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Britney Spears on SNL

This past weekend, we were all given a treat, which was not one but two classic Chloe Fineman bits. Fineman is the young genius on SNL who made waves months ago with her Laura Dern impression.

Fineman, an NYU grad, once dreaded life as a "serious actress," before realizing the thing she loved most in the world was impersonating actual crazy people who live in the actual world. She began with skits about her loony acting teacher; soon enough, she was also Drew Barrymore, Ivanka Trump, and Meryl Streep. And the list grows and grows.

This past Saturday night, SNL spoofed the "Master Class" series; you know, that thing that advertises itself to you whenever you use YouTube. You can pay money and see James Patterson self-seriously murmuring: "Some advice for you....Feel free to SUCK in your first draft...."

Chloe Fineman became Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Saturday, and she was pitching a Master Class in "journaling." Several areas became targets for satire: PWB's habit of winning multiple Emmy Awards just for breathing, the weird disconnect between PWB's fancy accent and her smuttiness ("It was a cheesy, drippy, slutty tart of a pizza...."), PWB's strange, almost alien cheeriness ("My twatty neighbor hates me!")....Delightful....

But the highlight of the evening was Fineman as Britney Spears, a signature Fineman creation. I'm not even sure you need to know who Britney Spears is to appreciate this bit. Fineman gives us a mesmerizing child-woman, locked within a compound ("I've been quarantined for five years...."), posing, painting, and blithely recalling (via impromptu song) the day she "burned down her gym." As always, I'm so happy that Chloe Fineman exists. The Britney drama has a sense of urgency; it just had to be released into the world. I can't think of any other star who could invent this material, and SNL is lucky to have Fineman, for however long the agreement lasts.

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