Saturday Night Live prides itself on its astute political commentary and at times, high brow subject matter, but a lot of the long running comedy show’s most famous sketches don’t exactly have that high of ambitions. Sometimes they’re just excuses for its cast members and/ or A-list celebrity hosts to act as silly as possible. Enter Adam Driver. The two-time Oscar nominee hosted SNL last night, and while the show tackled the recent college president congressional hearings on anti-Semitism, it’s a sketch of Driver playing a screaming baby that everyone is talking about.
The hilarious bit features Driver as a baby flying for the first time. He stayed in his mother’s womb for a full two years, and while she doesn’t think he overcooked, other passengers aren’t so sure. From playing with his iPad to dealing with his ears popping to using the bathroom, the sketch covers all the usual baby on an airplane situations, and Adam’s unrelenting commitment to the bit makes it so much better than it should be. Check it out…
We just talked earlier this month about Emma Stone joining the Five-Timers Club and rightfully so. Adam Driver will almost certainly get his own jacket sooner rather than later too. Last night marked his fourth time hosting live from Studio 8H in 30 Rock, and given his career trajectory and how good he is at comedy, Lorne Michaels and company will almost certainly extend him another invite within the next few years. After all, his Undercover Boss Kylo Ren sketch is still one of the most viewed in SNL history almost a decade later.
Of course, the enjoyment of this sketch doesn’t just stop and start with Adam Driver. There’s also a sense of catharsis watching, as everyone who flies on a regular basis has experienced the frustrations of being seated right by a baby that won’t stop screaming. Both Kenan Thompson and Heidi Gardner are excellent at reaction shots; so, it’s nice to see them play a couple of passengers that go through the full range of emotions of first being sympathetic, later being annoyed and finally being creeped out by the whole thing.
We’ll just have to wait and see when Adam Driver returns for his fifth hosting appearance down the line, but fortunately, fans won’t have to wait very long for the next exciting guest host. Longtime SNL staple Kate McKinnon is returning next week, a year and a half or so after she left the hit show she was on for more than a decade. It’ll be fantastic to see her back where she belongs. She’ll be joined by Billie Eilish in what could well go down as the most talked about episode of the entire season. I can’t wait.
