'Saturday Night Live' takes on Trump's indictment in cold open

Lil Yachty, Quinta Brunson and Sarah Sherman stand side by side on the set of 'Saturday Night Live.'

By Omar L. Gallaga

April 2, 2023 Updated 7:47 AM PT

In another timeline, Quinta Brunson’s comedic web videos would have landed her a “Saturday Night Live” audition and she would have become famous that way, instead of through the ABC sitcom that she created and stars in, “Abbott Elementary.” It’s easy to imagine her as a key player after her performance as host of this week’s “SNL.” Whether she was recounting the horror of a bridesmaids cult, describing the cocaine she was dealing, or reacting in horror to her husband’s greatest fear on a couples’ game show, Brunson’s comedic versatility, which she doesn’t always get to show off in “Abbott,” was in full bloom in the sketch-comedy medium. It’s probably for the best, though, that she took the path that didn’t lead to being in the “SNL” cast; she already has lots of Emmys to show for her work. Meanwhile musical guest Lil Yachty gave a trippy, autotuned performance of “the BLACK seminole.” and “drive ME crazy!”

This week’s cold open was about former President Trump’s indictment. But instead of a dry take on the investigation or a straight monologue like we might have seen in the Alec Baldwin-as-Trump years, we instead got something much loopier. James Austin Johnson sets Trump’s troubles to song for a new album, “Now That’s What I Call My Legal Defense Fund” or “Trump Bopz” featuring “40 covers, all horrible.” Johnson’s uncanny Trump voice works even when it’s being sung, as he mumbles the lyrics of “Hard to Handle” and does duets with Don King (Kenan Thompson) and Afroman (Devon Walker), who was recently in the news. Trump says he has plans to get very muscular in prison — big on top, tiny down below — and will need money for commissary snacks to barter with a fellow prisoner named Lizard. His “Kendall Roy,” Don Jr. (Mikey Day) joined in for “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” which is as cringey as you would expect. “Very strange, my son, don’t like it,” the elder Trump said.

In her opening monologue, Brunson took a swipe at “Friends,” describing her own sitcom as being like it, except that it’s about coworkers and it’s in Philadelphia. “And instead of not having Black people, it does!” If there’s any downsides to having a successful, award-winning TV show, it’s that people expect Brunson to solve the educational system and to be as earnest and wholesome as her “Abbott Elementary” character, Janine Teagues. She’s not as wholesome as the character, Brunson says, and wishes she didn’t get filmed getting wasted at Universal Studios. “I like my butterbeer with Hennessy,” she cracked. She showed a video she shot with a buddy — former President Obama. Brunson filmed the message for her mom, who was a teacher, with Obama praising her career as being “the most important job there is.” Brunson concluded by asking viewers to recognize the importance of teachers. “Acknowledge the work they do every day and for the love of God, pay them the money they deserve.”

Best sketch of the night: Getting the message in ‘Traffic Altercation’

Two cars stuck in traffic open up the lines of communication as a frustrated driver (Day) and his daughter (Chloe Fineman) argue with a woman in another car (Brunson) by using a bunch of not-quite-ASL attempts at sign language that get more articulate and take several hilarious right turns. The best bits include Brunson wiggling in her seat and pointing to make clear she wants the other driver to eat her butt, and Day’s discomfort at his daughter’s gestures that accompany, “You suck!” It’s one of those sketches that is simple in premise, but has enough clever jokes and committed performances for it to work.

Also good: Making a score with ‘Drug Dealer’

Like “Traffic Altercation,” this sketch is another that could have been one-note, but instead ends up wildly funny thanks to solid jokes, weird but distinct characters, and an actual punchline at the end. Two men in a bathroom at a nightclub (Andrew Dismukes and Walker) want to buy some cocaine. Multiple drug dealers emerge, all promising that their cocaine is the purest and the whitest. How pure and white? Brunson: “My cocaine is so white it likes to say it’s from Chicago, but it’s actually from a suburb like an hour outside of Chicago.” Thompson responds by bellowing the lyrics of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort.” Yes, it’s a string of jokes about white-people foibles, but none of them is obvious or lazy.

‘Weekend Update’: A prank mean enough to make Colin Jost sweat

Michael Che took the faux war with his “Update” co-host Colin Jost to the next level with an April Fools’ prank. Jost delivered multiple Trump-inspired indictment jokes to start the segment and they received muted laughter. Che’s first two jokes, about a Trump Spirit of Halloween costume and the dancing Six Flags man, subsequently killed. Jost tried again with a joke about a CNN indictment headline. Almost no reaction. The bit finally broke with a visual showing Jost attending a pro-Trump rally, and at that point Jost looked like he was ready to give up this whole comedy thing. Then, Che revealed, “I told them not to laugh at you for April Fools’.” Jost, dumbfounded, said he wasn’t even sure if his mic was working. “And then I was just like, ‘Oh, I just suck!’ ” “Update” kept going, but the references to the prank kept returning. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done. I’m covered in sweat,” Jost told his co-host.

Lest you think Che allowed the glory to last, later in the segment, he made a sexist joke (they being an unapologetic running gag in the Jost and Che era of “Update”) about the first woman-owned marijuana dispensary in New York. The joke? That she can’t open the jars of cannabis by herself. (Deep sigh.) At least the rest of the episode was much, much better than that.