‘SNL’ host Dave Chappelle weighs in on LA fires, Palestine and Trump

At one time, comedian Dave Chappelle’s appearances as host on “Saturday Night Live” events to be celebrated were most memorable when he hosted the first “SNL” after Donald Trump’s election for the presidency in 2016.

In recent years, there has been greater reason to be wary, as comics’ jokes about transgender communities have tarnished his legacy and as he gets further and further away in years from his legendary sketch comedy series “Chappelle Show.” For this fourth appearance, there wasn’t much performance-wise to judge or criticize. The comedian did a long monologue (more on that below) and only appeared in three sketches, one of which included the brief return of Silky Johnson, his pimp character, which he originated on his eponymous Comedy Central show.

The appearance part of a parody of the online dating show “Pop the balloon or find love“, also featured musical guest GloRilla and frequent Chappelle collaborator Donnell Rawlings as his characters Beautiful and Ashy Larry.

Chappelle also appeared in another edition of “Immigrant Dad Talk” with Marcello Hernández, and a skit featuring the wildfires in Los Angeles, in which he plays a father who reveals secrets as his family prepares to evacuate. Another sketch, about a man (Devon Walker) describes her missing boyfriend to the policedidn’t have Chappelle at all.

There could be many reasons why the episode ended so lightly on sketches and characters for Chappelle, but the most likely culprit was the length of the monologue.

Musical guest GloRilla performed “Yes Glo!” and a medley that included “Wanna Be” and “Let Her Cook.” A title card after “Weekend Update” promoted SoCal Fire Foundation and one at the end of the show honored filmmaker David Lynch, who died this week.

The cold open featured an MSNBC panel led by Rachel Maddow (Sarah Sherman) covering questions surrounding Monday’s inauguration. As Ari Melber (Marcello Hernández) quoted rappers, including DMX, and “Woke Sheldon” Chris Hayes (Andrew Dismukes) continued to be confused for Maddow, coverage continued to be interrupted by news headlines about President-elect Trump, something Maddow promised would not happen in his new term. Some of the headlines included Trump offering to trade Connecticut for Italy, offering to fill the house from “Up” with water balloons to fight the LA fires and sending Donald Trump Jr. to explore a purchase of the Emerald City after watching “Wicked.” James Austin Johnson returned for a brief Trump impression, extolling the virtues of the just-shuttered video app TikTok and praising Mark Zuckerberg’s perm and chain. The biggest surprise may have been George Santos (Bowen Yang), appearing as the new fact-checking secretary and ambassador of Sephora, Santos claimed to be late for a date with his boyfriend Luigi Magione.

For fans of Chappelle’s stand-up hoping for topical material, the monologue was a big buffet. At nearly 17 minutes, the set may have been one of the longest in the show’s history. (Two of his previous monologues as host were almost as long.) Chappelle sat on a stool smoking a cigarette and explained that he asked to host the first show after the November election (i.e. The honor went to Bill Burr). So, he said, he offered to host in January, close to the anniversary of the Jan. 6 uprising, to get rid of Trump material. “The moment I said yes, LA burst into flames,” Chappelle said. “I’m tired of being controversial. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. It’s way too early to make jokes about such a disaster.” Then he winked at the audience.

The jokes were a mix of satire, with Chappelle mocking poor people for not sympathizing with celebrities who lost their homes in the fires, and joking that God didn’t bring down parts of Los Angeles because of sin. “It’s not true because West Hollywood was unscathed. Because how can you burn what’s already burning?” The comedian switched to stale jokes about Trump’s comments about Haitians in Ohio during the election cycle and slightly less stale jokes about Sean “Puffy” Combs and baby oil. “Thank God they caught him before the fire … there would have been a mushroom cloud over his house,” he said Chappelle.

Chappelle ended the monologue more seriously, praising Jimmy Carter for his book on Palestine and his visit to the region. He addressed Trump directly: “The presidency is no place for petty people…whether people voted for you or not, they’re all counting on you. Good luck. Please do better next time.” He asked for empathy for everyone “from Palestine to the Palisades.”

Best sketch of the night: Don’t forget the mobile phone inside the dog

In a frantic skit that often felt like it was going off the rails, Chappelle played a panicked father who prepares a go-bag of items his family would need as they evacuate from the wildfires in LA. Along the way, he uncovers $500,000 in cash, a secret French family hiding in the walls, and a cell phone that he must surgically remove from the family dog ​​as blood splatters everywhere. Is it an all-timer sketch? No, but it was the one that stood out from the slim pickings this week.

‘Weekend Update’ Winner: Why Vampires Typically Don’t Have Big Abs

Michael Longfellow weighed in the latest news that TikTok had It’s already dark in the USbut it was Sarah Sherman’s supremely goofy performance as The Original Nosferatu that scored best on “Update.” Appearing in full vampire makeup and long fingers, Sherman teased Colin Jost’s penis (as the vampire, “Weird, white and pointy”) and commented on Bill Skarsgård, the star of the new film version. With his jacked body and mustache, Original Nosferatu said, “He looks like shirtless Ned Flanders!” The bit cut to dramatic black and white on punchlines, which was effective, but the funniest was Sherman-as-Nosferatu demonstrating how vampires only push up once a day: when they rise from their coffins.