Rather than a typical cold open this week, Saturday Night Live opened with host Pete Davidson acknowledging the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East. “I know what you’re thinking: Who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson?†he joked. But he went on to speak about how he was reminded of his own childhood tragedy of losing his father in the September 11 terrorist attacks, remembering the lengths his mother went to to cheer him up, including accidentally buying him the Eddie Murphy stand-up special Delirious. “For the first time in a long time, I was laughing again. I don’t understand it — I really don’t, and I never will — but sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy,†he said, adding that during his SNL hosting gig, he’d try to continue to be funny in the face of tragedy: “Remember, I said try.â€
It’s been one whole season since Davidson was an SNL cast member, so if in that time you understandably forgot what borough of New York he hails from, don’t worry. The SNL alum wasted no time reminding us that he’s from Staten Island in his monologue. “It’s the only island in the world with a worse reputation than Epstein’s somehow. But in Staten Island, the kids molest the priests. Everything’s backwards down there,†he said, with a sampling of Adam Sandler–esque vocal deliveries sprinkled throughout. Watch the full monologue above.