They say tragedy plus time equals comedy. This equation is false. Comedy’s best math-scientists have come to the conclusion that true comedy is the sum of silly voices plus saying words weird on purpose. That is comedy. And that is what the entire ensemble did in last week’s funniest Saturday Night Live sketch, the “Barfly Awards.†The premise is both timeless and delightfully untimely: Drunkards slur their way through an awards show with categories like “Wildest Claim,†“Most Bummer Detail,†and “Best Bar Hookup.†Cecily Strong is the queen of this sort of character, kind of a more glam Cathy Anne who, in a funny touch, always walks directly in front of the camera, making it go all out of focus. Host Maya Rudolph is multiple award winner Sally O’Flappy, who spills her big dead husband’s ashes on the ground and thinks she invented suitcases with wheels (and has the emails to prove it). Rudolph is doing one of her silliest voices yet, and that’s saying something. Watching this, it’s no wonder Paul Thomas Anderson wrote Movie of the Decade Phantom Thread about her. Speaking of “Sally O’Flappy,†this sketch really took a cue from the Tiny Dinky Daffy Memorial School of Goofy Character Names, with some others being: Missy Shoots (Strong), Peanuts (Aidy Bryant), Peaches (Kate McKinnon), Pissy Carmichael (Alex Moffat), and Teeny Petey Rancini (Kyle Mooney). We would watch a full alternate-dimension Cheers-style half-hour sitcom about this kooky gang of characters. In fact, it’s what the Frasier reboot should be.
Sally O’Flappy Won the ‘Barfly Awards’ and Saturday Night Live
