Every time Dave Chappelle hosts SNL, is it just me or does it feel like he basically turns the long-running sketch comedy series into a new episode of his subversive, envelope-pushing Chappelle’s Show? If you caught the show over the weekend, for example, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
One of the standout sketches from the new SNL episode that Chappelle hosted was “Evacuation Alert,” which offered a perfect encapsulation of Chappelle’s comedic brand — his material makes you both belly laugh as well as gasp in shock — in addition to being one of the most hilariously unhinged sketches I’ve seen on SNL in years.
To that latter point, the sketch (which you can watch below) turned the LA wildfires and the chaos of fleeing from them into an absurd family meltdown. I’m sure it was also trying to say something about some the wealthiest residents of the area who had to flee their palatial homes, but — well, you be the judge.
In the sketch, Chappelle plays a stressed-out father who’s racing to get his family packed and ready to leave after the evacuation alert stemming from the wildfires blares on their phones. This is not, however, a normal father prodding his family to make a simple dash to safety. Cash, for example, is hidden in the walls (“Don’t worry about where I got my money. Ain’t no time to explain. Let’s just go!”). The father also has a fake passport (His wife in the sketch: “Who is Demetrius Quinn?” Answer: “Somebody who’s always welcome in the Dominican Republic”), and the family dog actually has drugs hidden inside it.
At one point, Chappelle’s “Reggie” retrieves a gun from a hidden panel in his wall and hands it to his son. “Here, boy. Take this. You ever hold that heavy metal before?” Replies the son — and, for some reason, this is the line that killed me — “No, dad! I’m in high school, and I play the bassoon!” Reggie hangs his head in shame. “I’m sorry son, I let you down. I raised you like b***h.”
The sketch just gets even more off the wall from there. An assassin breaks in, who Reggie shoots with a silencer. Reggie has a secret French family living in his wall, and he reprimands them for calling him “papa” in front of his real family. As I say, I haven’t seen something this insane from SNL in quite some time — and many viewers agree.
“As an LA native who lived through this, this sketch is comedy GOLD!!!” one viewer wrote in the YouTube comments for the video below. Added another: “Lorne really let this man do whatever LMFAOOOO this was by far the most insane skit I’ve seen on snl.”
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Dave Chappelle’s LA wildfires sketch on SNL was so hilariously unhinged originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 20 Jan 2025 at 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.