The Big Picture
- Comedians are often better than Hollywood actors at hosting SNL, as they bring a real and engaging presence to their monologues.
- Sketches on SNL improve when comedians host, as they actively participate and contribute to the writing, making the sketches more enjoyable.
- SNL thrives when comedy is prioritized over fame, as it allows lesser-known comedians to make a lasting impact and deliver memorable performances.
You’re forgiven if you’d never heard of comedian Nate Bargatze until this past Saturday, October 28. He was scheduled to be the host of Saturday Night Live that evening, but it was the Foo Fighters as the musical guests who were the big deal for many tuning in. After a fun opening sketch, with a cameo from Christopher Walken, Bargatze walked onto the stage for his monologue. Within minutes, his deadpan style of comedy had viewers hooked, whether you were a fan of his or someone unfamiliar with his work.
The fact that he’s a comedian also led to a few of his sketches going viral for how funny they were. It’s just the latest proof that often, comedians are better than actual Hollywood actors at being SNL hosts. It’s something the show needs to do more of. Not only is it a way to introduce audiences to great talent, but it results in sketches that rise above other weeks.
The opening monologue for Saturday Night Live often goes two ways. The first way is that a famous Hollywood actor is front and center, there to promote their latest movie or TV show. These are the people who are trained actors, yet so many times, their monologues are the most wooden. They tell a bland story about their family, reading nervously from the cue card, or there’s a prop involved to help get them through it, as if 5 to 10 minutes on their own is too much. Some of the featured players will walk out for a bit, or the host will ask audience plants questions. If you’re really “lucky,” there’s even a musical number.
Then there’s the opening monologue when a comedian hosts. They’re out there all by themselves with nothing but a microphone, doing a routine. Whether you like their style of comedy or not, it pulls you in because is real, and not overly rehearsed nothingness. For Bargatze’s opening monologue, he simply talked about being middle-aged and what his life was like as a kid. An actor could have read those lines and it would have been atrocious, but Nate’s deadpan delivery made it hilarious. Some of the following examples might be problematic now, but look at how big of a deal it is whenever Dave Chappelle hosts SNL. He was at his best calming a nation following the 2016 election, making us laugh at the absurdity of it all. Louis C.K. was always great at that as well. It’s a shame that he messed everything up so much that he’ll never be back because he was able to make an audience cry from laughter without resorting to his usual vulgarities. John Mulaney is a current guest host who kills it every time he’s on. For so many SNL episodes, the name is what gets us to tune in, but when a comedian hosts, it’s their talent that gets us to stay.
If there’s anything more awkward than when certain Hollywood actors bad at live performing do an SNL monologue, it’s when they do sketches. You can tell when it’s a bad host. These are often looking to the side the entire time, reading lines they haven’t memorized. They aren’t really interacting with the featured characters, looking them in the eye, or moving around the set. It’s the cast who gets them through the sketch, with the actor putting in minimal effort. They’re the background, almost like an unnecessary prop.
Have a comedian host, and their talent, not their name, becomes the glue. They’re not on the sidelines, but central to the segment. It always seems as if the sketches improve as well, as if the Hollywood actor wasn’t there helping craft them, but the comedian is in the trenches helping to write alongside the cast. John Mulaney is great at this. Just look at his “Subway Churro” segment from 2022. It’s a bizarre musical, but it works so well because Mulaney isn’t embarrassed or acting like this is beneath him. Instead, he leans into it and makes it all believable.
Nate Bargatze managed to go viral with a few of his sketches from when he hosted. How many actors accomplish that? You know what you’re going to get with someone you’ve seen in movies and TV so often, but a comedian can surprise. The sketch that had people talking the most was “Washington’s Dream,” a simple enough bit with Bargatze as George Washington talking to his troops about the future America he envisions where we measure weights in pounds, while also laying into the absurdity that we call 2,000 pounds a ton but have no word for 1,000 pounds, or how we’ll measure temperature on a super random level called Fahrenheit. He also has some hilarious interaction with Kenan Thompson, who keeps asking about how Black people are treated in the future, only for Washington to keep talking about ounces and gallons and football, completely ignoring the uncomfortable subject. Read it on a script, and it’s funny but not that memorable, but Bargatze turned it into an instant classic through his deadpan comedic approach. Rather than reacting as an actor would, he found the humor in barely reacting at all. It worked by taking something so outlandish and saying it in the most normal of voices.
‘SNL’ Thrives When Comedy Is Put Before Fame
When so many actors host SNL, what’s talked about the next day is the opening monologue, where someone in the cast imitated Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or someone else in the news. Maybe a musical guest gets mentioned, or someone breaking, but how many actors do we rave about for their performances? Sure, there are exceptions, such as a Tom Hanks or a Steve Martin for example, but then there’s someone like Robert De Niro, who is one of our greatest actors ever, but was incredibly awkward and stilted when he hosted. It has gotten worse in recent years, with it feeling as if names are brought into host just because they’re the flavor of the month. It doesn’t matter if they have comedic chops are not, viewers will tune in because they’re famous.
SNL is at its best when comedy is the focus, not popularity. It’s why a comedian you never heard of can leave a lasting mark over that Hollywood star with the number one movie at the box office. For example, take Bargatze’s “Chef Show” sketch. In it, the plot is about Nate’s character on a cooking show with Ego Nwodim. They are two contestants making soul food for Black hosts played by Kenan Thompson and Punkie Wilson. The hosts and Ego are Black, yet it’s plain white Nate who surprisingly makes the best soul food. He keeps apologizing for it, saying “I’m sorry,” or when he’s made a culture ambassador for Howard University, he replies, “I’m honored, but please take this off me.” He’s awkward and lowkey, never cracking a smile. The sketch isn’t about him, but everyone else’s reaction to him. An actor would find a way to make it about themselves like they’re trained to do, but Bargatze let the comedy be the star. He gets laughs by being so subtle.
That is when SNL is at its best. Having a big-name actor for a host can be exciting, but it’s when comedy is the true host, with a comedian who knows it’s the laughs and not the name as what’s important, that you’ll see sketches that make us remember why SNL became so popular in the first place. The gloss and glitz are stripped away, and SNL is back to just being regular people doing anything to make their audience laugh.
New episodes of SNL premiere Saturday nights on NBC in the U.S. and are also available to stream on Peacock.
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