Will Forte is pretty well-known for crafting some of SNL’s most beloved sketches, as well as for bringing his madcap energy to those performances. Behind the scenes, however, he’s known for completely different reasons, such as being a prankster. Except wait, maybe the ways he was “getting” people weren’t actually pranks. I mean, is that what you’d call it if someone stuck his hand in your urine stream?
That pee-damming effort was first talked about years ago, though one can understand why it isn’t brought up at each and every Saturday Night Live-related interview. In any case, former non-acting staff writer John Mulaney appeared on the podcast Off Menu with hosts Ed Gamble and James Acaster, and was asked whether or not the urinal prank was legit, and if it happened to him. According to the esteemed stand-up comedian:
No. I’ve been near and around it, yeah.
It seems to me that if you're really near and around Will Forte deflecting someone's pee stream, you might unwittingly be in a splash zone. Which is...non-ideal for anyone at work, to say the least.
Mulaney gave a physical representation of how Forte would do it, and I'm wondering how in the world this could have started.
Yikes to the nth degree. Amusingly, that kicked off the semi-discussion about whether that actually counts as a textbook definition of a prank being pulled on another person. As the comedian put it:
It’s funny that it’s a prank to other people. And he’s covered in piss. . . . It’s more like a…it’s an action.
After talking about another reported-on instance where Forte smashed up a wall in Colin Jost's office with a baseball bat, John Mulaney laughingly took a more critical approach to describing these things that Forte did, questioning whether the casual "prank" nomenclature actually applies here.
It’s interesting we’re getting into the word ‘prank.’ It’s the first time I’ve really thought about it. These acts of destruction. Like, Will once threw someone’s dinner out the window. I guess that’s a ‘prank,’ but there’s no tension and release to it. It was just one big thing.
Making someone stay hungry is the worst kind of prank. Okay, no, the urinal thing is worse.
Seth Meyers can speak to the idea that inviting Will Forte to your wedding will inevitably cause some hilarious grief, probably by way of an awkward speech. Also, not quite a prank, though it was predetermined and drawn out.
With that viewpoint, was it technically a prank for SNL's writers to switch up lines for Ryan Gosling and Ashley Padilla during an episode in March 2026? Sure, why not. I'm willing to now allow any jokey actions that don't involve peeing on a coworker's hands to join the club.
Might we see Will Forte (with presumably clean hands) showing up as one of the upcoming SNL guest hosts in an episode yet to hit the 2026 TV schedule? Maybe so if he’s on his P(ee)s and Qs. Fans can find past episodes streaming via Peacock subscription.
