Top 10 Best Physical Comedy Moments on SNL
#10: Liza Minnelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp
This hilarious skit from 2012 is literally three and a half minutes of Kristen Wiig, as actress and singer, Liza Minnelli, trying to turn off a lamp. There is really no complicated joke here - and there doesn’t need to be. The laughs come entirely from Wiig’s awesome, exaggerated theatricality: the kicks, the jazz hands, the Fosse neck… And this wasn’t the first time we saw Wiig do this either. The previous season we got to watch her turn another mundane task into comic gold with “Ann Margaret tries to throw away a wad of paper into a trash can.”
#9: Chevy Chase’s Pratfalls
There were so many of these “Falls of the Week” that we couldn’t choose just one. So, here’s Chevy Chase falling down over and over again. Chase was part of the original cast of “not ready for prime time players” that shook up TV sketch comedy back in 1975. And for all but two shows that first season he was the guy that got to say those iconic words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night.” Usually that line would follow a pratfall. Often, Chase would perform these falls as President Gerald Ford.
#8: Girlfriends Game Night
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Great physical comedy doesn’t always have to be big. Sometimes comedy can come from simple movements. Which is the case with this funny skit from season 43. Cecily Strong comes to girlfriend game night with her much older husband, Horace (Bill Hader in a bald cap and a wheelchair). And some of the biggest laughs in the skit come as Horace tries to navigate his wheelchair around the room. So much so that Hader backing up and pushing the table has him and the other actors laughing as much as the audience. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the brilliant Bill Hader break.
#7: Wild and Crazy Guys
Decades before the head-bobbing Batubi brothers appeared on SNL, there were two Czech bachelors hunting “foxes” in New York City bars and clubs. The Festrunk brothers, played by Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin, referred to themselves as “two wild and crazy guys.” And all their moving and shaking and bobbing around perfectly accentuated their thick accents and wannabe “playboy” attitudes. Few recurring characters have reached the popularity that these two enjoyed. So much so, that Martin and Aykroyd brought the duo back 35 years after they made their first appearance on the show, in a dating game skit.
#6: Synchronized Swimming
Harry Shearer is probably best known for his many voices on “The Simpsons” - including Mr. Burns. Christopher Guest wrote and acted in such films as “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show” - which he also directed. And Martin Short is one of the great comedic performers of his generation. In 1984 these three greats came together in one of the best SNL digital film shorts of all time - about two un-athletic brothers trying to make it as male synchronized swimmers. The whole thing is hysterical, but the “routines” in the pool are classic. Point to any comedy fan who was old enough to be watching “SNL” in 1984 and say “I know you! I know you!” They’ll get the joke.
#5: Mary Katherine Gallagher Wants to Join a Gang
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Molly Shannon certainly loves to kick, stretch and kick. But she didn’t only break out those sweet moves as 50-year-old Sally O’Malley. One of her other popular recurring characters during her time on “SNL” was the made-for-TV movie quoting Catholic Schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. And in this sketch from season 24 Mary kicks, stretches, kicks and throws herself against bathroom stalls. There sure is no denying the physical comedy here. The one popular move she didn’t pull in this one, that she did in most Mary sketches, was the old “smelling your hands after putting them in your armpits”.
#4: Chippendales
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The Chippendales sketch from season 16 has become one of the most popular in the history of the show - and is often credited as the moment that launched Chris Farley to stardom. Some even knew, before the live performance, that it was going to be huge. Mike Meyers has said that he, “knew in rehearsal that a star was born.” Farley would go on to make a career out of his willingness and ability to completely commit to big, physical comedy like few others ever have. That included the rest of his time on “SNL”, and his work in films such as “Tommy Boy” and “Beverly Hills Ninja.”
#3: Rebecca Larue the Flirting Expert
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This might be one of the least well-known skits/characters on the list, but it’s also one of the funniest. Kristin Wiig has had many memorable moments on Weekend Update. But one of her best physical comedy roles might just be as Flirting Expert Rebecca Larue. In 2011 Wiig brought Larue to the Weekend Update desk to give anchor Seth Meyers a lesson in flirting. Wiig took classic flirting moves up about 10 notches and the resulting physical comedy is hysterical. It culminates in Wiig just spreading her legs right at Meyers. His shock is genuine - because it was totally improvised in that moment by Wiig.
#2: Roxbury Guys
The Butabi Brothers (better known as the Roxbury Guys) were characters that relied completely on physical comedy. And people loved it. Go to any college bar in the 90s and there’s a good chance you would see some 20-something guys bobbing their heads and pointing at girls asking, “you, me? Me? Him? You, me?” These pick-up artist wannabes, played by Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan were the “Wild and Crazy” guys of the 90s. The two pairs of “siblings” even came together on the show one time in the season 24 premiere. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. The French Chef Meryl Streep Might’ve Been Nominated for an Oscar, but Aykroyd’s Julia Child Is the Funniest Brothers Kyle Mooney & Beck Bennett Do a Reverse Kool-Aid Man Through the Wall Spartan Cheerleaders The Funniest Parts of These Will Ferrell & Cheri Oteri Sketches Were the Cheers Kissing Family There Are Kissing Cousins & Then There Is This Taste Test Melissa McCarthy Pushes the Comedy to an Explosive Conclusion
#1: Matt Foley: Van Down By The River
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Could number one on the list go to anyone else but the great Chris Farley, and his motivational speaker Matt Foley? It could not! The character made his “SNL” debut during Farley’s third season on the show. He was an immediate hit, cracking up the audience as well as the other members of the cast on stage (which was always a goal of Farley’s). As David Spade would later recall, “In rehearsal, he's done the thing with his glasses. But he'd never done the twisting his belt and hitching up the pants thing. He saved that for the live performance, and so none of us had ever seen it. He knew that would break me.” Break him it did, but we really can’t blame him!
