Ayo Edebiri gives a bear of a performance on ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 49

Saturday Night Live
Ayo Edebiri & Jennifer Lopez
February 3, 2023

Ayo Edebiri, if you weren’t aware, has become something of America’s Sweetheart, between her Emmy-winning and delightful portrayal of Sydney on The Bear, her hilarious role in Bottoms (if you’re in the mood for a very silly teen comedy, this has got you covered); her voice acting in Big Mouth; Clone High; The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; and her guest-starring role as Quinta Brunson’s sister on the ever-popular Abbott Elementary. Edebiri is ubiquitous these days, and for good reason: she’s funny, relatable, and very likable.

As for her performance as a host on Saturday Night Live, like any professional stand-up comedian, she’s a natural. She’s comfortable in front of a live audience; she’s completely devoid of embarrassment or self-awareness (in a good way); and she’s clearly up for anything, from portraying a nerdy teenage boy to poking fun at herself and her own public missteps. Edebiri is one of those hosts that you just know on an alternate timeline somewhere is actually a member of the SNL cast. But as for this timeline, we’ll just have to hope she comes back to host many more times.

I HAVE A LOT OF WORDS ABOUT THIS COLD OPEN, BEAR WITH ME.

Our cold open is a Former President Chungus town hall on CNN, and you know the routine: he answers questions about being a criminal and Taylor Swift with a bunch of nonsense that is barely a parody. However, one of the people asking Former President Draft Dodger a question is the actual Republican Presidential Candidate, Nikki Haley, who asks why he won’t debate her, before calling both Former President Cognitive Test and President Biden old. Finally, our host Ayo Edebiri asks her own question of Haley, “What was the main cause of the Civil War, and did it start with an ‘S’ and end with ‘lavery’?” To which Haley is allowed to say, “I should have just said that the first time,” before introducing the show.

And look. Saturday Night Live has a long history of inviting politicians from both sides of the spectrum onto the show: Al Gore, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rudy Giuliani and George McGovern have all hosted; Former President Document Stealer hosted for the second time in 2015 while running for office, which is just horrifying; and Sarah Palin, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have all made guest appearances, like Haley’s. And I’m sure that’s how Lorne Michaels justifies Haley’s appearance here: that Sanders and Warren similarly made guest appearances during their own Presidential races in 2016 and 2020 (though I should note that Warren actually appeared shortly AFTER she had dropped out of the race).

What I personally take exception to with last night’s cameo is that Haley is given the opportunity to both attack her opponents, including President Biden, set herself up as the only young, “cool” candidate in the race, and rehabilitate her to-date biggest fuck-up on the campaign trail: refusing to acknowledge that slavery was the cause of the Civil War — A WAR THAT WAS STARTED IN HER HOME STATE. For comparison here is Bernie’s appearance and here’s Warren’s. You’ll notice that neither of these appearances, unlike Haley’s, is used to whitewash their campaigns or attack their opponents. And had Haley’s appearance been kept within the same bounds — had she addressed her own campaign issues, why she’s running for President, what she believes in — I might not be so irritated. But because her campaign is literally just: “I’m a Republican Who Is Not Donald Trump,” she doesn’t actually have any issues to talk about.

Last night just felt like another example of SNL inviting a figure on because they know it will be a talking point the next day, not unlike having Former President Election Denier or Elon Fucking Musk come and host. I’m not saying that having Haley make this appearance comes even close to being as egregious as allowing Former President Shitbird to host while he was running for office, but I am saying it was cheap, unnecessary, and maddening.

And people aren’t happy:

Grade: D

Ayo Edebiri’s monologue begins with her being emotional about how hosting is literally her dream come true after years of working in the New York comedy scene. After briefly addressing The Bear in the room, she shares some of the ideas she submitted for her SNL audition packet when she was younger. It’s cute, she’s cute.

Grade: A-

The first of two game show spoofs is “Why’d You Say It?”, a game show that asks people why they left certain comments on Instagram posts. It’s a very funny bit that allows Edebiri to address the awkward fact that back in 2020, she was on a podcast talking shit about that evening’s musical guest, Jennifer Lopez.

In the sketch, Edebiri seemingly acknowledges the old comments, saying: “OK, OK, we get it. It’s wrong to leave mean comments, or post comments just for clout, or run your mouth on a podcast and you don’t consider the impact because you’re 24 and stupid.”

Hatchet officially buried.

Oh, and if the sketch felt familiar to you, it’s because when Jake Gyllenhaal hosted back in 2022, they had a game show sketch called “Why’d You Like That?” in which the contestants had to justify why they liked thirst trap posts.

Grade: A

So … Dune 2 is coming out in a month, and the marketing geniuses at Warner Bros. Pictures have made a … questionable … souvenir popcorn bucket to go along with it.

This is all real.

As Dune 2 star Florence Pugh said, “The jokes write themselves.”

And that, girls and boys, is how the following sketch was made:

Grade: B+

Here, Mikey Day and Edebiri play two VERY straight-edge college students who LOSE THEIR MINDS when one of their friends admits to microdosing shrooms. Edebiri and Day sell the bit, but it goes on way too long.

Grade: B-

There is a TikTok account where a man approaches couples in New York City and asks them how they met, resulting in some very sweet, romantic, adorable, and sometimes very funny stories. This is like that but if all the people he approached were terrible.

Grade: A

“Weekend Update” really comes for President Biden this week, attacking him for his age, on his immigration policy, his age, and his decline in support from Black supporters. and his age. They also come for the MAGA nuts’ conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift, Fox News, and Former President Conman’s lawyers.

Grade: B+

Also visiting the “Weekend Update” is 18-year-old CJ Rossitano who is definitely Colin Jost’s bastard son. It’s another way for Sarah Sherman to come for Jost and I’m here for all of it.

Grade: A

In the second of two game show sketches of the night, Ewo Nwodim is the host of “Trivia Quest,” in which Ayo Edebiri’s character competes against two white contestants. To the other contestants’ outrage, Ewo’s host gives Edebiri’s character a number of hints and advantages because she’s … um …. what can we say here … her favorite?

Grade: A

In the second of two digital shorts of the night, a group of people get stuck in an elevator for twenty minutes, and in that time create their own society, which is largely based on hooking up. This feels very Sarah Sherman-absurdist to me, which sometimes I really enjoy! But not here.

Grade: C+

For some reason, a hypnotist visits a school, where Edebiri’s nerdy student warns him that the hypnotist does not have his consent to hypnotize him. The student then immediately begins blurting out that he’s bisexual, blaming the hypnotist for making him say it. Edebiri truly commits to the bit.

Grade: B+

I’m not going to talk about Jennifer Lopez’s performances because, eh. But I do have to point out that when Ayo Edebiri introduces her the second time, she is wearing this:

If you know, you know.

Finally, Ayo’s character is suing her hairdresser on The People’s Court for a bad haircut, turning around to reveal that the hairdresser has exposed her brain. It’s silly and brainless and I’m not mad at it.

Grade: B

Final Grade: B+.


Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.

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