Someone’s not impressed.
I might not be the most conventional school assembly speaker, but I’m sure even this teacher would agree I’m better than this:
And please give Kenan Thompson a million awards for being so consistently funny in every SNL sketch.
There were two moments that really stood out from this week’s Saturday Night Live. The show got surprisingly sweet. They were able to embrace the warmth and beauty of Christmas without losing laughs.
I think that’s a pretty common fear: you can’t be earnest and still be funny. You’ll sacrifice the jokes if you try to say something meaningful. And that’s not what people want from a comedy show!
But that' doesn’t have to be true! You can laugh at your cake and cry while eating it too.
Obviously I think the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction and you CAN get so wrapped up in making something important that you forget to also make it funny. But this week’s SNL found the perfect mix. It’s not too much. Just two small moments: Matt Damon’s monologue and the end of the Best Christmas digital short.
I don’t really like the holiday. Last year I wrote about how it sucks. For some reason a ton of people all over the country have been finding that post in the last few weeks. I don’t know how. I don’t know why.
This morning I texted some people why I’m thankful for them in my life. I also tweeted, completely unironically, that I am thankful for Gritty, the new mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers. If you don’t follow him on instagram you’re robbing yourself of a silly amount of joy.
But now the day is done. The song from the SNL skit above is still stuck in my head. Thanksgiving is over.
It’s time to emotionally prepare myself for the beauty of Christmas, the one good holiday.
Yesterday I listened to an interview with Kenan Thompson and his long time writing partner at SNL, Bryan Tucker about how they create characters together.
Throughout the interview they played clips from Kenan’s sketches on SNL and I found myself constantly looking like a fool for laughing out loud at Wal-Mart.
Side note: One time I had to leave a Planet Fitness because Grown Ups 2 was playing on one of the tvs and I scream-laughed at some dumb joke. Everyone stared at me and so I had to run away.
When I finished the interview I started watching a ton of old SNL videos and it reminded me how good Kenan Thompson is. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being one of the most solid and reliable performers on SNL. Bryan Tucker thinks so too. He wrote a LOVELY tribute to Kenan on Slate that opens like this:
I feel like this sketch captures that perfectly.