On January 25th, Timotheé Chalamet was the host and musical guest star on Saturday Night Live. He did an amazing job at both being funny and singing the blues. Even though I am not the biggest Bob Dylan fan and haven’t seen A Complete Unknown, his performances were really good. Maybe Lil Timmy Tim is making a comeback? Anyway, the skits he did on SNL were really weird and fun. I enjoyed them all, some more than others; so, here is my personal ranking of all the skits he performed that night.
6. Dog Run
Out of the six skits he was in, “Dog Run” takes the last place. In this four-minute comedy sketch, Timotheé, along with multiple SNL cast members, act as dogs. They interact with each other dressed as dogs at a dog park. I did let out a chuckle or two during this sketch, but it wasn’t the best piece of the night. I liked seeing them act as dogs, especially when Kenan Thompson pretended to eat grass, spit it out, look at it, say “Where did this come from? Might be food. Better eat it,” and repeat those actions four times. The cherry on top was Timotheé saying, “That dog dumb as hell.” That whole scene was hilarious, but besides that, nothing else was that amusing.
5. AI Software
Fifth place goes to “AI Software.” This sketch was silly, and I enjoyed watching it, but it didn’t make me laugh as much as the others. In this skit, Timotheé and Bowen Yang portray AI bots in a video podcast to help students learn. The joke of the skit is that the AI software is not perfect, and the bots keep glitching and using random slang that doesn’t make sense. For example, Timotheé and Bowen use the term “bae” to refer to each other. They also try to appeal to the young students by talking about things you would talk about with your friends, such as when Timotheé asked Bowen if he hooked up with a “Trish.” The education aspect of the podcast begins to turn into a personal conversation between both characters. Then, they show their hands, and we can see that they have six fingers. Honestly, that was my favorite scene because it caught me so off guard. I laughed at that, and I laughed even more when the teacher changed the AI bots into different characters. They both turned into “Trish” (still being played by Timotheé and Bowen). I liked the concept of this skit, but I wish it had been funnier.
4. Grandma’s Birthday
Trying to rank these last four skits is hard, but I have to give “Grandma’s Birthday” fourth place. Just like the title, the SNL cast members are celebrating grandma’s birthday, portrayed by Sarah Sherman. One of the granddaughters arrives with her doctor boyfriend (Timotheé) just as grandma has a heart attack. Timotheé shouts at everyone to get back so he can perform CPR. It takes a turn when he squats right on top of her face and farts her back to life. Yes, literally lets out a huge amount of gas onto her face. To everyone’s surprise, it works. Grandma comes back to life, and everyone’s facial expressions are priceless. Some people thought this skit wasn’t funny because fart jokes are childish. I think it was perfect, and a fart joke here and there won’t hurt anyone. What made this skit great was that it was so out of pocket and unexpected. The monologue afterward made it even more comedic, and Sarah Sharman saying “No, because your twink boyfriend sat on my face and farted me back to life” was gold. The writers did a great job with this one, and all the cast members’ delivery of their lines was perfect.
3. God
I am not sure if this next one actually counts as a skit, but I’m going to add it anyway. Third place goes to the SNL animated short called “God.” I had no idea SNL made animated shorts, but I hope they start doing them more often. In this video, the angels are trying to help God, voiced by Timotheé, create the world. God is kind of portrayed in a quirky way. For starters, he erases what the angels were working on to show them a “mountain that explodes’ (a volcano). He also uses slang, like “sick.” The short continues to have moments like those and are all so funny. My favorite part was how God wanted the planets to orbit a creature with a sun in its mouth. I laughed at the creature’s name (Gooby). Thankfully, the angels convinced him to just have the sun by itself. Aside from the humor, the animation is amazing. It is such good quality, and the animators are so talented. A reason I enjoyed this short is due to the fact that it’s different. I’ve never seen SNL animation, so I am glad it held up to my standards. My only complaint is that it was too short! Two minutes is not enough for this comedic masterpiece.
2. New Barista Training
The second-place spot goes to the “New Barista Training” skit. Mikey Day and Heidi Garner are training new baristas, and they go around asking them for coffee puns. Devon Walker’s character does a good job, while Ashley Padilla’s puns do not amuse Mikey and Heidi. Then, there’s Timotheé. I do not even know how to explain it, but he just starts yapping about “his lady.” The way he talks is so funny, and it is even more humorous seeing everyone’s face. He literally keeps doing that, even though he is not making any coffee puns at all. My favorite part is when he gets up and shouts, “You ever get ready to go to Cheesecake Factory with your lady, and she goes ‘I don’t wanna eat too much. I don’t wanna get big’? Girl, too late! Big Benny says what?!” Then, he breaks into a little dance. That whole scene is engraved in my brain, and I quote it randomly throughout the day. There is a lot to unpack in this five-minute skit, so I recommend watching it!
1. Bungee
First place goes to the “Bungee” skit! In this sketch, multiple SNL cast members are taking a bungee exercise lesson with Timotheé as their trainer. Immediately, we are greeted by Timotheé in a long wig. He is Nathaniel Latrine, the Bungee Queen. The skit was so weird and out of pocket. For instance, when Timotheé says to do the “Jimmy Carter,” the trainees all go limp. It was so random, and Timotheé played his character so well. I swear he was feeling himself too much in that wig. The funny aspect of the skit is that they pretend they are completing such a hard workout. Heidi Garner’s character brings her boyfriend, played by Michael Longfellow, to the workout, and his commentary is so funny. He is the only one who notices that it is not really exercise. One of the best parts was when they ate cake because it was someone’s birthday. They end up burning -1128 calories and have to work it off. The skit just seemed like so much fun, and I was cracking up at every second.
Timotheé Chalamet’s humor is so underrated. I genuinely enjoy watching anything he is in, and I hope he pursues some funny roles in the future!