Zach Galifianakis may have been a guest on “Saturday Night Live,” but he acted like he owned the place.
Who needs the rest of the cast when you have one of the biggest comedy actors at your disposal? Give him a bad joke and he can make it funny, give him a good joke and he’ll run with it and make it hysterical.
The man just seems to drip funny, no matter what he says or does. For example, he opened his monologue by deadpanning, “‘Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving,” which got more laughter than even he was expecting. It was effortless and natural.
So, it’s no wonder he was enlisted to deliver the funniest lines and most outrageous characters of the night.
For critics of the last “Hangover” sequel, the message of the night seemed to be, if you don’t like ”Part III” on May 24, it’s not Zach’s fault.
STANDOUT SKETCH: Jennifer Aniston look-alike competition
In this sketch, Galifianakis gets to play an angry Jennifer Aniston look-alike contestant who just found out he finished in last place. This one got a lot of laughs for the sight gag alone: Zach in a blonde wig with his trademark beard. But we were also treated to some great Aniston impersonations by Taran Killam, Nasim Pedrad, and Vanessa Bayer before a “Hangover” reunion with Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms in matching Aniston wigs. Not strange enough? It all ended with a performance of Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For”.
WORST SKETCH: Michael Jordan’s wedding
Air Jordan’s $10 million wedding was an obvious (and deserving) target for jokes – it’s just too bad most of the Jordan barbs were interrupted by coke-snorting jugglers, played by Jason Sudeikis and Galifianakis. The Jordan jokes were funny, the jugglers were funny – but together, they made for an unfocused sketch.
BEST CAMEO: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
In case you couldn’t wait until Sunday night to get your “Game of Thrones” fix, “SNL” invited Jaime Lannister into a sketch about obsessive “GOT” fans. This is the second “GOT” actor invited onto the show this season (Peter Dinklage appeared last month on “Weekend Update”) so it’s safe to say the growing group of “Game of Thrones” nerds includes some “SNL” writers.
What did you think about the show? Was it one of the better ones this season, or did you think it fell short? Let me know in the comment section below.
