I am transitioning more of my work to here as I keep chugging along:
The full list is at http://www.patreon.com/okjournalist
Jack Black:
First Play:
Jack Black has a certain rambunctious-yet-likeable comic energy that can carry lackadaisical sketches like everyone playing the base. First play might not have been the best Jack Black sketch of the night, but it was supremely clever. The kind of interplays with historical and meta concepts like imagining what a play would be like to people who had never been introduced to fiction: A lot to work with. Chloe shines here quite a bit.
Runners-Up: Kissing Nurse, Flying Sex Three Way
Mikey Madison:
Group Chat Cold Open:
I generally skip the cold open. I’m rarely that impressed by a replay of the latest news conference with slightly augmented caricatures in place of politicians. On top of that, the Trump era is too depressing to want to relive it that much. But I admire cleverness in form. This is what’s known as cross-genre humor: A classic SNL political sketch mixed in with a teen slumber party. It’s also notable as the first attempt to try to fully enrich the satellite characters of politics like Pete Hesgueth and Marco Rubio
Runners-Up: Devin Walker as fitness guy at WU, Joanne’s Fabrics at WU, Jury Duty
I don't mind sketches that give every cast member 10 seconds to shine and Ego Nwodim plays a great straight man. Ashley Padilla is one I've been rooting for and this was the moment where what she has to offer to the show gelled together the best. Devin Walker had his best showcase of the season
Lady Gaga:
Lord Gaga on Weekend Update
It’s short and sweet but the sketch crafts such an absurdist backstory out of a known premise. It's also a little bit of a different flavor of Mikey Day.
Runner-Up: Friendly’s Birthday
It’s nice to have a sketch’s escalating elements be the addition of more cast members. It’s rare to get everyone in on the fun. One of the key ingredients of good comedy is when it hits a chord with something you’ve experienced but never voiced out loud. It’s surely everyone’s little secret that they’ve lied about when their birthday is to get a freebie somewhere.
Shane Gillis:
Wedding Interruption Coupon
The plot follows an arc similar to 12 Angry Men in a much sillier way. Shane Gillis is the equivalent to Henry Fonda. He interrupts a wedding, believing that he has a legitimate coupon for a blow job from the bride and is the sole outlier in the room. But then gradually it is revealed that Sarah Sherman’s character is the crazy one. In contrast to the rage that there was some misogyny in this sketch (it’s pretty clear this was an equal opportunity offender, and the haters just can’t get over Shane Gillis once against being let on TV after 5 years of paying his dues), I give credit to how organically they worked in Ashley Padilla’s angle of “one lesbian sess” or the non-sexual favors such as "foot rub" and "hugs and kisses for dad."
Runner-Up: I liked Shane Gillis last year, but this was a surprisingly thin episode
Timothee Chalemet:
Medcast
Rarely, do I think commercials are the highlights because it’s a tired format. But sometimes it hits and I think this one worked because it spread the laughs among three characters and multiple people doing bits like Emil Wakim and an unsuspecting Kenan Thompson admitting to having a lack of a sex life. The twist at the end that this was all made into an actual podcast really hit.
Runner-Up: Barista Training
This one has good fourth-wall breaking and Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner make great straight men. It’s always fun to watch the hosts show off their talents, and loved the political incorrectness of Timothee Chalemet playing a def jam comedian. I also loved the trope of having someone just flat-out leave the sketch in Jane Wickline just being "I don't belong here, good bye". I rarely see that in small-scale sketch comedy (i.e. I've taken sketch comedy classes)
Dave Chapelle: Evacuation Alert
Chapelle barely did anything in this episode after an extremely long monologue, so I barely had anything to work with, but this is a sketch with strong escalation. It involves a lot of what is known as noodling: Referring to a crazy situation that happens off-screen.
Martin Short: Sabado Gigante with Paul Rudd
Martin Short is among my favorite comic actors of all time, but what was this?? The monologue was too self-congratulatory and I'm against excessive cameos from the mainstays (i.e. Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, etc.) on principle. I don't have much familiarity with Peanuts and it was an overuse of Bowen so I can't endorse that sketch. Airport parade was a lazy premise that didn't need to be rolled out twice. Parking lot altercation did not need to be recurred.
By process of elimination I have to go with Sabado Gigante which was a GREAT recurring bit. Ironically, it didn't even include the host but it did have Dana Carvey
