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Boston’s Ayo Edebiri hosted SNL for the first time
“I was born and raised in Boston, which makes me the first Black woman to ever admit that.”
Ayo Edebiri paid homage to her hometown right off the bat during her monologue on “Saturday Night Live.”
“I was born and raised in Boston, which makes me the first Black woman to ever admit that.”
Hailing from Dorchester, Edebiri hosted SNL for the first time last night, fresh off her two huge wins for her role as Sydney on FX’s “The Bear” — she recently took home both a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy. She’s comedy’s “it girl” right now and brought her A-game to her first time in Studio 8H.
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“The Bear” swept the Emmys this year, winning six in total, including best comedy series, best lead actor in a comedy series (Jeremy Allen White), and best supporting actor in a comedy series (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).
Joining Edebiri as musical guest was Jennifer Lopez, about whom Edebiri recently had some insulting comments resurface from podcast “Scam Goddess” in 2020. But they addressed that in one of the episode’s sketches, and J. Lo performs two new singles.
Cold Open
During CNN’s South Carolina Republican Presidential Town Hall with Donald Trump, the former president talks about states seceding once he’s president, and takes audience questions from citizens. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (Devon Walker). As always, James Austin Johnson’s Trump impression is painfully accurate. “Folks are sick of having an alleged criminal like Joe Biden in the White House,” he says. “They want a convicted criminal.” Nikki Haley makes a cameo, and Ayo Edebiri herself asks Haley what caused the Civil War.
Monologue
Edebiri speaks about her Boston roots, her African and Caribbean family, and “The Bear.” She also reads from a packet of ideas that she supposedly wrote for SNL when she was doing comedy in New York. She tears up as she shouts out to her friends in the New York comedy scene, calling hosting “a homecoming.”
Why’d You Say It
It’s game show time. Kenan Thompson hosts “Why’d You Say It,” in which contestants are shown comments they left on Instagram and asked why they said it. “Oh. No, thank you,” says Mikey Day, immediately leaving the stage. Edebiri’s character is asked why she commented “die” on that video of Drew Barrymore being happy in the rain. This sketch is pretty meta, referencing some podcast comments Edebiri regrets making when she was 24.
Drugs on Campus
Grad school students are chilling after class, and Andrew Dismukes mentions that he’s so chill because he microdosed on mushroom chocolate. Straight-edge characters, Day and Edebiri, start freaking out. “I’d rather be straight edge than sharing mushroom needles with a junkie!” says Edebiri. They get increasingly hysterical. “I guess the D.A.R.E. program really worked on them,” says Chloe Fineman.
Bad Couples
Bowen Yang is on the streets of Manhattan asking couples about their meet-cute stories for “Good Morning New York.” But he can’t find one. Ego Nwodim and Please Don’t Destroy’s Martin Herlihy are together for the rent and Day and Fineman are incestuous siblings. Edebiri and Walker are in love but not together — they’re coworkers who text each other all day every day. “No one has meet-cutes anymore and love is dead,” Yang says, as a cute stranger (Marcello Hernandez) bumps into him.
Jennifer Lopez
J. Lo performs two of her recent singles: “Can’t Get Enough,” bringing out both Latto and REDMAN, and “This Is Me … Now.”
Weekend Update
Weekend update hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost joke about Superbowl conspiracy theories, Mark Zuckerberg, Trump’s legal fees, a racehorse that tested positive for meth, and Obama’s white half. C.J. Rossitano (Sarah Sherman) comes on to talk about winning the SNL ticket lottery — and he looks a lot like Jost.
School Hypnotist
A classroom has won a session with a hypnotist as a fundraiser reward. A little boy (Edebiri) doesn’t give consent to be hypnotized — he’ll call his mother and the police. But he gets hypnotized anyway, admitting he’s bi and that he can sing. They all break into “No Air” by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown. Edebiri shines here.
Bad Hair Day
It’s “The People’s Court.” Edebiri is suing a hairdresser (Nwodim) for giving her a bad haircut that exposes her brain. She lost her job at the zoo because the goats wouldn’t stop licking her brain and getting sick. But Nwodim has a different story: “I saw her at the club last night — brain down, ass up.” The judge (Thompson) doesn’t know who should pay who.
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