Advertisement 1

Rob Ford spoofed in 'SNL' opening sketch

Article content

The Rob Ford crack fiasco reached new heights in pop culture last night after “Saturday Night Live” spoofed the Toronto mayor in its opening sketch.

The show’s cold open was dedicated to Toronto’s on-going international embarrassment – with Bobby Moynihan as Ford fielding questions from a CBC Toronto journalist (like THAT would ever happen!) who played tape of three disastrous RoFo press conferences. Perhaps it's not surprising, but it is important to note: Rob Ford even trumped Barack Obama this week. A sketch on the prez was relegated to the SECOND spot of the night.


Opener - CBC News Toronto - SNL 11-16-13 by IdolxMuzic

So, smoking crack, driving drunk, threatening someone’s life in a leaked video, and saying the P-word on live TV is what gives a Canadian mayor top billing over the president of the United States on “SNL.”

Now we know.

Lady Gaga was host and musical guest for the night. Here are the highlights:

COLD OPEN:

CBC graphic! It's happening! We see Taran Killam as a CBC Toronto news anchor interviewing RoFo, played fairly convincingly by Bobby Moynihan wearing a good wig and some ample padding. The anchor keeps cuing up tape of Ford’s past press conference apologies, each clip digging the mayor a deeper hole. In the first presser replay, we see the mayor apologizing before telling the media to kiss his “fat white ass.” In the second apology presser, he’s interrupted by his crack dealer. In the third press conference, he’s dancing the robot with liquor in his hand and leaps on top of the podium. Sadly, this is not much nuttier than last week’s events at City Hall.

So was the sketch funny? Well, compared to the Ford scandal comedy buffet we’ve had over the past two weeks – this sketch was a letdown. While every single late-night host has had their opportunity to take a swipe or two (or twenty) at the mayoral scandal, “SNL” had been on hiatus, waiting on the sidelines. Let’s face it, expectations were set too high – and any good joke writers might have wanted to include was probably already written by Jimmy Kimmel last week.

Many Canadian Twitter users were also insulted by the bad accents. There was the obligatory “eh” and a really bad “aboot” – the typical stereotypes. It’s a shame too, since Rob Ford’s accent IS really funny. Hoser accents must be hard for Americans to master. And just for the record, Scottish people say “a-boot” – Canadians say “a-boat.” Get it right for next time.

MONOLOGUE

A few seconds after introducing herself, Lady Gaga switches over to song with a jazzy, “Chicago”-inspired version of her hit “Applause.” She switched the words to “Cheap Applause” and then spent the rest of the performance trying to get some:

“Make some noise if you’re from out of town!”

“Put your hands together if you want to end childhood obesity!”

She ends with “New York, New York” and then turns around, lifts up her skirt and flashes her thong.

Cheap applause indeed.

BEST SKETCH:

WHAAAT? THE WORST COVER SONGS OF ALL TIME

Taran Killam’s wearing cartoonishly huge dreadlocks – so it must be time to make fun of Counting Crow’s Adam Duritz again. This time Duritz is hawking a compilation album of the world’s worst cover songs – and considering he’s the one who remade Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” back in 2002, he would know one when he heard one. Also included on the disc is Britney Spears singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (in her “Baby, One More Time” pigtails) and a rendition of Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” by Lana Del Ray and…uh…Nathan Lane.

WORST SKETCH:

WAKING UP WITH KIMYE

Life is already over-saturated with Kardashians. So if “SNL” wants to give us a Kardashian sketch, they better make it funny. While this morning show starring Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had a few decent moments (Kim thinking she’d invented the washing machine, making a macaroni necklace) it also featured a Kris Jenner impersonator, so all humour went down the drain from there.

ODDS AND ENDS:

Gaga’s first performance of “Do What U Want” needs a mention – not just because of her ABBA-inspired jumpsuit, or for all the times she spent slithering around on the floor, but for the fact that R. Kelly made a surprise appearance and did push ups on top of her. Not a shock to anyone who knows R. Kelly. At least he didn’t strip.

Article content
Advertisement 2
Advertisement
Article content
Article content
Latest National Stories
    News Near Tillsonburg
      This Week in Flyers