Saturday Night Live Recap: Jack Black Brings The Energy

Jack Black recently hosted Saturday Night Live again, marking his first time as a member of the exclusive Five-Timers Club after a long hiatus since the early 2000s. What’s great about a Jack Black-hosted episode is that you can always count on a fully committed and energetic performance. I’d forgotten just how much energy he brought until I rewatched his episode from last year – he actually did a somersault onto the stage during his opening monologue! He consistently delivers what we expect: over-the-top expressions, musical numbers, physical comedy, and a quirky emphasis on a random word. Judging by his last appearance, Black can carry an episode even if some of the sketches don’t quite land, providing enough entertainment to make it enjoyable. While it seems difficult to have a bad show with him hosting, I still approached this episode with a bit of caution. Life – and my past requests to my accountant – have taught me that things don’t always go as planned.

I was happily surprised by how good the episode was! The writing was consistently strong, and Key & Peele’s Keegan-Michael Key delivered a fantastic performance. He really shone in every sketch he was in – whether it was as a guy determined to ignore a colleague, a hilariously unfit Spartan warrior, or an Airbnb host eager to befriend his guests. This was especially great considering the show’s tradition of five-timers club sketches meant the focus would inevitably shift to the celebrity cameos. Not that I minded – it was fun, and didn’t overstay its welcome. The sketch started with Jonah Hill guiding Key through a dusty five-timers lounge, where they met Tina Fey (sporting a custom Paddington-lined robe), Candice Bergen, and Melissa McCarthy. Marcello Hernández made a quick appearance as Domingo, followed by Jack White, who comically bumped his head with a pan. It was a strong opening, and finishing with a parody of “Seven Nation Army” left the audience buzzing with energy.

This was a strong episode overall. The show wisely avoided the usual Colin Jost bit and instead opened with Ashley Padilla as Pam Bondi alongside a hilariously mumbling Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) at a March Madness desk. The Trump-based cold opens have become predictable, so it was refreshing to see something different. While the final two sketches weren’t the strongest, I still enjoyed them enough to include one as a highlight. Here’s what stood out:

Kathy

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=ZpcMXvUi4Zg

A group of coworkers – Black, Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, and Thompson – are trying to enjoy their lunch break, but they’re constantly interrupted by Kathy, their most irritating colleague. While some character introductions can blend the guest into the existing group, that doesn’t happen here. Black takes the lead in deliberately ignoring Kathy, and his struggle to contain his frustration is hilarious. Padilla is fantastic as Kathy; she plays her with such confidence that you actually end up liking her. It’s a role that could easily be grating, but Padilla makes Kathy a strangely endearing character, even with her odd habits – like eating nachos covered in crushed birth control pills and owning a terrible phone she uses to call both her mom and the police. The final confrontation between Black and Kathy is particularly funny, with Padilla repeating “We talkin’ TV?” in a perfectly timed, almost robotic way, reminiscent of a repeating smoke detector alarm.

Words to Live By (Country Song)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=R9THMG4IOR8

James Austin Johnson’s performance as a country singer struggling to recall his late grandfather’s last words was hilarious. The song was catchy, and the whole idea was brilliantly executed – easily one of my favorite pre-taped segments this season. Kenan Thompson added to the bit with a funny story about forgetting advice from a man he met in Tibet because he was distracted by a text from his wife – the image of getting a text while in the mountains was great, and his pronunciation of “Google Calendar” is stuck in my head! When Andrew Dismukes appeared, I thought he’d have a similar forgetfulness joke, so his unexpected turn was a really funny surprise. Jack White’s forgotten guitar solo was a perfect addition. I’d absolutely love to see these four performers take this show on the road!

Husbands

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=YOLHFqiEQmM

Could music be a solution to the growing problem of loneliness among men? This sketch explores that idea with a group of wives nervously wondering if their husbands are connecting. Their worry quickly turns to surprise when one husband tentatively starts singing “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas. The song unexpectedly unites the men, leading to a lively performance complete with costumes and energetic choreography. Clever details, like a character practicing karate and another reading a magazine about respecting women, add extra layers of humor. The sketch ends with a fun reveal as one of the wives joins in, tearing off her own outfit. A secondary running joke between two characters about a bet adds another amusing element to the scene.

Weekend Update

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=ziKqd25Xswk

Stand-up routines that just involve one person telling jokes feel a bit old-fashioned, and they can be pretty predictable. That’s why I was genuinely surprised by how much I laughed during this particular comedy segment. I especially enjoyed the jokes about FEMA and drunk driving at Waffle House, JD Vance’s Catholicism, and the cyberattacks on Iran’s healthcare system.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=6jjN4oV8iSs

Sarah Sherman’s portrayal of Kristi Noem’s husband was a standout moment, particularly with the exaggerated prosthetics. The sketch cleverly used playful language to describe the look, and it was much more visually engaging than a typical “Weekend Update” segment. The quick cuts to the cue card reader, Lorne Michaels’ empty chair, the Kristi Noem impersonator, and even the heavenly dog added to the humor, as did the unexpected appearance of Kenan Thompson as Law Roach.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=JNaf-skJpzo

Kam Patterson is a great addition to the show, playing a character inspired by Professor Snape from Harry Potter. While Harry Potter references are common, Patterson’s energetic performance makes it funny. I especially loved the joke about Kingsley Shacklebolt’s name sounding like it came from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator – it really made me laugh.

Airbnb Superhost

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=OBX843W7ml4

The best sketches for me are the ones that are so strange and unpredictable they keep me hooked, even if they lose steam towards the end. This sketch featured a group of friends staying at an Airbnb, overseen by an overly attentive host named Bob (played by Kenan Thompson). Melissa McCarthy showed up as Bob’s girlfriend, and the pair went to absurd lengths to prevent their guests from leaving, starting with coating the doorknob – and eventually one of the guests – in lotion. Thompson’s unsettling, intense stare combined with his creepy smile was fantastic, and McCarthy’s physical comedy was, as always, spot-on. The whole messy, chaotic scene felt like a nostalgic trip back to watching Saturday Night Live as a teenager.

Cut for Time

Jack White, who has been on the show five times as a musical guest, only gets fifteen minutes of free parking. That means I had to move my car – it’s a hearse! I really enjoyed having him on, both during his musical performance and his appearances in the monologue and pre-taped segments. He’s great with comedic timing!

I was a little thrown off by the sudden appearance of Hernández playing Domingo during the monologue. It felt out of place, and I’ve noticed his accents throughout the season starting to feel like an easy fallback. While accent-based humor can work, I think I’m done with it unless it’s clearly meant to be part of an inside joke. It bothered me enough that it distracted me during the accents in the “Self-Defense” sketch, which was otherwise really enjoyable. Everyone in the ensemble got some funny moments, like Jane Wickline playing a tough character and threateningly saying, “I’m here to F you bitches up,” and Jeremy Culhane’s character inexplicably eating a caterpillar. It’s a shame that the Domingo thing lingered in my mind, and maybe it would have been better if that sketch had been later in the show, but it was a distraction either way.

We’re really leaning into the joke about Jack White and Jack Black, using it as much as we can.

• Black stretching out “penis” to sound like “pianist” in the “Self-Defense” sketch.

In the show’s opening sketch, Kenan Thompson, playing Charles Barkley, jokingly told Padilla, portraying Pam Bondi, that she resembled a women’s basketball coach who had been suspended for inappropriately touching a player’s hair.

• “And in the spirit of Easter, let me just say: Jesus Christ.”

2026-04-05 21:56