Showing posts with label James Austin Johnson SNL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Austin Johnson SNL. Show all posts

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Fusion Scientist And His Loser Brother, Austin Butler SNL Skit

 




Here is a new family dinner conversation skit from the 48th season of SNL. It's been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog and this simple vignette seems like an easy clip to talk about as I move into finally getting this Saturday Night Live blog back on its feet.

In this short comedy skit from episode 9 of season 48 Austin Butler plays the archetypal brilliant son who has just helped discover a breakthrough in fusion energy. His position at the department of energy has him manning the lasers that create the fusion reaction that attempts to harness the energy of a star.

His underappreciated and idiot of a brother is played by Andrew Dismukes. The clips from this last season are bittersweet as they are the last time we will get to see Cecily Strong as a regular on the show. In fact this is her last episode. Let's hope we get to see her in a guest appearance in later seasons.

As the family praises their intelligent and successful son on his codiscovery of free energy their other much less appreciated son interjects that he does stuff too like deliver so many pizzas.

This skit has a simple formula but it's hilarious and should not be missed. I won't ruin it for you by giving away to many spoilers but for an under six minute skit it is full of laughs.

Butler, Cecily and Dismukes are joined by fellow cast mates Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman who play his family members sitting around the table for dinner.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Saturday Night Live Skit Biden Spider-Man Cold Open

This season 47 episode 10 Saturday Night Live skit is another cold open featuring James Austin Johnson as President Joe Biden. 

In this sketch the President has figured out what is causing the spread of the Omicron covid variant. It all seems to have started around the same time the new Spider-Man No Way Home movie came out. He is convinced that the problem will go away once every stops seeing Spider-Man for the 100th time.

It seems that nearly the whole cast was in on this was. The Whitehouse reporters are played by Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim and Andrew Dismukes. Pete Davidson also makes an appearance as another version of Biden from  Marvel's multiverse. Apparently this dimensions President Biden is not the real one but was created as a joke.

This cold open SNL sketch was a lot of laughs. I really enjoyed it. James Austin Johnson does a tremendous job or portraying the President in a way that really brings out the hilarity of the character. This is a magnified version of Joe Biden that doesn't exactly fit with reality but it works and it has the crowd rolling in the aisles.

I look forward to more Joe Biden parodies like this. It reminds me of the fun the cast use to have in the Bush W. era. Or if you want to go even further back, the Reagan Presidency.




Friday, February 4, 2022

Russian Disinformation Cold Open SNL Skit

 This new Saturday Night Live sketch is from season 47, episode 12. This cold open skit is a parody of the Russian disinformation campaign going on right now as Vladimir Putin attempts to invade Ukraine. President Biden is being briefed by some of his top aids about the escalating tensions between Russia, America and the Ukraine as the Russians attempt to use social media to twist the facts to their advantage. Will the Kremlin succeed in convincing Europe and the west that they are the good guys?

This is a particularly funny SNL skit. It features Kenan Thompson as one of Bidens top Generals. Ego Nwodim and Alex Moffat also have starring roles as members of the presidents cabinet of advisors.

This skit also has a small appearance by Pete Davidson as Aaron Rodgers and Chris Redd as a statefarm representative. I won't gives this short vignette away but it's hilarious. 

Chloe Fineman also has a small but significant role as a teenage social media expert brought in to fight fire with fire by starting her own meme war with Putin.

James Austin Johnson turns in an applaudable performance as President Joe Biden. His portrayal of the president as a clueless boomer who still hasn't yet figured out how the internet works and who is still stuck in a post WWII mindset when it comes to Germany should not surprise anyone.

Both Democratic and Republican Presidents have been fodder for SNL comedians since the shows conception. When the sitting President is well into his golden years the Saturday Night Live writers are going to take full advantage of that. There is no political favoritism here. In the past most older Presidents have been Republicans so it's just Biden's turn.

Overall this is a really funny sketch. I think James Austin does a particularly good job of portraying the President in a comedic manner. This is a really good cold open and one that I will remember for a long time. Let's just hope the real crisis on the Ukrainian border works itself out before it turns into a disaster.