Some of the best Saturday Night Live sketches in recent memory are those that embraced specificity in their comedy. To cite one recent example: this week, guest host Austin Butler joined the cast for a sketch that simultaneously celebrated and mocked marzipan. Full disclosure: marzipan is something I’ve been consuming around Christmas ever since I was a small child. (Then again, a sizable chunk of my family is Austrian.) I think it’s quite tasty! Evidently, someone who writes for SNL disagrees.
It seems possible that marzipan — which, I would argue, is a delicious almond-flavored candy that sometimes comes shaped like a pig — is an acquired taste. (Full disclosure: several members of my family might be getting marzipan in their stockings this year.) But I was genuinely not expecting Saturday Night Live to dedicate a full sketch — complete with a musical number! — to the mysteries of marzipan. And yet here we are.
It is also worth mentioning that nearly everything about this sketch is weird and perfect. From Austin Butler’s terrifying smile to Bowen Yang’s existential terror, this is one of the most gloriously weird sketches the show has aired in a while.
And please, don’t let it discourage you from trying marzipan if you haven’t already done so — even if you can’t get the song from this sketch out of your brain.
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