Since breaking into the mainstream last year for his scorched earth set on “The Roast of Tom Brady” and a top-notch comedy special “Someday You'll Die” Nikki Glaser has become a star in the world of stand-up comedy. But did that success translate to her first time hosting “Saturday Night Live”?
It's no surprise that Glaser did well, given that his best qualifications for the job are that he makes a very good living telling jokes and that he has no qualms about pushing the boundaries of taste in his comedy. That fits well with the current incarnation of “SNL,” which tends to have at least one gross-out scatological sketch per episode and plenty of “Weekend Update” segments and jokes that land in the “dirty enough” or “way over the line” camp.
Aside from his risqué monologue, Glaser's sensibility focused on sketches, including one about family members performing karaoke that seems too intimate among them, a commercial about grown men obsessed with life size american dollsand a stranger musical number about a mechanical bull who leaves with Glaser and Sarah Sherman. These, along with a funny ad for a Jennifer Hudson spirit tunnel drug and one about characters in a children's book, were pieces that aligned well with what Glaser does and that she played exceptionally well.
A sketch about a stationary plane and a chatty pilot (James Austin Johnson) was good, but only because of Johnson's perfect impression of the flight intercom chatter.
“Less successful were the half-baked mashups,”Beauty and Mr. Beast,” about the popular YouTuber, and a sorority sketch featuring Mikey Day as a male interloper wearing a bad facial costume.
Glaser's long monologue may not have fit as perfectly as it should have, but his sketch performances were spot on.
Musical guest Sombr performed “12 a 12” and “Return to Friends.” There was also a sweet and funny animated short, “Brad and His Dad,” about a divorced father trying to connect with his video game-obsessed 11-year-old son.
In this week's cold open, President Trump (James Austin Johnson) commented on the strange incident at the White House where a pharmaceutical representative (Jeremy Culhane) collapsed in the Oval Office while Trump was caught on camera looking away. As Trump said in the sketch: “Someone is dying in my office, I stand there and watch them like a sociopath.” “Every week I try to create an image,” he said, that represents what's happening in the country, such as the demolition of the White House last week. Trump walked over the fallen man to deliver a monologue about the week's events, beginning with the New York City mayoral election and concluding with SNAP benefit cuts and rising food prices. He offered that flight cancellations caused by the government shutdown will help keep families apart for Thanksgiving. “Killing two birds with one bird. Can't afford to eat? Have some cheap Ozempic,” he said. The next step: steal Christmas. “We're doing Grinch!” Trump said.
Like many comic “SNL” monologues, Glaser’s was a microdose of his comedy act. As such, it was filled with jokes about race, politics, sexual acts, and, for an awkward stretch, the idea that someone (not Glaser, but maybe!) might suddenly realize he's a pedophile. Glaser began by calling New York City “the original Epstein Island” before discussing white women as cultural appropriators through spray tanning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (“I'm not a health expert, but neither is he”), dating a short man with anger issues, and public-service announcements in public bathrooms about human trafficking. When he was 20, Glaser joked, the only fear he had was “good old-fashioned rape.” The barrage of jokes was exactly what you'd expect from Glaser, but some of the jokes didn't seem to land as well on the “SNL” set as they normally would at roasts or in his own comedy specials.
The best sketch of the night: when rejecting the invitation to Jennifer Hudson's spiritual tunnel is the only option
The signature part of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” in which guests dance down a hallway while staff applaud and cheer them on, has become so important that celebrities like Glaser, playing herself in this commercial, have great anxiety about her dancing. Glaser, a self-described “uncoordinated white woman,” claims her dance moves are so bad they could end her career. “I even tried to get my ass into it, but I don't have any,” he laments. But fortunately there is a drug, hudsacillin, that makes the celebrity in question so sick that he has to cancel his appearance. “What is the alternative?” The ad asks: “relax and have fun?”
Also good: Maybe this driver shouldn't be texting, even on the track.
With all the flight delays and cancellations, this topical sketch was about a couple (Sherman and Andrew Dismukes) sitting on an airport tarmac waiting for their flight to take off while their pilot (Johnson) announces delays and also shares updates about a woman he texts who he met on a dating app. What really sells the piece is Johnson's dedication as a pilot, but also the fun interactions he has with the co-pilot (Kam Patterson), Glaser as the disgruntled flight attendant, and a group of passengers who argue non-verbally about whether to get involved or not (Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang).
'Weekend Update' Winner: A Way to Visit Staten Island Without Going to Staten Island
As the only guest segment on this week’s “Weekend Update,” Pete Davidson’s check-in on the Staten Island Ferry bought a few years ago with Colin Jost wins by default. Davidson referenced a New York Times article. about problems with your businessbut he said, “I can't spend $5 on a paywall when I have a kid on the way.” He promised to give parents “all the enthusiasm I ever had for this program.” Davidson revealed that the new plan for the ferry is to turn it into a city on the water, New Staten Island, with all the things that make Staten Island great: pizza (turns out it's just one thing). Davidson couldn't resist criticizing his former boss after saying he won't give up on the ferry. “If Lorne Michaels has taught us anything it's to never give up, even if everyone says the time has come and Tina Fey is ready to take control.”
