'SNL' host Jack Black mines some fresh energy, and a word gets past the censors

Jack Black wasn't afraid to get silly in this week's episode, which featured an appearance from Mike Myers, a curse word that slipped the censors and jabs at Morgan Wallen.

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Even though he’s never disappeared from the public eye, appearing in high-profile live-action and animated movie projects for decades, the last time Jack Black hosted “Saturday Night Live” was in December 2005.

The near 20-year break must have allowed the actor and Tenacious D musician to stash away a private reserve of energy for his fourth time as host. Appearing to promote “A Minecraft Movie,” the just-released video game to film adaptation that is already a surprise hit, Black proved reliably funny, goofy and ready to belt out a song at a moment’s notice, which he did in multiple sketches, plus the song-and-dance monologue.

As with the recent Lady Gaga episode, the sketches and video segments were successfully tailored to Black and weren’t repeats of sketches that have worked before. For his part, Black was funny as a dating-show contestant dressed like Indiana Jones (but who denies he’s aware of the character); a cartoonist whose girlfriend (Heidi Gardner) keeps kissing other men for photographs at the end of World War II; and a romantic who sings about having sex for the first time with Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang and musical guest Brandi Carlile, who were all suspended on wires.

Black also played a musician leading an open jam inundated by too many bassists, a member of a dinner party where everyone is trying to one-up each other and an audience member for the very first play ever performed, back in ancient Greece. The sketches were sillier than usual but very much in a vibe with Black’s comedic rhythms and willingness to simply go for it. It’s hard to imagine any other host this season, for instance, doing such rubber-faced manic justice to a very gross and very funny “Flaming Hot Preparation H” commercial parody.

Based on this week’s performance alone, it shouldn’t be another 20 years before Black is back to claim his 5-Timers’ jacket. Musical guests Elton John and Brandi Carlile performed “Little Richard’s Bible” and “Who Believes in Angels?” Before the closing goodnights, a title card appeared for Val Kilmer, who hosted “SNL” in 2000 and who died this week.

The week’s cold open featured President Trump (James Austin Johnson) discussing the economy and making light of the week’s steep stock market drops. Calling tariffs “Short for ‘Tariffic Idea,’ ” Trump said he’s excited for MAGDA, or Make America Great Depression Again. “We’ll be the ones eating the cats, the dogs, that’s gonna be so fun. Low and slow, braise them,” he said. Trump showed off a large, expensive cardboard chart of countries and reciprocal tariffs, and in his stream-of-consciousness patter, said, “Get me back to God’s country,” a reference to last week’s musical guest Morgan Wallen exiting the end of the show early and posting that phrase on Instagram soon after. (The incident was also mentioned on “Weekend Update” this week, with Colin Jost remarking that the stock market is losing money faster than Wallen leaving the show during goodnights.) Trump was joined by Elon Musk (Mike Myers) who showed off a video of a new Tesla model that is self-vandalizing. It can smash its own headlights, flatten its own tires, and draw AI-powered graffiti of penises, swastikas or swastikas made of penises.

Black mentioned the long hiatus between hosting gigs and used it as an opportunity to first announce that he was stressed out and quitting the show. But it was a ruse to get to a tweaked version of Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle,” which Black rocked out on, running through the audience, and high kicking after being joined by Gardner, Kenan Thompson and Marcello Hernández and a seven-person marching band. It was an energetic way to get the show going after the fairly sedate cold open.

What starts out as a song about Jamaica featuring Thompson and Ego Nwodim takes a sharp turn, because it’s really about an awkward goth kid (Michael Longfellow) on vacation. As the singers recount, he wears big black jeans and combat boots on the beach, comically. Goth kid also plays Magic: The Gathering and isn’t crazy about the sun. It’s a funny idea and well executed, but what really puts it over the top is Jack Black in goth gear singing a parody of My Chemical Romance’s “The Black Parade.” It’s an absolutely specific and perfect surprise that helps turn a good sketch into a great one.

Not everyone will love this commercial take on the “Flamin’ Hot”/”Hot Ones” craze, an ever-increasing arms race of hot sauces and chip powders. But combining Chester Cheetah, the animated spokesperson for Cheetos, with an overeager pitchman for Flamin’ Hot Preparation H produces a gasp-inducing escalation and ending that is as gross as it is hysterical. Even poor Chester is horrified. Maybe it’s not the most tasteful comedy, but we’re not made of stone. It’s funny.

Hernandez and Jane Wickline returned as Grant and Alyssa, the couple you can’t believe are together, but it was Ego Nwodim who delivered a piece that will likely be discussed all week: one in which she got the audience to yell out a non-bleeped expletive on live television. Nwodim was responding to the cancellation of comedian Amber Ruffin from the White House Correspondents’ dinner, offering to host the event herself, not as a roast of politicians but as a roast of the night’s dining experience. That’s a funny premise, but Nwodim took it several levels beyond that, creating a stand-up persona named Ms. Eggy who uses puns and veers into topics like sex after 50. As Colin Jost and Michael Che appeared to be losing their minds behind her, Nwodim got the audience to complete the sentence, “Ms. Eggy don’t…” with the response, “play!” Later, she did it again with, “These men ain’t…” and the audience responded with a word that starts with an “S” and got right past the censors. Delighted, Nwodim teased, “We gonna get fined for that! Lorne gonna be mad at y’all!” Even with Jack Black’s fine job hosting, it was Nwodim who brought the house down with the episode’s best and wildest moment.

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