Bloopers

Although they seem like flawless comedic gods and goddesses every Saturday night when they perform, SNL cast members shockingly are human. I know, its weird but its true. From time to time cast members will blunder on a joke, start uncontrollably laughing, or even tell a bad joke. It is shocking to think that such an immortal show can have flaws. But, when thinking about these 'mistakes', are they really bad? Is it bad to associate human-like flaws with our favorites comedians? If anything, in my opinion, the presence of bloopers and mishaps only strengthens the relationships that the audience has with SNL cast members.

Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers were the two comedians that did the SNL skit 'Weekend Update' every episode. Amy has since moved on to a new show, but in their prime Poehler and Meyers would deliver hilarious news every weekend that had their own little jokes sewn into the script. From time to time, however, they would blunder on their jokes by either fudging the words or telling an awful joke. This clip Weekend Update Bloopers shows some highlights of the mess ups found on Weekend Update.

On many occasions during SNL, cast members have broken into laughter during their skits. Sometimes, this even prohibits them from performing until they regain their composure and try to continue on with their lines. This link Best Crack Ups shows the top 10 moments in SNL history where cast members have started laughing during a skit. Coming in at number one on the list is a skit called "Debbie Downer" featuring Rachel Dratch among others. The skit is a perfect example of when a cast member breaks into laughter and has trouble speaking her lines. She can't help but chuckle at the ridiculous things that she has to say. This is especially funny in this scene because the point of the skit is that Debbie says very depressing things that ruin everyone's mood. However, as Dratch can't help but laugh the otherwise extremely depressing things that she says seem hilarious and get the rest of the cast to laugh along as well.

All of these examples do not deteriorate SNL humor, as would be expected from a screw up in the show. They only add to the overall hilarity of the show because the audience gets the feeling that the comedians are enjoying their performances and find what they are doing funny. The audience is much more likely to laugh along at the something that the cast is noticeably finding funny, especially if that same cast member is laughing uncontrollably.