The biggest surprise is the appearance of the knitwear fashionista Ella Emhoff, which is a nice gag for those who get it. Given that Biden has spent so much less time on camera than Trump did, maybe it’s fitting that Moffat has yet to find his hook. Short’s handsy Emhoff is more a chance to bring back a bit of Maya & Marty than anything else, and that’s excuse enough. The sketch is crammed with headlines and impressions, and there’s a lot of stage management here. Joe Biden (Alex Moffat) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Cecily Strong) show, too. The extreme Boomer gloating makes for fun rhymes all around, but the sketch neglects to touch on the fact that there’s a large contingent of this population that are simply unwilling to take any vaccine.Īfter a tough year, Kamala Harris (Rudolph) and her husband, Doug Emhoff (Martin Short), gather friends and foes for a “Unity Seder.” Ted Cruz (Aidy Bryant) brings Israeli flag cupcakes, Rafael Warnock (Kenan Thompson) brings Manischewitz, and Ella Emhoff (Chloe Fineman) brings her runway strut. While punchlines should take priority, of course, Chris Redd deserves attention for making his flow as sharp as the jokes. Complete with its “Mo Money Mo Problems” light tunnel (and direct reference to Biggie’s “Mo Money” verse), this bouncy throwback features a lot of nice little digs and a fair number of grandmas flipping off their grandkids. In this prerecorded ’90s-style rap video, a horde of baby boomers celebrate their access to the vaccines - and remind the unwashed, unvaccinated masses that they’ve been running the world since 1945. There are some playful exaggerations of ideas that might be helpful for Asian-Americans grappling with this moment, but Yang confesses he’d rather not be doing the piece at all and simply encourages all concerned Americans to “do more.” It’s not often that SNL sidesteps funny for a simple, political message, but this is a worthy reason to do it. At the end of Update, Bowen Yang comes on as himself to talk about the rise in anti-Asian violence in the U.S., exemplified by the recent Atlanta shootings. The best bit is a clever reconsideration of the Muppets, after Black Muppets showed up on Sesame Street to teach lessons about race. Several of the disparate jokes in the second half of Update feel a little easy - a gag about Subway’s food and the sale of Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion, for instance. It’s all perfectly exemplified by one dubious look: Strong’s eyebrow cocked, her chin pulled into her neck and a strange smirk smeared across her face. Strong’s characterizations, accent, and delivery are all on point, as she tries to convince Che that she’s insane enough not to be taken seriously. (“So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some white women to whistle at.”) The entire first half of Update builds some good momentum, up to and including an appearance from Cecily Strong as conspiracy theorist lawyer Sidney Powell. Che also hits with gags about relics of the Jim Crow era and Virginia becoming the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. While Colin Jost’s call for “current checks” on gun owners and point about “well-regulated” militias feel smart, the audience doesn’t really give it up until a denture joke from Michael Che. Day does well with Evans’ cadence, and the SNL writers get credit for nailing the tone of the original series. Some of the best lines, e.g., “Beyoncé’s head is wet,” are throwaways between the big hits. From the dead-eyed stares to the muted pleading with her wig manager (Kenan Thompson), it’s a masterclass in controlled demolition. While the breakdown isn’t far off from what the show usually sees, watching Rudolph’s measured, high-status Beyoncé lose it is wonderful. What starts with more than a little boasting from Bey ends with a meltdown that forces the Queen’s publicist and agent to shut the production down altogether. This episode of the wing-eating web series features Beyoncé (Rudolph) sweating her wig off during her interview with host Sean Evans (Mikey Day).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |