Shane Gillis on “SNL”
NBC
Shane Gillis' triumphant return to the Saturday Night Live stage this weekend was a mix of humor, some of which ended with a thud – like every episode of the long-running show – and a few good laughs.
In many of the show's sketches, the comedian and podcaster's “white bro shtick” was dialed back a bit, eventually finding a sweet spot closer to the line that his routine pushes. Gillis made a great effort in his return to Studio 8H on Saturday night, but he struggled throughout his monologue and was visibly anxious as he moved on to new topics. It didn't go over well, upsetting his father, who was sitting with his mother to support him in one of his bigger career moments – yes, having a father who's a girls' basketball coach might be pretty funny for you, Shane, but That's not really it to everyone else.
Despite that rocky start — which followed a tepid, cold opening that pointed to Donald Trump's victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary — the show had some highlights. In a parody ad, Gillis promoted the betting platform Rock Bottom Kings, which allows users to bet on how low their friends' lives might sink instead of sports. In another mock advertisement, this time a movie trailer, the comic portrayed young Gordon Dwyer, who doesn't gain the basketball skills he desires, but rather a Trump-like hairstyle and a strange relationship with the truth when the former president sends him a gold medal pair High tops.
The podcasting sensation also got some laughs in a skit in which he portrayed a guest on a game show, The Floor, in which he can't remember the names of famous Black people from history as their faces flash on a screen ; The same goes for his portrayal of an incel who accuses Fugliana, the average-looking sex doll who refuses to be intimidated.
Other skits, like they will on SNL, went on way too long and stretched a single gag too far; One dealing with human resources and workplace dating seemed to last forever. And the show's signature highlight, “Weekend Update,” was noticeably short and consisted largely of a cast member dressed as a frozen embryo. Co-host Colin Jost perhaps even outdid Gillis on the uncomfortable race-related joke front with a gag about waiting out Black History Month in a leap year.
The show's musical guest, British-American rapper 21 Savage, brought the single “Redrum” onto the stage bathed in blood-red light, but the audience didn't seem to engage.
On Saturday, Gillis, the wildly popular co-host of “Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast,” returned to the show as host five years after leaving the cast. In 2019, the 36-year-old was suddenly fired when racist and homophobic jokes he had made on his show resurfaced.