11/8/25: Nikki Glaser | sombr

 

Oval Office Press Conference

• We get our usual JAJ Trump fare, but it always works for me, mainly because of JAJ’s masterful performance, and consistent writing.

• Funny moment with JAJ stepping over the man who passed out to continue his ramble instead of helping him.

• The audience is noticeably quiet for some of JAJ’s “zingers” during this, but it isn’t affecting my enjoyment.

• JAJ as Trump, while talking about the passed out man: They got the legs up, that means dead in cartoon.

• This was shorter than the usual JAJ Trump cold opens, but it was still decent enough, despite not many lines standing out.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Pretty excited to watch this for the first time, since I missed out on this show when it first aired, and I’m only familiar with Nikki Glaser through her Comedy Central Roasts.

• Nikki is coming off very fun, and likable here as she usually is, but I’m honestly not caring for much of the stand-up here so far. The audience is also (once again) pretty quiet for most of this.

• The “Tan Lung” bit is decent, and the RFK mention was okay.

• I did get a big laugh from Nikki’s line about how her boyfriend doesn’t notice if she gets her nails done “And they go inside him–”.

• For some reason, Nikki’s line about watching “Beat Bobby Flay” on mute in a Nail Salon made me BUST out laughing.

• Nikki’s whole bit about Trafficking is VERY risky, and it’s unfortunately not working for me. I honestly don’t think there’s ANY comedian who could make a touchy subject like this work for comedy.

• I got a good laugh from Nikki’s line about her boyfriend being filled with rage “That’s why I keep the gun on the top shelf.”

• Overall, a fairly mixed set of stand-up, but Nikki’s likability made it work for me (for the most part).

Rating: ***

Karaoke Night

• Nice to see Tommy in the lead-off sketch of the night. It’s nice to see him making a name for himself over these past few shows.

• Pretty funny turn with Tommy and Nikki’s incestuous song. Sarah’s traumatized face when it first cuts back to her and the parents is hilarious.

• This is a very basic premise, but it’s working for me so far. It helps that Tommy and Nikki are very committed here.

• Good turn with Andrew as the dad and Nikki singing a song together and being similarly incestuous. Andrew’s hammy facial expressions while singing the song are really funny.

• Tommy and Ashley getting in on the dancing is pretty funny, and I loved Nikki’s out of nowhere line “I miss Grandma.”

• Tommy’s song he reserved for Sarah being “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” is really funny, and Tommy’s arm swinging while singing the song adds to the humor.

Rating: ***

Spirit Tunnel Anxiety

• Ha, I already love this concept, of a celebrity having anxiety about dancing through the Spirit Tunnel at the “Jennifer Hudson Show”.

• Nikki: I love Jennifer Hudson, but as an uncoordinated white woman, I felt trapped.

• Nikki’s practice dances are pretty funny.

• I love the reveal that the medicine that makes you violently sick contains E coli, Influenza, C diff, and Rancid buttermilk.

• A solid pre-tape, and I like how Nikki was the main focus here. It shows that SNL clearly had a lot of trust in her.

Rating: ***½

Beauty and MrBeast

• We get a HILARIOUS reveal that the Beast in this is Ben as MrBeast.

• Ben’s MrBeast impression is really funny.

• Great song from Kenan and Bowen about how Belle’s depressed.

• MrBeast: I will marry you Belle… if you can live for 30 days in a smart car with these two greased up sumo wrestlers!

• I didn’t say much about this, mainly because the format kept this at a fast pace, but I really enjoyed it.

Rating: ***½

American Girl XL

• Nice to see Nikki anchoring another pre-tape.

• I like Andrew being one of the satisfied customers and giving a speech to the camera. Nikki’s disturbed look into the camera before continuing with the commercial was hilarious.

• Ben: And look at my doll’s feet, so lifelike!

• Kam’s random appearance saying his doll looks like his brother's wife was really funny. Kam reminds me of Leslie Jones, with his ability to get laughs with a quick cutaway.

• I’m enjoying the escalation of this, with many of the show’s male cast members taking over the commercial with their disturbing facts about their XL American Girl dolls. Tommy’s doll churning butter, and Mikey’s being a skier are both GREAT moments.

• JAJ randomly walking in and taking over as the spokesperson was really funny, Nikki’s reaction to that was also really funny. She’s been a great straightman in this pretape in general.

• 2-for-2 in solid pre-tapes in this episode.

Rating: ***½

Mechanical Bull

• Wow, Jane’s voice in her quick appearance here sounds AWFUL, I honestly feel really bad, she must’ve felt under the weather this week. But it’s nice knowing her voice would be fine by the next episode, so she’s presumably doing fine now. I wonder if she originally had a bigger part in this, but her sickness stopped her from being able to perform the whole sketch, so it was reduced to a comedically quick walk-off.

• Kenan’s pondering on whether or not he should start the mechanical bull is really funny, in a role that basically was tailormade for him.

• Fun reveal that the setting Kenan put the mechanical bull on put Nikki and Sarah out of the bar, and onto the road.

• I’m really enjoying the country theme song JAJ is singing about Nikki and Sarah’s adventure west. I also love the lyric “Two drunk bitches on a runaway mechanical bull”.

• JAJ’s telling of the absurd things happening to Nikki and Sarah on the bull is decent, but the fun vibe this has is helping it for me.

• I love the sudden dark turn with missiles being fired down to Nikki and Sarah when they go into the sea.

• I’m loving the increasing absurdity in their adventure, meeting Galileo and him joining Nikki and Sarah on the adventure in particular is VERY funny.

• The ending of this, with the other characters joining for the end of the song was VERY sloppily executed though.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Yeah, I didn’t need Colin comparing Trump to a meme. 

• Colin’s opening spiel about a man passing out in the Oval office isn’t working for me. The main issue with this (and a lot of Colin’s usual topical opening spiels) is that many of these jokes Colin is making are just observations that MANY other people had made earlier in the week. Stuff like this makes me REALLY hope that Colin and Che finally leave after this season, because with things like this make them seem insanely formulaic. Which is sad, knowing that Colin and Che are both VERY capable of delivering better, and less formulaic jokes.

• None of the jokes in this Update have stood out to me so far, which has honestly been a theme since at least Season 48 (in my opinion).

• I did like Che’s joke about New Mexico having free child care. “By having Nannies from Old Mexico!”

• I got a (guilty) laugh from Colin’s joke about the oldest couple with a combined age of 216. “Which is sweet until you realize the husband is 200.”

• I loved Che’s joke about the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic “It starts off very dark, but ends in a much lighter tone.”

• Hey, Pete Davidson!

• I know some fans are tired of hearing about Colin and Pete’s ferry, and I understand that, but I personally don’t mind.

• Pete is his usual likable, self-deprecating self here, and it’s nice to see Colin and Pete’s fun chemistry for the first time in a while. Also, I generally love Pete’s comedy, so I already know I’m gonna enjoy this.

• Pete: I understand RFK, I wouldn’t be famous without my dad dying either. Thank god that happened!

• WOW at the crack Pete makes at Lorne “Never give up, even if everyone says the time is up, and Tina Fey is ready to take over.”

• Pete, on the mayoral election: My least favorite kind of oral.

• The subject of this commentary isn’t really interesting, but Pete is making it work.

• I’m really enjoying the loose vibe this has, with Pete making lots of little asides and ad-libs.

• Overall, despite a great Pete Davidson commentary, the rest of Update was fairly weak despite a couple of good jokes.

Rating: **½

Sorority Meeting

• The reveal of Mikey in a “hyperrealistic” girl mask in this Sorority is HILARIOUS.

• Ashley’s accusation of Mikey being followed by everyone defending her and insulting Ashley is really funny.

• Mikey’s struggle to eat a donut is HILARIOUS. It’s a nice, yet subtle example of the great physical comedy Mikey can pull off.

• Mikey randomly vaping, and exhaling the smoke through the eye of the mask is really funny. 

• Mikey’s attempt to look sad is funny, but Chloe laughing OUT LOUD next to him is very distracting. It’s not even like she’s trying to stay in character.

• Jane’s line “I’m about to slap this bitch!” was pretty funny, and could’ve been great, but Jane’s INSANELY hoarse voice really hurts her delivery. 

• I didn’t care for the ending, with Nikki turning out to be Andrew in a hyperrealistic mask.

Rating: ***½

SNL Animated Short: Brad and his Dad

• Nice to see this recurring segment return from last season.

• Streeter Seidell’s delivery as the dad kind of reminds me of Patrick Warburton, and his many voiceover roles.

• I’m enjoying the slice of life vibe this has so far, and Streeter and Mikey are both solid as the son and father.

• Brad struggling to get down the slide is pretty funny.

• I love the quick moment with Brad putting his crocs in sport mode when he’s outside with his dad playing football.

• Brad’s dad chucking the football at his face is hilarious, and it reminds me of the classic Peyton Manning pre-tape from season 32.

• Brad going back to playing video games with tissue up his bloody nostrils is pretty funny.

• I LOVED the subtle moment with Brad’s dad saying he got a drone for him, and ripping off a “Merry Christmas from Grandma” wrapper.

• Brad flying the drone into the tree is really funny, especially for me considering something very similar happened to me when I was little.

• I like the moment with Brad’s dad joining his son on the video games.

• Brad’s Dad: I love you more than your Mom does, don’t tell her I said that but it’s true.

Rating: ****

Pilot Announcement

• I like JAJ as the pilot reveals he’s meeting up with a girl he met on an app.

• JAJ narrating himself swiping through a dating app is really funny. It feels so nice to see JAJ get to carry the comedic meat of a sketch as a character, and not as Trump.

• What’s helping the already funny material is JAJ’s fantastic delivery as the Pilot. JAJ keeping the pilot cadence while talking about swiping through a dating app is very funny, and it's executed wonderfully by him.

• JAJ casually revealing they will land around Christmas is very funny.

• JAJ: And in even worse news, I had decided to double text…

• Kam’s advice to JAJ throughout is pretty funny, and it’s a pretty good utilization of Kam.

• Dismukes’ harsh comment to Sarah about “seeing something that he sees every day” was HILARIOUS, and we get a pretty fun moment with Dismukes looking back at Sarah after the line, seeing that she’s breaking, and he starts smiling.

• I LOVE the silent acting from Bowen and Kenan, after JAJ is asking for a gay guy’s advice.

• Pretty funny visual ending, with the plane driving on a highway.

Rating: ****

Pinwheel

• Mikey and Jeremy’s gleeful excitement over a Pinwheel is pretty funny.

• Mikey’s hard blowing of the Pinwheel and passing out is very funny, and another example in this episode of Mikey’s strong physical comedy chops.

• Bowen yelling at Mikey and Jeremy to stop with the Pinwheels is really funny. The format of this sketch reminds me of “Paul and Phil”, a sketch from season 40 which is one of my personal favorites. Considering Mikey and Streeter Seidell wrote that sketch, I’m assuming they wrote this one as well.

• Jeremy running around with the Pinwheel is HILARIOUS. This sketch is pretty repetitive, but the great performances are REALLY enhancing this.

• Jeremy struggling to talk about something other than the Pinwheel is another fantastic moment from Jeremy here. It’s nice to see him FINALLY get thrown a bone, after not getting much of anything so far.

Rating: ****

Thoughts

A fairly solid episode. Despite almost all of the strong material being in the post-Update half, there was a consistent quality throughout the night, and Update was the only segment I didn’t care for. I also appreciated the fun sketch concepts we saw throughout this episode. Nikki Glaser was a good host, despite not carrying much of the material, had lots of fun performances, and gave this episode a fun vibe.

Segments ranked Best to Worst

SNL Animated Short: Brad and his Dad

Pilot Announcement

Pinwheel

Mechanical Bull

Sorority Meeting

American Girl XL

Spirit Tunnel Anxiety

Beauty and MrBeast

Oval Office Press Conference

Karaoke Night

Monologue

Weekend Update

6.9/10