Top 10 SNL Sketches That Are Weird AF
#10: Sloths!
The Lonely Island is one of “SNL’s” most consistent outputs, but they’re certainly not without their eccentricities. Such is the case with the bizarre Sloths sketch, which took the guise of an educational video made by the Staten Island Technical High School in conjunction with the Staten Island Zoo. The video is a total aural onslaught, complete with chants of “SLOTHS! SLOTHS! SLOTHS!” and hilariously bizarre lyrics like, “We got three toes, but we’ll pound down 3,000 Bud Lights!” Sloths are funny, we all get that. Pretending that they’re actually hardcore party animals is even funnier. Even if it is a bit weird.
#9: Space Pants
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We feel like this sketch was tailor-made to become a meme. It didn’t, but hey, they tried. It begins with a group of gangsters meeting in a fancy restaurant to discuss an important money issue. Once the head gangster pulls out a gun, a ridiculous-looking Peter Dinklage appears on stage and begins doing the robot and singing a synth-pop tune about his funky space pants. What exactly is the joke here? That a serious mafia meeting was interrupted by such a ludicrous song and performer? That Peter Dinklage is wearing a funny wig and wearing silly pants? Either way, it’s totally offbeat and unconventional, but then again, many “SNL” viewers love those types of sketches, so all the power to it.
#8: Butt County Dance Party
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Even the Golden Age of “Saturday Night Live” contained a fair share of wacky sketches. This surprisingly great episode from 1976, hosted by “Psycho’s” Anthony Perkins, contained a sketch called the Butt County Dance Party. It sees students competing in a dance competition while a state trooper, played by Perkins, runs their names through a computer to check for outstanding warrants. This premise sounds ludicrous and confusing enough, but the sketch also contained premature cues, panicked improvisation from Dan Aykroyd, and random stock footage of car crashes. It was a total mess, but then again, this is live television! Messes are what we come for!
#7: The NASA Potato Chip Sketch
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“Potato Chip” may be an “SNL” cult favorite, but there’s no denying that it was really, REALLY weird. It stars Jason Sudeikis as a man interviewing for an astronaut position at NASA, and Will Forte as the man conducting the interview. When Forte leaves the room, Sudeikis eats one of his potato chips, culminating in a protracted (and annoying) screaming match and a particularly nasty regurgitation. The creative forces behind the sketch, including Sudeikis and Forte, recognize the sketch as the strangest thing they’ve ever done, with Forte stating, “Part of it is just bleary-eyed from being up all night.” Yeah, we’ve all been there. And we’ve all thought of much weirder stuff than this.
#6: Googly Eyes
This sketch boils down to one idea – what if we stuck silly googly eyes onto plants? And really, that’s about all there is to it. So, you know, your mileage may vary. Christopher Walken, who singlehandedly saves this sketch from complete and total failure, stars as a gardener who is afraid of his plants. To feel in control and to assuage his fear, he sticks googly eyes onto them in the hopes of making them more humanoid. To the sketch’s credit, the plants do look ridiculous and funny, and Walken sells it with all the heart and soul he can muster. Then again, Walken can sell pretty much anything.
#5: Debating the Quality of Weezer
In this sketch starring guest host Matt Damon, he and Leslie Jones debate the relevance of Weezer. Damon loves their modern work. Jones thinks they peaked with “Pinkerton.” The following four minutes sees them growing increasingly irritated with each other until Damon storms out of the house in frustration. And that’s it. There aren’t really any jokes, bar a few silly insults – the entire sketch is literally just characters debating the relevancy of Weezer. Not only is this an odd premise for a comedy sketch, but it would be totally lost on those unfamiliar with Weezer’s music. Was it a promotion for their upcoming “Black Album” and “Africa” cover? Was it a writer airing their Weezer grievances? Who knows?
#4: Super Bass-O-Matic
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The weirdest stories often come from real life. According to Dan Aykroyd, he once watched his aunt throw an entire bass into the blender, bones and all. The things people will do to experiment with food! A decade or so later, Dan adapted this experience into an “SNL” sketch which saw him blending a small bass into nasty pink sludge. However bizarre the concept, it turned into a surprisingly funny segment thanks to Aykroyd’s natural charisma. According to Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, writers of “A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live,” everyone in the writers’ room was left speechless and open-mouthed when Aykroyd pitched the idea. We don’t blame them.
#3: Diner Lobster
Originally written by episode host and former "SNL" writer John Mulaney and Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost in 2010, we don’t know what was going through their heads when they thought of this. It all starts as a funny bit of observational comedy, as Pete Davidson’s character orders lobster from a diner, which his buddy finds sketchy. This could have made for a funny storyline on “Seinfeld,” but this is “SNL” we’re talking about here! Of course, it would transition to a “Les Misérables” parody involving Broadway tunes, a giant ocean-themed barricade, and Kenan Thompson dressed as a lobster inside a giant water tank! It was certainly unexpected, and it was totally, and hilariously, surreal.
#2: Laser Cats
Sometimes “SNL” likes to poke fun at itself. Laser Cats is a great example of this. This meta sketch sees Andy Samberg and Bill Hader pitching a ridiculous idea to Lorne Michaels. The idea is “Laser Cats,” a poorly produced film shot by Samberg and Hader that tells a post-apocalyptic story involving laser-shooting cats. Naturally, it ends with a disappointed Lorne telling them to get out of his office. It’s certainly a weird concept, and the fact that Samberg and Hader acknowledge its eccentricity doesn’t make it any less peculiar. We never thought we’d see laser-shooting cats on “Saturday Night Live,” but such magic is what you get with the digital shorts. Before we look at the weirdest “SNL” sketch of all time, here are a few honorable mentions. Deer Crossing Spaceship Barbie Instagram Liza Minnelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp What Up with That?
#1: David S. Pumpkins
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We still have no idea what David S. Pumpkins was all about. In this famous sketch, a couple visits a Tower of Terror-themed amusement park. While they are initially enthused by the scares, they soon grow confused with David S. Pumpkins, an eccentric man dressed in a pumpkin suit who dances to silly electronic music. Like the fictional couple, many viewers found the sketch confusing, although it was generally considered a puzzling success. Even Tom Hanks didn’t quite get the sketch, and even tried to get out of it by suggesting it be moved to the next week’s episode. We’re glad they didn’t. Like Forrest Gump, we couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role but Tom Hanks.
