Recap: 'Saturday Night Live' with Russell Brand
The British are invading all over again!
This Valentine's Day weekend, Saturday Night Live featured comedian Russell Brand in a number of British-related skits. Brand's opening monologue felt to run a bit longer than usual, despite him making a number of laugh-out-loud jokes.
He repeatedly compared his celebrity status in the States versus in Great Britain, humorously saying that he's "famous in the U.K.," which of course defeats the purpose of being famous. Brand also talked about how great it is being married to Katy Perry -- whenever there are strange sounds in the house, she makes him go downstairs to check what's up.
The first skit, "Vacation Getaway" was passable; it was mostly filled with a Travel Channel host's (Kirsten Wiig) irritating screams and squeals. Brand played an average American who won a six-week vacation.
A British movie trailer for a movie titled Don' You Go Rounin' Roun to Re Ro was one the most hilarious skits. Bill Hader played a former English prison mate, making several exaggerated facial contortions while at it.
The skit pokes fun at British English with each of the actors speaking indiscernible language. The trailer featured different takes on the film, including: "USA Today said, 'I thought they were speaking a foreign language...I don't think I heard a single consonant,' " and " 'The critics are raving 'British,' 'Extremely British,' and 'I didn't know what they were saying' ".
The highlight of the Weekend Update was Jay Pharoah's Lil Wayne and Taran Killam's Eminem, sharing their collaborated Valentine's Day song. Pharoah's Lil Wayne said, "This is a song straight from the heart. We wrote it while drinking red wine and watching The Notebook." Killiam's impersonation was dead on, especially the glaring eyes.
The "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" Broadway show disasters provided material for a lawsuit firm Gublin and Green skit. It humorously tackled every complaint on the show, including, "Didn't like the songs; confused by plot; insulted legacy of Spiderman; fell asleep so suddenly I hit the head on seat in front of me; sucky title; Green Goblin's pants fell down, saw package." Settlements included one free ticket to the show and a Spider-Man hat.
In another skit, Brand plays George Washington. He arrives in modern times thanks to a time machine and almost immediately physically attacks Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner. He ends the skit, crying, "Are you Gods or are you men? What is this place?!"
Chris Brown was the musical guest of the night. He sang "No BS" and "Yeah 3x." Brand appeared to have distaste for the woman-beater when he introduced Brown. The closing credits were also awkward with Chris Brown bringing on stage his entire crew, which pushed aside the SNL cast.