Russell Crowe Hosts SNL, Here are the Highlights
Last night Russell Crowe hosted SNL. Crowe isn’t exactly known for his comedic performances- a point he stressed in his opening monologue. The best Crowe sketch of the night, however, didn’t require him to stray too far from familiar territory. Playing a hologram of King Henry VIII was definitely in Crowe’s comfort zone. The hologram Henry was part of an interactive museum exhibit, and was designed to answer questions about his life and times, but poor Henry could only focus on one thing- his continuing wish to find a woman who can bear him a son.
Later, Crowe went deep, playing a role very different from anything he’s ever played before. In a sketch about reality series, 100 Days in the Jungle he plays a family member who visits one of the contestants at the 94 day mark. Two of the competitors get normal vists- Taran Killam reunites with is wife, and Cecily Strong gets to see her mother. But Pete Davidson gets a weird visit from his uncle’s buddy Terry, played by Crowe. Terry, who looks a lot like a whacked out Kenny Rogers, gets to compete on Davidson’s behalf in a reward challenge. Does Crowe have a future in comedy? You decide.
Two other highlights from last night’s episode were Crowe-less: a surprise weird guest appearance from a controversial politician, and our pick for the sketch of the night- a digital sketch written by and starring Mike O’Brien, as Oprah.
Mike O’Brien brings Oprah Winfrey’s story to life in Oprah Winfrey: A Life of Love. Played mostly straight the digital sketch goes from Oprah’s win as Miss Black Tennessee, through to Oprah magazine, with O’Brien playing Oprah in his own voice and with no wigs or prosthetics. O’Brien has been a writer and performer for SNL since 2009, but left his full time job arrangement with the show last year to pursue other projects in LA, while still creating digital pieces from time to time.
And finally, although not necessarily a highlight, this sketch was just too weird not to share. SNL loves to bring out the real deal to perform in sketches with their best impressions, and last night the real Reverend Al Sharpton walked out to join Keenan Thompson in a sketch. Sharpton played a statistical analyst to Keenan’s Al Sharpton. It was Big Al vs Lil Al sitting down to talk about the election, Trump, President Obama. Big Reverend Al Sharpton had some trouble with his vocabulary and pronunciation, talking about disenfrenchfriesment with correspondent Christ-ie Jacobs played by Sasheer Zamata, and the problem suplex-ing the minority vote.
