Shane Gillis Brings Awkwardly Funny White Guy Energy To An Uneven Saturday Night Live

If you tuned into "Saturday Night Live" for the first time in awhile, you may have taken a look at this weekend's host Shane Gillis and thought, "Who the hell is this?" Thankfully, the comedian rather self-aware of this surprising turn for "SNL," even acknowledging that he probably shouldn't be on the stage in Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. That's because, a few years ago, Gillis was actually hired as a featured played for "SNL," but he was quickly fired from the show before his debut after some racially insensitive jokes from his own comedy podcast came to light and created a swell of controversy around him. Gillis seems to regret those comments, as he implored those unfamiliar with him not to Google what got him into trouble, but he didn't exactly apologize, so it's still a fairly awkward situation all around.

Speaking of awkward, that's pretty much what we got for this entire episode. Though Gillis is an accomplished stand-up comedian with a sizable following (not necessarily with the most desirable fans) and his own Netflix special, it was clear that he was struggling through this monologue. Gillis laments that a lot of his material is not suitable for TV, so this is what he has to work with, but the same can be said for a variety of stand-up comedians who have the same problem. Of course, that wasn't the only issue; Gillis lacked versatility, couldn't stop reading from the cue cards, and created a vibe that was consistently stilted. That's not to say that the episode didn't have some good laughs or that Gillis was a complete wash. He leaned into his image as a schlubby white guy, and it worked for several sketches. But his overall presence made for an uncomfortable environment, and he had a really hard time shaking the awkwardness of the monologue.

Let's dig into the highs and lows of Shane Gillis' episode of "Saturday Night Live."

Trump Sneakers – In case you didn't hear, Donald Trump announced another way to scheme a bunch of money from the most loyal and stupid of his followers by releasing custom pairs of high top sneakers that are metallic gold with a touch of a shimmering American flag. One dimwit even paid $9,000 for a pair. However, rather than take the easy target of those dumb enough to buy these shoes, "SNL" came up with a faux movie trailer for a "Like Mike"-esque movie where Shane Gillis gets a pair of Trump's sneakers, and he's suddenly able to convince people that he's good basketball, despite actually being terrible. That talent also extends to his exploits in the bedroom and beyond, and we get this hilarious sketch imagining your average white guy being enveloped by Donald Trump's unjustifiably inflated sense of self-worth.

Gillis' impersonation of Trump shows one of the aspects of his comedic experience that was likely appealing to Lorne Michaels at the time of his hiring, because this was before James Austin Johnson came along to bring the former President of the United States to life on the show. In fact, we get to see the two impressions meet. While Johnson's seems superior, I think it's because he leans more into the lampooning of Trump, whereas Gillis keeps his impression a little less cartoonish. But it's not hard to see how Gillis likely would have carved out a niche for himself as Trump on the show. However, the rest of the episode makes us wonder if that would have been enough for him to keep his job at "SNL" if he wasn't fired. 

It's not that the rest of the episode was downright terrible, because there are a couple of really funny sketches, but most of them felt stilted and awkwardly paced. Some of that falls on Gillis, but it also feels like the audience had a hard time getting back on the comedian's side after a rough monologue (more on that later). 

Just take the "Forrest Gump" inspired sketch above, where Shane Gillis plays one of the jerks who used to torment Forrest Gump when they were in high school. He's the guy who used to drive around his friends to throw rocks at Forrest after school. While his friends are ashamed of their former antics, Gillis' character hasn't changed a bit, and he's still a total douchebag. Focusing on a high school reunion where one of Forrest's bullies is somehow unaware of his massive success, as well as the tragedies Gump's life has endured, is a very funny premise. But Gillis' timing and delivery for his lines never quite finds a groove. This was probably his best performance in a sketch (at least when it comes to the live sketches), so you can see why the episode struggled throughout the evening.

Then we have this "Fugliana" sketch, with Gillis leading a commercial about a sex doll that looks a little more attainable for a guy who looks like Gillis. Again, here's a hilarious premise that Gillis is perfectly suited for, but he clumsily treads through the dialogue and can't quite nail the delivery. Thankfully, the sketch is saved by the hilarious physical comedy of Sarah Sherman, Heidi Gardner, Punkie Johnson, and Chloe Fineman as the sex dolls in question, so there are still laughs to be had, but Gillis still struggled. At the same time, it's hard to be mad at him, because he's still enjoying himself, as evidenced by the sudden break at the very end of this sketch. Honestly, I think Gillis was so nervous about being there, especially after that monologue, and even after everything that has happened since his firing, he still wasn't prepared for this stage. 

Another sketch that could have been a home run with smoother delivery was this "They're Listening" sketch, which focuses on how apps like Facebook and Instagram always seem to be listening to our conversations, because they always turn up eerily time ads about the very things we've been discussing with our friends and family. Gillis, of course, doesn't buy into it, because he's always getting ads for things that don't apply to him, like a Green Bay Packers themed butt plug that plays the team's fight song. Of course, we know where this is going, and though the gag is quite funny, the execution is fumbled and messy because Gillis just doesn't seem like a good fit for sketch comedy, at least not live sketch comedy. If you look at all the pre-recorded sketches, Gillis is fine, but he seems to have trouble with the live bits — and when the show is called "Saturday Night Live," that's a problem.

As for the rest of the night, sketches like "HR Meeting" and "Church on Vacation" offered some amusing premises that never quite took off, for a lot of the same reasons that plagued the better sketches. A parody of the game show "The Floor" was underwhelming too, with a premise that feels like it's been done much better in other game show sketches. The one true dud seemed to be a pre-taped sketch for a gambling app where you bet on just how hard your gambling-addicted friend will fall. It's a decent idea, but it feels like it both overstayed its welcome and never really escalated beyond the basic premise. There's also the politically themed cold open, with Republican politicians like Marco Rubio and Tim Scott celebrating Trump's recent victories on the presidential campaign trail while remembering all the nasty things Trump has said about them in the past. It's one of those sketches that's too real and sad to be funny, because it's not really all that much of an exaggeration from real life. 

All right, you've already pretty much gotten an idea of how Shane Gillis turned out as a host. Though Gillis was once hired as an "Saturday Night Live" featured player, we've seen plenty of comedians get hired into the same position only to find out that they don't exactly vibe with the fast-paced, high pressure environment that "SNL" is known for. Plenty of stellar stand-up comics and even sketch comedians have come to "SNL" but end up not being able to function efficiently on-camera in front of a live audience, and Gillis seems like he would have been one of those players.

Right at the top, Gillis is clearly nervous. It's actually rather endearing, and what I appreciate about this set is that it's pure stand-up comedy. This feels like exactly the kind of set you could see him do at a comedy club where some of his material doesn't go over particularly well. Now, that's not exactly what you want out of someone who was has an opportunity to host a show like "Saturday Night Live," which is still one of the rarest opportunities in show business, despite being on the air for nearly 50 years. But ya gotta give credit to Gillis for being self-aware enough to make fun of himself, point out when things aren't going well, but still land some great bits. It just feels rough when he's on stage for eight minutes and one too many jokes don't go over well with the audience. 

In particular, I think people had a hard time connecting with the bits about his relatives with Down syndrome, perhaps being unsure if this was something they should be laughing at. That's understandable, especially at the time when irreverent comedy comes at the risk of being "canceled." But in this case, Gillis has a firm foot to stand on, because he's not mocking Down syndrome or the people with it, but talking about the naturally funny practicalities of people who do have it, even acknowledging that people with Down syndrome aren't nearly as different from us as certain people might think. The same can be said for his bit about every young boy being gay for their mother. It's not a joke at the expense of gay people, but it equates a young boy's behavior to that of gay man. That's just good observational comedy. It's still a shame that Gillis couldn't find any firm footing in his monologue to get comfortable enough to make the rest of the night go a little better. 

On a separate note, Gillis seems to be in a position where he's not reviled by his fellow comedians, even those that you might think would be immediately put off after his "Saturday Night Live" controversy. Take Bowen Yang, for example, who was hired the same year as Gillis and became the show's first Chinese-American cast member and only its third gay cast member. Yang hasn't been shy about certain "SNL" guests and incidents that have rubbed him the wrong way, such as Dave Chappelle and Nikki Haley making an appearance, but he doesn't seem to take umbrage with Gillis hosting the show, despite the fact that he was under fire for both homophobic and racist remarks about Asian people. There seems to be an established kinship between them, likely from running the same comedy circuits for years together. They even hugged during the goodbyes at the end of the show. So maybe Gillis isn't quite the villain that he's been painted as, even if some of the fan following in the wake of his "SNL" firing is still a little questionable. It doesn't change the fact that he wasn't great on "SNL," but maybe his comedic presence overall deserves some kind of reassessment. 

By the way, almost all of his bumper photos that show up when "SNL" returns from a commercial break had him doing a thumbs up, which was a pretty funny gag in itself. 

Well, there was one sketch that was cut for time and made available pretty quickly on the "SNL" YouTube channel. Honestly, I wish this sketch would have made it into the show rather than one of the live sketches that didn't land as well. In fact, this sketch would have fit perfectly into the slot of the "Rock Bottom Kings" gambling sketch, because this Liberty Mutual commercial parody is infinitely better. By putting a "Training Day" spin on the insurance company's mascots LiMu Emu and Doug, we get another great gag involving a national commercial campaign for an insurance company. 

"Saturday Night Live" returns on March 2, 2024, with host Sydney Sweeney and musical guest Kacey Musgraves.