The Emmy winner makes her SNL debut.
Hello there - welcome back!
How could they not?
Lil Yachty, Quinta Brunson, and Sarah Sherman.NBC
Tonight’s host isQuinta Brunson, the extremely talented star, creator, and writer behindAbbott Elementary.
“It’s nice to do a character that has an arc.
When you’re doing sketch, you do it for that one moment.
Host Quinta Brunson delivers her ‘Saturday Night Live’ monologue.Will Heath/NBC via Getty
Characters don’t really have arcs in a sketch,” she replied.
“In sitcoms they do!
Whereas you might gradually reveal a character over a sitcom likeSchitt’s CreekorShelved.
In sketch, you have to do it in five minutes, which is challenging.
To keep it grounded and real, but also make it hilarious.”
Actually, that last sentence could also be said aboutAbbott Elementary’s appeal.
Cold Open
They couldn’t resist this: “It’s me.
I’m the problem, it’s me,” says James Austin Johnson’s Trump, quotingTaylor Swift.
A bunch of easy jokes about the former President’s recent indictment.
At first, Trump suggests he will go away now, quietly to prison.
Just kidding, it is April Fool’s Day!
He’s pulling a Jim fromThe Office.
(Here’s some trivia you probably didn’t need: tonight’s episode is the April 1st show.
Who hosted the April 1st show back in 1989?
JAJ is so sharp as Trump, yet they have him singing so-so parodies of “Ironic”.
Duke said to me: “The writing is really good this year, and different…
I like when things are [different], you get a variety.”
Indeed, there’s some moments here.
It goes way beyond the Baldwin years!
It is fun to seeKenan Thompson’s Don King next to JAJ’s Trump.
Very specific reference.Mikey Daysinging “This Boy’s A Liar” strange energy indeed folks.
Monologue
Brunson is so excited to be here.
The audience is hanging on her every word, they love it.
She shares a videoBarack Obamamade for her mom.
This was cute and straightforward.
Nothing wrong with that.
The bathroom attendant, Marcello Hernandez, approaches them with an offer.
Brunson leaves a stall, with her own pitch.
Good use of the new cast with Kenan.
Whereas the veterans have.
I mean, Kenan!
He’s so easy in front of the camera and loose.
Just being his funny stuff, that’s hard to do.
It takes a while to get that comfortable."
“Couple Goals”
Host James Austin Johnson introduces married couples answering questions about one another.
As we have seen before, the responses are revealing and embarrassing.
Slowly but surely, a newer angle emerges.
(His parents saw a similar fate.)
A dark premise, and they mostly execute it, I think.
A strong Kenan episode so far!
Using exaggerated signs and body language, the two characters antagonize one another.
I like the camera angles and creativity here.
And the comedy escalates!
Another good one - watch it!
It’s less “SoundCloud rap” than autotuned psychedelica crossed with Pink Floyd.
“Weekend Update”
Colin JostandMichael Chetackle the Trump indictment.
The Jost jokes flop hard it turns out Che has told the audience to not laugh.
“The world’s greatest sculpture and a very pretty boy!”
AKA David (Longfellow).
This is the second time tonight that Longfellow has been engulfed in paint - pretty clever.
David complains how uptight Americans are - in Italy, their version ofSNLcan show penetration.
“Our Matt Foley lived in a man down by the river,” he quips.
Short King Spring is here!
Marcello Hernandez, a self-described “petit prince”, comes on to discuss.
He comes from a proud lineage: Minions, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Beethoven!
Meanwhile, Slender Man and Bin Laden both tall!
He leaves with words of encouragement and a startling revelation: Jost himself is a short king.
(He’s standing at the Update desk, not sitting!
“Midwife”
Mrs. Murphy (Heidi Gardner) is giving birth.
Her contractions are thirsty seconds apart and she’s crowning.
Dr. Rogers (Brunson) is her obstetrician.
Mrs. Murphy’s midwife is Barry (Bowen Yang).
Three years later, the same situation happens.
Barry pretends to not remember Dr. Rogers.
We flash back to the BBQ inquisition - then back to Mrs. Murphy’s second child being born.
Lots of wig changes for Yang.
The rest of the song is a letdown.
But it’s not a recipe.
Complete with an impression of a sex computer.
Brunson joins the show - together with Daniels they are known as the Penis Brothers.
They launch into a musical performance involving, um, Janet.
(Note who they cast in this sketch… and who they don’t.
Feels deliberate given the lines they approach here.
The boys venture to show their fluency with the “real” New York and embarrass themselves.
Final thoughts
“What did you think of the Quinta Brunson SNL?”
/
Thank you to Robin Duke!
What did you think?
I thought it was really fun!
But don’t let me skew things:vote hereor weigh in below.
In case you missed, I recently covered the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for Adam Sandler.
