Althouse: I read in the NYT that there are a lot of surprising cameos in this 9-minute "SNL" cold-open spoof of a Trump rally...

October 27, 2019

I read in the NYT that there are a lot of surprising cameos in this 9-minute "SNL" cold-open spoof of a Trump rally...

... including Darrell Hammond in his old role as Bill Clinton and Fred Armisen as Erdogan, so I was really pushing myself to stick with this:

But I clicked it off at 2:10. It was that fatal combination of boring and irritating. Nothing was funny. I watch the actual Trump rallies, and Trump is funny. The original is already funny. Now, I do understand that if you hate him, you won't find him funny, and then, maybe for you what "SNL" is doing allows you to get some insulation and to enjoy what is too horrible for you to look at directly. But for me — I'm not a Trump fan but I've got a weird sort of emotive objectivity I call "cruel neutrality" — the real thing is highly entertaining and the professional comic reenactment of it feels watered down and dull... but yell-y. So annoying!

(Here's the NYT article.)(Alternative coverage: The Daily Mail.)

59 comments:

tim maguire said...: It doesn’t help that Alec Baldwin is terrible at impressions. He must love doing them and no one seems to gave scared up the courage to tell him he should stop, but I’ve have never seen one that worked or was enjoyable to watch.; 10/27/19, 6:34 AM
Wilbur said...: AA, you're on a cruel neutrality Speedwagon this morning. Don't slow down!; 10/27/19, 6:39 AM
Mr. Groovington said...: “ Video unavailable
The uploader has not made this video available in your country.”

Botswana; 10/27/19, 6:43 AM
tim maguire said...: Mr. Groovington said...
“ Video unavailable
The uploader has not made this video available in your country.”

Botswana

This happens a lot (Canada). If you follow the link to Youtube and watch there, it usually works.; 10/27/19, 6:59 AM
Darrell said...: SNL--use jazz hands instead of clapping. And place one palm over the other and open the aligator jaws instead of laughing. Not that you feel like clapping or laughing anyway.; 10/27/19, 7:02 AM
Kevin said...: You can’t do comedy from hate.

People may laugh but it’s not from humor.; 10/27/19, 7:17 AM
Lyle Sanford, RMT said...: "yell-y" - that so nails it!; 10/27/19, 7:18 AM
Drago said...: SNL is not a comedy show.

Its therapy for lefties. That's why its not funny.

Its like something that a Soviet Commissar Of The 4th Entertainment Region had to approve.; 10/27/19, 7:26 AM
Sebastian said...: "I've got a weird sort of emotive objectivity I call "cruel neutrality""

Emotional objectivity! Now that's funnier than anything Trump ever said.; 10/27/19, 7:44 AM
tds said...: SNL's worst missed opportunity stemming from Trump Derangement Syndrome was 'It' sketch in 2017. Sketch reenacted iconic sewer drain scene. The Harvey Weinstein scandal was in full swing, so Harvey would be the perfect candidate to play the clown. Instead they went nonsensically with Kellyanne Conway.; 10/27/19, 7:54 AM
Jaq said...: Alec Baldwin is a good actor, but good actors are usually crazy, same as good physicists are generally very smart and good basketball players are generally tall.; 10/27/19, 7:59 AM
Mr. D said...: I appreciated this one, because it was straight up about insulting Trump supporters. And if you're going to make jokes about Albuquerque, don't think tuna, think Bugs Bunny.; 10/27/19, 7:59 AM
traditionalguy said...: Continually sneering at what they cannot understand does not make SNL look smart at all.Maybe it's being done as a warning given to any who dare to follow Trump or winning at everything. That makes it Grade C propaganda much like Tokyo Rose reporting on the War her side is losing.; 10/27/19, 7:59 AM
Lincolntf said...: Trump is about to speak. Link at Drudge.; 10/27/19, 8:01 AM
wendybar said...: Now you know how the rest of us have felt for the last 4 years.; 10/27/19, 8:06 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "... including Darrell Hammond in his old role as Bill Clinton and Fred Armisen as Erdogan..."

So they brought back people who are actually funny and it still didn't work?

SNL: the Boeing 737MAX of comedy.

I am Laslo.; 10/27/19, 8:06 AM
Gahrie said...: I'm not a Trump fan but I've got a weird sort of emotive objectivity I call "cruel neutrality"

Emotive: arousing or able to arouse intense feeling.
Objective: not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts

"Emotive objectivity" is an oxymoron, and your claim to it displays a staggering lack of self awareness.; 10/27/19, 8:23 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I didn't watch. lemme guess - no one mocked Adam Schitt.; 10/27/19, 8:30 AM
Howard said...: It's more pedestrian than that. Bottom line is that sketch comedy is the most difficult of the preforming arts. Even back in the day, most of the SNL skits sucked.; 10/27/19, 8:31 AM
Ken B said...: My Trump hating Canadian friends look stunned when I say Trump is funny. No capacity for detachment at all.; 10/27/19, 8:32 AM
Howard said...: Althouse isn't a blog... It's group therapy for Trump's apologist's; 10/27/19, 8:33 AM
Narayanan said...: Emerita said : Now, I do understand that if you hate him, you won't find him funny,
__________
Vicious cycle - hate powers into rejection of fun - very bad for health, so sad.

Virtuous cycle - fun powers into accepting mischief troll - yuge enjoyment - good for everyone.; 10/27/19, 8:35 AM
RMc said...: Why try to parody something that's parody-proof?; 10/27/19, 8:40 AM
cronus titan said...: Too bad you missed it . . . Part of the cold open was a riff thanking Trump for making ISIS great again. Timing not good. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!; 10/27/19, 8:42 AM
Wince said...: The sketch mocked Trump’s supporters more than him.

The subtext was Trump’s support has been reduced to the point they are no longer of use to him.; 10/27/19, 8:43 AM
Mark said...: Your claim to feel neutral towards Trump is funnier than the skits by a long shot.; 10/27/19, 8:47 AM
alanc709 said...: It that why you come here, Howard, to masturbate?; 10/27/19, 8:53 AM
Gahrie said...: Althouse isn't a blog... It's group therapy for Trump's apologist's

That's OK, the MSM is group therapy for Trump haters.; 10/27/19, 8:54 AM
Charlie said...: I never watch SNL but happened across the opening last night. Is it always this bad? And does the NYT always run a full article about each episode?; 10/27/19, 8:59 AM
traditionalguy said...: Tokyo Rose broadcast that the Marines on Guadalcanal were all recruited from prisons and insane wards. That was her response to Several slaughters of bonsai charged by Marines using superior firepower. That’s how it works with SNL Rose.; 10/27/19, 9:07 AM
alanc709 said...: O.T.: https://babylonbee.com/news/hillary-clinton-accidentally-posts-condolences-for-tulsi-gabbards-suicide-one-day-early?fbclid=IwAR2_Vz3eNFve1Qg6ljVpwoOoq7HLY8ocyD0Ldef4O20zSqmFPT7GNYRRmLw

Now THAT'S funny.; 10/27/19, 9:09 AM
Michael K said...: Howard said...
Althouse isn't a blog... It's group therapy for Trump's apologist's

Howard trolling again. Have you got your suicide vest on, Howard ?; 10/27/19, 9:15 AM
FleetUSA said...: Thank you Professor for noting the things to avoid in the news so we don't waste our precious time. A real service to web readers.; 10/27/19, 9:18 AM
Howard said...: Thanks for the props AlanC. I'm a deplorables anthropologist for my progressive friends and family. Also, the comedy gold watching you people beclown itself; 10/27/19, 9:19 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I've long said that SNL is Air America for TeeVee.; 10/27/19, 9:39 AM
Big Mike said...: Why didn't the alleged comedians look at the script and ask themselves "At what point is this going to get funny?"; 10/27/19, 9:55 AM
iowan2 said...: I didn't watch. lemme guess - no one mocked Adam Schitt.

There has to be enough material with him to do a tv series. At least as many seasons as Veep.
Maybe a cross of Veep, and Jack Ryan. Comedy, and spook classic together.; 10/27/19, 9:59 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: You missed Fred Armisen as Erdogan in slightly brownface.; 10/27/19, 10:18 AM
tcrosse said...: Darrell Hammond would probably be a very good Trump, if Baldwin didn't have dibs on the role.; 10/27/19, 10:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "You missed Fred Armisen as Erdogan in slightly brownface."

Armisen has a mixed racial heritage. His mother was Venezuelan and his father had German and Korean ancestors.

Armisen used to play Obama on SNL... before he was replaced by a black actor, Jay Pharoah, in 2012.

I wouldn't assume Armisen is ever in brownface. Maybe sometimes he's in whiteface. Who knows?; 10/27/19, 10:24 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "lthouse isn't a blog... It's group therapy for Trump's apologist's"

Trump's apologist's what?; 10/27/19, 10:25 AM
Gahrie said...: I'm a deplorables anthropologist for my progressive friends and family.

And you are as bad at it as Margaret Mead was.; 10/27/19, 10:29 AM
rcocean said...: I'm always amazed at people complimenting Baldwin on his Trump imitation. He's terrible! He's just Baldwin yelling and trying to speak in a Trump-like manner. As noted above, Hammond, Dana Carvey, and Phil Hartman were truly funny when they did impersonations.

The other problem is Trump is funny and good looking, and so was Reagan. And its so much easier to mock/satirize someone who's odd looking (like Nixon), pompous, or lacks a sense of humor.; 10/27/19, 10:58 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Darrell Hammond would probably be a very good Trump, if Baldwin didn't have dibs on the role."

Baldwin is terrible in the part, and the writing in the SNL Trump skits I've seen, (not many), is always stupid, unfunny, and stupid.

I believe Hammond already has played Trump in the past. He is best in class in every part he plays.

(BTW, Hammond graduated from the same program (Advertising) from the same university (University of Florida) the same year as I. There was a graduating class every quarter, so I don't know if he graduated with my cohort, and I don't remember him at all, so I can't say if we ever shared any classes. Still, it's odd to think we were there at the same time.); 10/27/19, 11:01 AM
rcocean said...: Hammond is still funny, but he's way to young to play Clinton who's now 73 - and looks every day of it.; 10/27/19, 11:02 AM
Ron Winkleheimer said...: My brother-in-law and his wife have the TDS bad, real bad. So they record SNL and, when we are visiting them, play it for my wife and I Sunday morning. They suspect my wife and I may not be totally on board with their feelings towards Trump. So far I have restrained myself from pointing out that Alex Baldwin isn't actually Trump.; 10/27/19, 11:20 AM
Drago said...: Howard" :Also, the comedy gold watching you people beclown itself(sic)"

LOLOLOL

Seriously, thanks for biting the bullet and playing moron self-anointed lefty elitist for us today.

Your self-parodies are a real joy.; 10/27/19, 11:21 AM
Narayanan said...: bonsai / banzai
::
Botany / military; 10/27/19, 11:34 AM
bagoh20 said...: We tried to watch it too, but it was cringingly un-funny. It was mean-spirited to half the nation. It was a naked attempt to embarrass Trump voters into not supporting him. Joyless. Everything the anti-Trumpers do from now on is designed to affect the election. It's going to be a sad year of pathetic partisanship culminating in mass-hysteria, and I predict some ugly violence when the unhinged can no longer contain their anger. It's so disappointing that people let this stuff carry them away. Some close friends are making fools of themselves over it, and it's heartbreaking.; 10/27/19, 11:38 AM
William said...: I hope no photo surfaces of Rep. Hill wearing over sized clown shoes and a big red nose while having sex. Such a photo would be sure to attract the comedic talents of the SNL writers and cast.; 10/27/19, 1:54 PM
Nichevo said...: Ann Althouse said...
"lthouse isn't a blog... It's group therapy for Trump's apologist's"

Trump's apologist's what?

10/27/19, 10:25 AM

You see, Professor, Garbage Howie claims to be a former Marine, but he also likes to present himself as an intellectual-several careers, like Inga or other con men/women of my acquaintance. So he does the John Stewart thing of clown nose on, clown nose off.

The tell when his clown nose is on is that he uses bad grammar, spelling, etc. So this is him trolling/taking the piss, which is a Marine specialty.

If he actually has any Oohrah spirit, he's probably just jelly that Marine Force Recon had no role in Operation Kayla.; 10/27/19, 2:43 PM
rcocean said...: "Even back in the day, most of the SNL skits sucked."

True dat. Even back in the 90's, I'd turn it off after the 1st hour. The last 30 minutes were always crummy.; 10/27/19, 3:04 PM
tcrosse said...: "Even back in the day, most of the SNL skits sucked."

They were pretty good back in the 1970's, and even into the early 1980's.; 10/27/19, 5:12 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Althouse has a lot of posts telling us that pros who make big dough doing funny are not funny.

There have been times when Althouse declares an SNL thing to be shit, and then I hear the whole Stern show group say that same thing was comedy gold.

Who’s right?

Here Althouse tells us that the non-DJT fans are mentally unclear. Projection?; 10/27/19, 6:28 PM
rcocean said...: Thank God for Moderation. Otherwise we'd have had another 25 "Hey Howard" comments.; 10/27/19, 6:54 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: The Weekend Update portion of the show used to be pretty clever, parodying the typical news program. But since Trumps election, Che and Yost just hurl insults at him and his supporters.
Instead of satire, they're just mimicking modern MSM.; 10/27/19, 8:02 PM
Lurker21 said...: Greg Gutfeld's show is funnier than SNL, and his opening monologues are mostly clips of Trump now. It's like he knows that he can't be funnier than Trump, but he can make Trump funnier by picking out some of the president's stranger remarks and showcasing them.

SNL boss Lorne Michaels used to say that Obama was impossible to parody. That's nonsense. Parodying Obama wouldn't have been hard. But SNL didn't want to do it. They supported Obama. They didn't want to hurt his presidency, and I think they sensed just how easy it would be to parody him and just how hard it would be for him to recover.

I'm not saying that Obama would have been emotionally shattered, but it could have been hard for him to come up with comebacks and take it in stride if he got comic flak from his own side. Maybe they couldn't find anybody who really wanted to play a comic Obama, especially considering the "not wanting to have anybody who wasn't Black play Obama" thing.

Trump really is very hard or even impossible to parody. That's because he already incorporates elements of parody into his appearances. Trump is already over the top. Trump is sort of a Don Rickles, an insult comedian, but he also has an unexpected self-deprecating side. Throw the same kind of jokes and jabs at him that he throws at his opponents and they don't work well, because he's already an exaggerated figure. They don't sting in the way they would sting somebody who had a more straitlaced and dignified public persona.

To make fun of Trump SNL has to come up with really wild premises that collapse under their own implausibility. Plus, as noted, Alec Baldwin just isn't a very talented impressionist. He doesn't catch the nuances. But maybe it's also true that being funnier than Trump actually already is himself is a challenge that most comedians realize they just aren't up to.; 10/27/19, 10:36 PM
Lurker21 said...: Kristen Wiig killed SNL for me. She wasn't funny. She was just the girl nobody could tell that she wasn't funny. All of her bits seemed painfully similar. Last time I watched the show it looked like that sort of thing was pretty common.

But consider. Back in the 1970s SNL really was something new, and it didn't have many competitors. It changed the culture, and now it's not something fresh or new, and it doesn't provide anything you can't get in many other places.; 10/27/19, 10:42 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Back in the day (the day being 2003) Frank J. of "Nuke The Moon" fame wrote a running parody titled "In My World".

You had to have a taste for that kind of puerile humor-- I thought it was pretty hilarious in context, so go ahead and shoot me -- but the point is this was humor/parody making fun of the Republicans from the right, with its intended audience on the right. Can you find anything remotely comprable from the Obama era?; 10/28/19, 12:23 PM