his impression of former US senator Jim Webb. He’s not the highlight of this cold open, though. That honour goes to Larry David as Bernie Sanders, who is uncanny in his likeness of the presidential candidate. The 10 best cold opens on Saturday Night Live Ford on the phone Chevy Chase’s turn as a fumbling Gerald Ford made such an impact that the real president joined a subsequent episode of SNL on 17 April, 1976. In this 8 November, 1975 skit, Chase’s Ford, while attempting to address the nation and comment on Ronald Reagan’s announcement that he would run for president, presses a full glass of water against his ear instead of his phone handset, struggles to transfer a call, mishandles charts, and takes a momentous tumble over his own desk. Delightful.

Thompson began his career as a member of Nickelodeon’s sketch series All That but is also well known for his leading role in the teenage sitcom Kenan and Kel.

However, Thompson is now recognised as a series regular on Saturday Night Live, having performed in 17 seasons of the late night comedy show.

Minhaj, who currently hosts Netflix’s Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, has previously served as the entertainer for the dinner in 2017 while working as a comedy correspondent on The Daily Show.

In 2018 comedian Michelle Wolf’s ‘brutal’ routine caused several audience members to walk out after ripping into senior White House staff.

As a result, last year’s dinner featured renowned Pulitzer Prize winning author Ron Chernow, marking the end of years of tradition of having a stand-up comedian host the event.

It is unclear yet if President Donald Trump will opt to skip the dinner for the third year running, having chosen to boycott the event since he took office in favour of hosting a campaign rally and having last year ordered administration officials not to attend.