‘SNL’ recap: Nikki Glaser makes hosting debut; Trump leads cold open

Since her breakthrough into the mainstream last year thanks to the scorched-earth filming of Tom Brady Roast and first-class comedy “Someday You'll Die” Nikki Glaser has become a stand-up comedy star. But was this success first realized as the host of Saturday Night Live?

It's no surprise that Glaser did well, considering that her best qualities for this performance are that she's very good at telling jokes for a living, and that she's not shy about pushing the boundaries of taste in her comedy. This fits well with the current incarnation of “SNL,” which typically has at least one crude scatological sketch every episode, as well as plenty of “Weekend Update” segments and jokes that either fall into the “pretty dirty” or “crosses the line” camp.

Beyond her desperate monologue, Glaser's sensibilities centered on sketches including family members performing karaoke who seems too intimate with each other, an ad about grown men obsessed life size American Girl dollsand strange musical number about a mechanical bull who leaves with Glazer and Sarah Sherman. This, along with the funny advertisement for Jennifer Hudson's spirit tunnel drug and one about children's book charactersThese were pieces that fit well with what Glaser does, and which she performed exceptionally well.

Sketch about stalled plane and chatty pilot (James Austin Johnson) was good, but only because of Johnson's perfect in-flight intercom impression.

Unfinished mashups were less successful.”Beauty and Mister Beast” about a popular YouTuber and a sorority sketch starring Mikey Day as an intruding man with a bad facial disguise.

Glaser's long monologue may not have been as perfect as it should have been, but her sketches were spot on.

Musical guest Shadow “done”from 12 to 12” And “Return to friends” There was also a cute and funny short cartoon “Brad and his father” about a divorced father trying to mend his relationship with his 11-year-old child who is obsessed with video games.

At this week's opening, President Trump (James Austin Johnson) commented on a strange incident at the White House where a pharmaceutical company executive (Jeremy Culhane) collapsed in the Oval Office while Trump was caught on camera looking away. As Trump put it in the sketch: “Someone dies in my office, I stand and watch like a sociopath.” “Every week I try to create a visual picture,” he said, “that represents what's happening in the country, like the demolition of the White House last week. Trump walked past the fallen man to deliver a monologue about the week's events, from the New York mayoral election to cuts to SNAP benefits and rising food prices. He suggested that flight cancellations caused by the government shutdown would help keep families apart for Thanksgiving. “Kill two birds with one stone. Can't afford food? Get some cheap Ozempic,” he said. Next up: Stealing Christmas. “We're doing the Grinch!” Trump said.

Like many of the “SNL” monologues from stand-up comics, Glaser's monologues were a microdose of her comedy routine. Basically, it was full of jokes about race, politics, sexual activity and, for one unfortunate moment, the idea that someone (not Glaser, but maybe!) might suddenly realize they were a pedophile. Glaser began by calling New York “Epstein's home island” and then talked about white women appropriating culture through spray tans, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (“I'm no health expert, but neither is he”), dating a short man with an anger problem, and public restroom ads about human trafficking. In her 20s, Glaser joked, the only fear she had was “good old fashioned rape.” The barrage of jokes was exactly what you'd expect from Glaser, but some of the jokes didn't seem to land as well on the “SNL” stage as they usually do on hot shows or on her own comedy specials.

Best Sketch of the Night: When Declining Jennifer Hudson's Invitation to the Spirit Tunnel Is the Only Option

The signature episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” in which guests dance in a hallway while staff applaud and cheer them on, has become such a big deal that celebrities like Glaser, who plays herself in the ad, are worried about their dancing. Glaser, a self-described “uncoordinated white woman,” claims her dance moves are so bad they could jeopardize her career. “I even tried to put my ass in it. But I don’t have it,” she laments. But luckily, there is a drug called Hoodsacillin that makes you so sick that the celebrity in question has to cancel their appearance. “What's the alternative?” the ad asks, “Let’s light up and have some fun?”

Also good: maybe this pilot shouldn't be texting, even on the tarmac.

Despite all the flight delays and cancellations, this topical sketch was about a couple (Sherman and Andrew Dismukes) sitting on an airport runway waiting for their flight to take off while their pilot (Johnson) announces delays and also shares news about a woman he's texting that he met on a dating app. What really sells this play is Johnson's performance as the pilot, as well as the funny interactions he has with the co-pilot (Cam Patterson), Glaser as a disgruntled flight attendant, and a group of passengers who non-verbally argue about whether or not to intervene (Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang).

Weekend Update Contest Winner: A Way to Visit Staten Island Without Visiting Staten Island

The only Weekend Update guest this week is Pete Davidson checking in on the Staten Island Ferry. he bought it a few years ago from Colin Jost wins by default. Davidson referred to a New York Times article. about problems with their businessbut said, “I can't spend $5 on a paywall when I'm about to have a baby.” He promised to give Parenting “all the enthusiasm I've never had for this show.” Davidson said the ferry's new plan is to turn it into a city on the water, New Staten Island, with everything that makes Staten Island so great: pizza (turns out that's just one thing). Davidson couldn't resist taking a dig at his old boss after saying he wasn't giving up on the ferry. “If Lorne Michaels taught us anything, it’s to never give up, even if everyone says the time has come and Tina Fey is ready to take over.”