'SNL' host Quinta Brunson once again teaches a comedy master class

When she appeared for the archetypal clip connected “Saturday Night Live” a twelvemonth ago, “Abbott Elementary” creator and prima Quinta Brunson gave 1 of past year’s champion hosting performances, bringing large comic timing and characters to the show.

It was nary fluke. Returning to the amusement for her 2nd outing, Brunson proved conscionable arsenic adept astatine bringing her comedic sensibilities to an occurrence that featured an wide beardown lineup of caller sketches. There was lone 1 retread and adjacent that one, a reprise of the standout “Traffic Altercation,” was worthy revisiting.

It’s absorbing to comparison Brunson’s just-as-excellent 2nd changeable to 2 different comics who hosted successful Season 49 and Season 50: Nate Bargatze and Shane Gillis. While Bartgatze’s return was good, it didn’t rather scope the peaks of the archetypal appearance. And Gillis, inexplicably called backmost into work aft a not-great debut arsenic host, was much worse the 2nd clip around.

But Brunson didn’t suffer a measurement since past year; she was comic playing a time-traveling Harriet Tubman who, on with Kenan Thompson arsenic Frederick Douglass, didn’t privation to spell backmost to the past in a “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” parody; went daffy arsenic 1 of respective atrocious employees astatine a enactment summit; played a exemplary successful an ad for Forever 31’s sad, oversized clothing; and 1 of “Two B— vs. a Gorilla” (the different was Ego Nwodim), astir trash-talking women facing disconnected with a gorilla astatine the zoo.

If that wasn’t enough, she played a joke-spouting old-time boxer, Jerry “Jackrabbit” Tulane, who stops being truthful comic aft getting beaten up aggregate times successful the ring, and 1 fractional of a feisty and unexpectedly sexy “OnlySeniors” mates in an security ad.

Bruson scored again and again and adjacent sang successful the monologue; she should person an unfastened invitation to instrumentality adjacent season.

Musical impermanent Benson Boone backflipped earlier performing, “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” and did not bash a backflip earlier performing “Mystical Magical.” He concisely appeared connected Weekend Update arsenic an Applebee’s waiter, referencing his deed opus “Beautiful Things,” which Boone didn’t perform.

Just arsenic President Trump has dominated quality rhythm aft quality rhythm this year, truthful has helium commandeered the “SNL” acold open: erstwhile again, James Austin Johnson played the hard-charging POTUS, delivering a drawstring of enforcement orders with creepy lord of acheronian Stephen Miller (an progressively vampiric Mikey Day). Trump signed orders to deport “Sesame Street” on with Elmo (“Brought to you by the missive L for El Salvador”), pardon J.K. Rowling for transphobic comments and bring backmost Columbus Day for Italian-Americans specified arsenic Tony Soprano, Benny Blanco (who is Jewish) and Childish Gambino (the signifier sanction of Donald Glover, who is Black). Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) appeared for an bid to support Hispanic babies from getting their ears pierced, and Trump besides made moves to marque the New York Times Connections crippled easier, crook the connection “Recession” into “Recess” and outlaw ghosts. “Every Christmas Eve, I get visited by 3 ghosts. I don’t cognize what the hellhole they’re talking about,” Trump said.

Brunson began her monologue with jokes astir the clip she worked for a telephone enactment enactment (“By the extremity of my archetypal week, I had lone made $1.38.”) earlier landing connected the taxable of her opus and creation number: her height. The 4-foot-11 histrion said, “They tried to formed maine arsenic a kid connected ‘Abbott Elementary’ and I wrote that!” Eschewing a microphone that was excessively high, she sang astir the large things astir being small, specified arsenic being a inexpensive day with wine. She was soon joined by different diminutive star: popular vocalist Sabrina Carpenter, who compared notes with her, asking, “When you work abbreviated stories, bash they consciousness similar novels?” Former NBA prima Dwyane Wade towered implicit the ladies, but insisted he’s inactive abbreviated compared to different hoops players astatine 6-foot-4. “I conscionable truly privation to beryllium successful the song,” helium said.

Best sketch of the night: Don’t inquire your parents excessively galore questions astir ‘OnlySeniors’

Brunson and Thompson play aged parents whose kids (Nwodim and Devon Walker) find retired they’ve got beingness security done a work that requires them to person enactment and walk a batch of clip bare for online fans. “We acceptable up our camera and bash worldly to each other. And ticker the wealth conscionable commencement pouring in,” they’re told. When they’re not interacting with their “Filthy small chat babies,” they’re spending clip with their also-naked neighbors and (checks notes) sitting connected cakes? In these uncertain economical times, it’s a concern exemplary that seems precise viable.

Also good: Now you present the traffic-altercation motion connection for Iraq

Mikey Day and Brunson faced disconnected again successful abstracted cars (but didn’t look to admit each different from past time) to conflict with a bid of manus gestures and facial expressions implicit atrocious parking connected a ferry. Day’s quality can’t forgive the different operator for parking excessively close, saying helium needs much than fractional an inch, which invites a devastating effect from the pistillate successful the different car. Day’s girl Quinn (Chloe Fineman) participates with over-the-line intersexual gestures, prompting Brunson’s quality to marque gestures for a gardening instrumentality arsenic she tells him who helium raised. Sure, it’s a repeat, but again it’s executed perfectly connected some ends, with the lone disappointing enactment being an quality by Colin Jost, who’s trying to merchantability the real-life ferry helium bought with Pete Davidson. It’s not that Jost is bad, it’s conscionable that it couldn’t perchance unrecorded up to Mellssa McCarthy’s appearance erstwhile they did a version of this sketch with Martin Short.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: And present a connection from Michael Longfellow

Sarah Sherman and Bowen Yang played horny barflys astatine Applebee’s who are bittersweet astir concatenation restaurants closing down. But it was Michael Longfellow’s declaration of not getting a Real ID that won “Update” this week. Longfellow said, “You already gave maine an ID. If it’s fake, you hole it. The Pope is dead, fto maine mourn.” It didn’t rather follow, but Longfellow went connected to gag astir his airy enactment docket of 12 hours a week astatine “SNL” (“I’m conscionable not successful that overmuch worldly this season.”) earlier making up rules for aerial question including, “If the TSA touches your crotch, they person to support going until you climax.” It’s true, Longfellow has been a airy beingness this season, but successful segments similar this, it’s wide he’s got a large bid of his delivery. It volition beryllium bully if he’s backmost for Season 51 and gets much surface clip to amusement disconnected his talents.