It was black humor.
Monday’s solar eclipse had a drawn-out battle with Friday’s New York-area earthquake — in a wild Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch that found the comedic side of both phenomena that made the one of the newspapers.
Actor Marcello Hernández dressed up as an earthquake – complete with a hat depicting city landmarks – and fought with SNL veteran Kenan Thompson – playing the solar eclipse – over which the natural event ruled as master.
One thing they agreed on was Mayor Eric Adams’ lackluster response to Friday’s shaking.
“I’m sure Mayor Adams would have everything under control,” Thompson joked, thinking about how crazy people would go if the eclipse and earthquake happened at the same time.
Hernández started the gag by being interviewed by Weekend Update host Colin Jost and boasting about the effect of earthquakes on the metro area around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
“People would stop working for five, even six minutes, to text their friends, ‘Did you just feel something?’” Hernández joked.
“The flights were delayed by 30 minutes,” he continued, adding that they were normally delayed by an hour.
The rare earthquake — the most powerful to strike near the Big Apple in 140 years — completely took over the news, pushing other headlines to the side, Hernández said, namely that of the running man in Manhattan punching women in the face.
When asked by Jost why he identified himself as the New York earthquake when the tremors originated about 60 miles away in New Jersey, Hernández replied that he was a transplant: “I grew up there but I moved to town. »
That’s when Thompson erupted, blaming the earthquake for stealing the spotlight from the solar eclipse, which had been eagerly awaited in several states for months.
“You want to do a little shimmy shake and try to steal the spotlight from me. Well, what are you going to do when the solar eclipse is unleashed on you? Next Monday, all of America will be plunged into eternal darkness,” Thompson said.
The two natural events argued over which would cause more disruption – each claiming they would manage to confuse “the dogs for a few hours”.
The two eventually decided to team up as the earthquake struck a second time on Monday, with the solar eclipse causing several minutes of darkness.
“That would be biblical!” » said Thompson. “It’s the kind of thing that made the ancients throw a virgin into a volcano.”
Jost tried to steer Thompson and Hernández away from the idea, implying that it would be too chaotic for the city to handle.
That’s when Thompson mocked Hizzoner, referencing the city’s disastrous delay in sending out an emergency alert after the earthquake.
The city’s first notification – sent 13 minutes after the quake was confirmed – said the quake had already occurred in the New York area and advised residents to “stay indoors and call 911 if necessary.” They were injured.”
City and state officials said no infrastructure problems were reported following the quake, noting that all major bridges and tunnels had been inspected.
Saturday night’s SNL episode was hosted by Kristen Wiig and had musical guest Raye.
New York Post
