SNL's 'Haunted Elevator' is a holiday classic

Originally published at: SNL's 'Haunted Elevator' is a holiday classic | Boing Boing

9 Likes

That is a solid prank right there.

2 Likes

And the ‘S.’ stands for ‘Simon’ no matter what reddit insists. ‘…any questions?’ -sigh-

3 Likes

There are moments as a parent that out of desperation one does something, regrets it mid event, but it all works out. I showed “David S. Pumpkins” to my kids out of desperation to try to end a tandem meltdown. I forgot some of the sketches risqué content, but they missed it. It ended the meltdown, but the echos of “David Pumpkins” interrupted teeth brushing, books and meditation, as wells the first hours of sleep for all of us.

As I tried to get them down, they intermittently and alternately said “David Pumpkins” for at least an hour. Just as they would calm down, one of them would say his name and it was giggles again. I fear as adults they will stumble across the clip and wonder why they found it so funny, but I do know it will be an inside joke for them in though their adult hood as they have not stopped with the random utterances of “David Pumpkins”.

16 Likes

Episode 4 Halloween GIF by Saturday Night Live

They did basically no Halloween themed sketches on SNL last week… disappointing.

10 Likes

No. No it’s not.

2 Likes

Tom Hanks has done some incredible, amazing works.

This isn’t one of them.

3 Likes

Election 2016 GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

17 Likes

Tom Hanks himself once thought as you do before he saw the light.

The “light” of course being the candle that burns within the heart of David S. Pumpkins.

11 Likes

“He thought it was very bizarre,”

That’s why it’s so great!!!

GIF by Saturday Night Live

9 Likes
9 Likes

Originally, I couldn’t stand David S. Pumpkins. This year was the first time that I finally embraced it all and I think I’m a much happier person as a result.

9 Likes

11 Likes

Went to a toy store an hour away to enter their costume contest, and the owner, Terry, was dressed as David S Pumpkin.

7 Likes

Scared Episode 4 GIF by Saturday Night Live

11 Likes

I think you were lucky. Try dealing with little kids (nephews, in my case) who’ve memorized whole Ren & Stimpy episodes and just have to loudly run them off in restaurants.

PS: Totally right about later year, inside jokes.

4 Likes

But nobody seems to remember this was the second of a skit which was like this - an inexplicable character and the customer dealing with it. I mean SNL does tons of serial skits like this which follow the same format, even with different settings and characters. But David Pumpkins was so much more well received than the first one, that nobody seems to remember it. And then they never did a third one for a different character.

Kevin Roberts

1 Like

Uh, yeah… but they totally got it though.
That’s something.

Maybe you gave them something.

2 Likes

Live comedy is a fickle thing. It’s often difficult to predict what’s going to land in the writers’ room, which is why some SNL sketches are “that’s hilarious but I can’t really explain why” and others are “what the hell were they thinking and how much longer is this going to stretch on?”

3 Likes

Yes, although the Kevin Roberts sketch was not so bad, mostly carried by Keenan’s lead I think. I laughed at it at least as much as David Pumpkins. Although it definitely wasn’t as weird.

In David Pumpkins they made a thing out of “what’s this about?” – “he’s his own thang”, and the skeletons are “Part of It!”, and in the end he did scare the hell out of them, just not in an expected Halloween kind of way.

Kevin Roberts did not have anything to really hang on like that, except he was a bizarre character. And it didn’t make sense till the end reveal.

1 Like