Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Kristen Wiig is Funny


Lately I have been noticing that Saturday Night Live has... well, been severely unfunny (and i'm sure i'm not the only one). However, there is still hope for the show, as a couple performers have been standing out from the rest. I am talking, of course, about Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg. They either get into the good sketches or make the sketches good, I don't know.
First, Kristen Wiig. Her characters are just hilarious. My only criticism would be that they are all very similar. I can't quite put a name on it, it's just something in the way she takes her characters way over the top. It's risky territory, but she pulls it off. A favorite of mine is the sketch that takes place at a dinner party. The hosts keep calling in their hideous children, and in the end the guests just leave. They have done two reproductions of the sketch, both starring Kristen Wiig. I can't quite remember who accompanied her in the first sketch, but I know it was better. Mainly because, let's face it, Michael Phelps CAN'T ACT. He's a swimmer. Not a performer.
Second, Andy Samberg. He is perhaps not quite as funny is Wiig, but sometimes he can really save a sketch. His demeanors are quite good. Without him, "Deep House Dish" would be totally lost. He manages to save the terrible writing, but only barely. It's just that bad (although the spoof of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" was pretty damn hilarious, if you like that sort of thing). My favorite of his is the Space Olympics digital short. He really sells his character... whatever his character is.
In my opinion, SNL should stop putting a ton of work into making the sketches just plain weird and start focusing on making their sketches have an actual punchline. Otherwise the sketches fall flate on their face, which has been happening frequently.
At least we still have Wiig and Samberg.

I apologize for the slightly under-par grammar and sentence structure of this post. It was a long day.

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