Bowen Yang is being praised for one more “Weekend Update” performance — this time not for appearing as himself but rather for portraying the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
During the last night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” Yang made an appearance at the “Weekend Update” desk close by the segment’s co-anchor, Colin Jost, to give the iceberg’s side of the story in front of the 109th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15.
Yang, rocking pale-blue face makeup, a white bedazzled suit and an iceberg-shaped hat, begun the bit by clarifying that this season is “always really weird” for him before making “tip of the iceberg” quip about his feelings. The iceberg then has no choice but to go on the defensive when Jost asks what he’d need to tell the groups of the 1,500 individuals who kicked the bucket on the Titanic.
“I think my publicist was very clear, I’m not here to talk about the sinking,” Yang explained, adding that he was only appearing on the show to promote his new album, a mix of “hyper-pop, EDM, nu-disco, fantasia.”
Yang proceeds to yell about how the Titanic hit him and not the reverse way around. At the point when Jost brings up that it seems like the chunk of ice is attempting to play the person in question, he quickly retorts, “Everyone’s talking about me, nobody’s talking about the water!”
“What did the autopsy say? They iceberged it?” Yang continued. “No, they drowned! That’s not me, that’s water! Nobody’s canceling the ocean.”
Yang at that point accused the organization who worked the boat: “It’s like, hey, White Star Line, you built a bad boat. It didn’t work out. That’s on you, honey.”
The “SNL” star became a trending topic on Twitter Sunday for his portrayal of the emotional ice mass, and numerous watchers brought up how much he’s been adding to the show of late.
“I wonder if Bowen Yang’s back hurts from carrying SNL,” one fan tweeted.
“#BowenYang as the titanic iceberg is one of the most brilliant sketches on #snl in a minute!!!!” comedian Loni Love added on Twitter.
“Bowen Yang as the iceberg that hit the Titanic = best SNL Weekend Update sketch in a very long time!” another fan wrote.
“The best SNL skit in a long time,” tweeted author Laurence Tribe. “If you need some sidesplitting laughs — and who doesn’t? — you gotta catch that gig. It’s Yin as well as Yang.”
“SNL” writer Anna Drezen, who chipped away at the iceberg sketch, likewise had high commendation for Yang, tweeting, “Genuine stupid joy to write this impossibly stupid but with Bowen Yang who is the Celine Dion of comedy. He delivers!!!”
This is the second time one of Yang’s “Weekend Update” appearances launched him to viral popularity. Fourteen days prior, he talked about the continuous surge in anti-Asian violence prompted by the pandemic and was praised for the manner in which he balanced humor and anger.
