If you only know Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear,” her “SNL” hosting debut was an unforgettable introduction to the spectacular extent of her comedic skills. Throughout the episode she delivered wild characters of all types, including a young boy pretending to be hypnotized, a trivia contestant, a woman in love with a popcorn bucket and a “People’s Court” plaintiff with a disturbing issue. Those may not sound that crazy, but trust me, Edebiri fully committed to the “SNL” madness. She’s someone they definitely need to invite back regularly.
Before we get to her best sketches, we have to talk about the controversy that loomed over the show. In the week leading up to her debut, an old clip of her insulting musical guest Jennifer Lopez popped up, presumably making things very awkward around the studio. On a 2020 episode of the podcast “Scam Goddess,” Ayo discusses Lopez’s music career, including the persistent rumors that she doesn’t sing her own songs.
“Her whole career is one long scam,” Edebiri said on the podcast. “She thinks, like, she’s still good, even though she’s not singing for most of these songs.”
As the clip made its way around the internet, many wondered if either Ayo or JLo would address it on the show. The Emmy winner did acknowledge the short-sighted nature of her comments during the sketch “Why’d You Say It.”
In the skit, Kenan Thompson plays a game show who confronts internet trolls with their horrible comments. The game gets progressively more uncomfortable, with each contestant pleading not to be personally confronted with their own shortcomings. In the end, Edebiri’s character says, “OK, OK, we get it. It’s wrong to leave mean comments, or post comments just for clout, or run your mouth on a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid.”
For the record, Lopez didn’t appear in any sketches, but she was seen alongside the Golden Globe winner in promos and during the evening’s goodbyes.
With the controversy taken care of, we can get into some of the best moments of the show, many of which allowed Black cast members a chance to shine. Black women in particular had a lot of fun during “Trivia Quest.” It featured Ego Nwodim as the host of a trivia game show who decides to give her fellow Spelman alum/new bestie a leg up in the competition. As you would imagine, this doesn’t sit well with the other contestants, leading to hilarious reactions.
‘Trivia Quest’
‘School Hypnotist’
When a hypnotist does a performance for school kids, one child uses the opportunity to become “brainwashed” and reveal some long hidden secrets. Edebiri is brilliant as the kid goes way over-the-top to fight off the alleged hypnotism.
‘People’s Court - Bad Hair Day’
A bad salon experience is one thing. What happens here is a medical issue that gets increasingly hilarious throughout the sketch. Shout out to Kenan Thompson, who is still such a master at this.
‘CNN Town Hall South Carolina Cold Open’
We can’t talk about this episode without discussing the evening’s most awkward moment. In a Trump Town Hall cold open, GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared as herself. She desperately tried to make herself look funny and cool, but just came off as the aunt who doesn’t want to admit she’s getting older and can’t hang out with teenagers anymore.
She even tried to make fun of her famously bad answer about the cause of the Civil War. It went over like the world’s saddest lead balloon. In fact, when she popped up as a surprise guest, the smattering of applause was polite, but not uproarious. It seemed like most of the crowd needed a minute to recognize her. Whatever she thought this would do for her campaign, it didn’t work.
Despite any controversy surrounding her Jennifer Lopez comments, this was a fantastic “SNL” debut for Edebiri. We should see her in more high-profile comedies.