(LR) Andrew Dismukes, Molly Carney, Shane Gillis, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, and Heidi Gardner during the “Vacation Church” sketch on “SNL”
Will Heath/NBC
Shane Gillis quickly realized the elephant in the room.
“Yes, I’m here,” the comedian said, but he seemed just as confused as everyone else that he was actually hosting. saturday night live. “Most of you don’t know who I am. Actually, I was fired from this show a while ago, but don’t look into that. If you don’t know who I am, Don’t Google it. Don’t worry about it either.
For those who don’t already know, we respect Gillis’ wishes and save you the trouble of searching. Shane Gillis was hired in 2019, but famously was not hired as a new employee four days later. SNL He criticized the cast after a clip of his podcast resurfaced in which he uttered anti-Chinese and homophobic slurs. (A closer reading of the podcast remarks that got him fired shows that the exchange in question was a bit ambiguous. Was he conveying a bigot of the type he was slandering, or was he speaking as himself? (Is it important?)
Since then, Gillis has found another path to success with a podcast (the same one he was plucked from the show). SNL) with over 83,000 paying listeners and sitting comfortably at the top of the Patreon Creators chart.later SNL Due to this incident, he was hailed by some as a martyr of awakening and went berserk. And those fans may have tuned in Saturday night to see Julia Roberts prove his innocence.Beautiful woman Others lamented his invitation to return as a sign of cultural regression.
But when Gillis showed up at Studio 8H, he was more chastened than defiant. Although he admitted to being nervous during his erratic monologue (though he still handled the real-time bombardment with more grace than Jo Koy), he brought the humor of the Anything Goes podcast to the television broadcast. It was obvious that he was having a hard time making it look appropriate. Is there any material that can be shown on TV? ”
Fortunately for him, SNL The writer knew how to develop the Gillis type, and he played the average White Joe amiably in most of the sketches. floor Contestants are desperately trying to convince others that they can (just without pressure) actually identify famous black people and the former bully from Forrest Gump who peaked in high school. . He gamely played masochistic characters, especially sex doll sellers who cater to men of “below average appearance.” The fake movie trailer digital short made good use of his very good Trump impression, but I thought the first sketch of the night was surprisingly nice. Playing an Ohio Catholic father who drags his family to church while on vacation in Jamaica, Gillis captures the spirit (and a pretty decent patois) of it, literally as a family of white tourists line up alongside a Jamaican congregation. The whole sketch ends with a scene where they cross the aisle. . (Father Lawrence, played by cast member Ego Nwodim, continues to grow with each season.)
The reality is that for all those who wanted to embrace Gillis as their edgelord and savior, Gillis himself has resisted joining the canceled culture wars.both profiles new yorker and new york times For the past two years, we’ve been discussing how this comedian nimbly plays both right and left. It’s clear that it brought him great success, but it’s also no surprise that it can literally lead to mid-life results. SNL episode.
After the show aired on Saturday night, Bowen Yang started trending on social media.He and Chloe Fineman were also newcomers who joined in 2019. SNL A new cast member was announced, and as the show’s first fully Asian American cast member, he quickly became involved in the Gillis controversy. He never commented on the situation, even though he wasn’t shy about subtweeting others. SNL Reservation decision. Speculation that Yang would boycott Gillis’ episode in protest was clearly debunked by the third sketch in which the two appeared together.
Eagle-eyed viewers also spotted the two sharing what looks like the following just before the telecast ended sincere hug on stage. (It is also worth noting that when Dave Chappelle appeared on his show last month, Yang was observed standing as far away from Dave Chappelle as possible during the greeting.) Bowen Yang is the first gay Asian man to appear on the show. do not have. SNL Cast members should shoulder the burden of representing not one, but two entire communities in deciding whether to pardon Shane Gillis, but for me this interaction, along with the laughs, at times, made me laugh. It reminded me that reaching out is also the best healing medicine.
