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Bowen Yang: "Saturday Night Live"

 I don't know the extent to which Bowen Yang writes material, but I'm happy about his success, and I feel that he speaks for me, week after week.


The George Santos skit seemed to write itself. I do like the sense that the lunacy increased, from lie to lie. "I received an Oscar from President Zelensky." "I was the first African-American to dunk a football." Finally, Bowen Yang appears in drag, as Kitara Ravache, and he says: "I am the virgin that Madonna mentions, in Like a Virgin."

To me, however, the true genius of Yang is evident in the "Titanic" skit from several months ago. Here, Yang mocks the American tendency to lob softball questions at celebrities, when there is clearly a scandal going unmentioned. (For example, right now you can see Rihanna telling various reporters that she wants to perform at the Super Bowl to "set an example for children," but reporters seem to tiptoe around the problematic racial and legal history of the NFL--a history that once, apparently, bothered Rihanna. These interviews are painful to watch.)

Tipping a hat to the Titanic, Bowen Yang appears on SNL as the iceberg that "sank" the boat. The iceberg becomes peevish when the question of the collision arises: "It was the BOAT that hit ME." "And why is no one pointing a finger at THE WATER?"

Finally, the iceberg gets to do what it wishes: It promotes an inane techno single, "Loverboi," which seems like something you might expect from Rihanna.

I see Yang as my personal North Star; he has such a tremendous gift.

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Comments

  1. Adolfo ProfumoFebruary 11, 2023 at 2:12 PM

    Thank you for introducing me to Bowen Yang! I have not watched SNL in years and I had fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ReaderFebruary 12, 2023 at 9:04 AM

    Happy that you have discovered Bowen Yang!

    ReplyDelete

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