Pete Davidson's last Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch as a cast member aired May 21st, 2022, during the show's season 47 finale. Davidson's eight-year venture with the show was filled with goofy, thoughtful, and unpredictable sketches, making him a prevalent fan favorite and contributing to the explosion of his comedic career. Following his bitter-sweet exit, there is no better time to reminisce on 10 of the funniest sketches where all eyes are on him.
Davidson's talent to entertain, paired with his quirky, playful, and charming antics allow him never to go unnoticed. His recurring characters and superior comedic delivery were some of Davidson's staples on SNL. Whether he is the main character or a supporting actor, here are ten skits where Davidson's star-quality shines and all attention is on him.
Meet Cute
When Claire (Kristen Stewart) and Steve (Pete Davidson) meet cute at a coffee shop, they decide to join again for a dinner date. However, following Claire's departure, Steve panics when he realizes he doesn't know where they're going, what time, Claire's last name, or her phone number.
Kristen Stewart's character comedically contrasts Davidson's, happily calling her mom and going to the hair salon in preparation for their date. Meanwhile, laughter ensues with Davidson's portrayal of a man frantically running around the city searching for Claire, posting poorly drawn missing signs, and desperately searching Facebook for "Claire brown hair." Davidson shows off the silly side he is known so well for throughout this sketch.
Avengers News Report
The sketch is delivered as a news report featuring The Avengers members, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Taran Killam), Nick Fury (Jay Pharoah), Captain America (Beck Bennett), and Bruce Banner (Pete Davidson) celebrating the defeat of Ultron on live TV. The kicker is when Davidson, as Bruce Banner, walks into the frame, confused and unable to remember what happened. When Thor tells Davidson, "You crushed it," he replies, "I think I ate a guy."
This sketch exemplifies that an actor does not have to be the main character to make an impact. Although Davidson's appearance was short, his stellar comedic delivery allowed his performance to be memorable, quotable, and hilarious. Pete, indubitably, has played more extensive roles in sketches, but he always nails it when it comes to providing the quintessential one-liner.
Game Of Thrones Tribute
Pete Davidson has rapped more than a few times on SNL, with the GoT Tribute remaining a favorite. His hilarity shines when he fakes fans out, switching the subject of the rap from GoT to his actual favorite show, Grace and Frankie. Eventually, he is joined by guest stars DJ Khaled and Mark Wahlberg, correspondingly rapping about their love for the show.
A wholesome side of Pete Davidson is communicated, as well as a shockingly good musical one. The sketch ends with a shot of Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in shirts reading, "I heart Pete Davison" and "Pete Can Get It." This type of humor plays to Davidson's strengths and brings out the lovable aspects of his personality. It also shows that Fonda and Tomlin love Davidson just as much as everyone else.
NFT's
NFT's is one of Davidson's more educational performances on SNL. Not for the first time, Pete plays a parody of Eminem. He raps to the tune of the song "Without Me," cleverly replacing the original lyrics to the music with ones breaking down and explaining precisely what an NFT is.
Davidson's hysterical rendition of Eminem's, Without Me music video, brought his playful persona to the spotlight. Davidson even went the extra mile to recreate the iconic superhero costume worn in the original music video by Eminem. This time, with a backward "P" rather than an "E." Over time, Davidson has personified many rappers, but Eminem has become a definitive fan favorite.
Rap Roundtable
Performing as participants involved in a panel on hip-hop, Pete Davidson and guest-star Timothée Chalamet personify the humorous SoundCloud rap duo, Guaplord, and Smokecheddathaassgetta. Their interactions with the other panel participants, Queen Latifah (Punkie Johnson), Questlove, and the host (Ego Nwodim), are mockingly garish and over the top.
Davidson's commitment to this sketch and the hilariously perfect personification of a SoundCloud rapper is commendable. His performance is so outrageous that even Chalamet hides his face to stop himself from laughing. Davidson pulled this off so well that fans are begging for a part 2.
Uncle Meme
Set at a seemingly usual family gathering, Davidson plays a nephew confronted by his uncle (John Mulaney) for making memes of his profile picture and posting them to Reddit. Escalating to Mulaney projecting the laughable memes, with captions such as "When your girl pregnant and you ain't even have sex," to the entire family, Davidson tries playing it cool until Mulaney shares he has found his Reddit account.
Davidson demonstrates the commendable ability to flawlessly match the energy of any guest star. However, he and Mulaney are well-known for their comedic chemistry, as seen in the Uncle Meme sketch. Davidson's timing and delivery are flawless. He does a stellar job making his uncomfortably false repudiation hilarious while simultaneously establishing an entertaining rapport between him and Mulaney.
Chad Horror Movie
Once again joined by Mulaney, Davidson plays one of his most well-known characters: Chad. While being hunted by a killer (John Mulaney) already in his home, Chad's relaxed, unchanged demeanor brings all the laughs as his character nonchalantly eats pizza and goes on to watch Ridiculousness, at the same time that the killer is threatening his life.
Davidson's dull demeanor as Chad perfectly contrasts Mulaney's insistent and upset character. Chad is a perfect example of displaying comedy in physicality and demeanor rather than eloquence, with no one better than Davidson to create and play the character. As Mulaney's character becomes exponentially upset over Chad's calm actions while facing his imminent death, he slips on a slice of Chad's pizza and unintentionally kills himself. Chad's only reaction is hilarious: "Okay."
Chad & RuPaul
Yet another laughable Chad sketch by Pete Davidson, this time on the set of a photo shoot where RuPaul lays eyes on Chad and deems him the "future of drag." After an entertaining training montage and a residual offer made from RuPaul to make Chad the greatest drag queen in the world, he thoughtlessly declines and stumbles away in heels. While watching him exit, RuPaul muses that "some horses were born to run wild."
Davidson's performance in the Chad & RuPaul skit is unforgettable. He does a fabulous job maintaining Chad's signature monotonous tone and stature, even while dressed head-to-toe in drag. Davidson makes terrific use of the spotlight, delivering Chad's infamous one-liners with perfect cadence and impeccable timing. Chad and RuPaul are total opposites, and this sketch juxtaposed them in the most hilarious way possible.
Riverdale
It is hard to steal the scene while playing a corpse. Nevertheless, Pete Davidson does exactly that in SNL's Riverdale sketch. While filming a scene for Riverdale set in a morgue, the show's director (Kenan Thompson) becomes progressively upset by Lionel Rogers' (Pete Davison's) overly-accurate portrayal of a corpse.
Davidson's humorously animated groans, flailing, and tongue-lolling allow a spotlight to shine on his charmingly childish side. The director tries to kick him off set following his outbursts, leading to co-stars Jughead (Beck Bennett) and Betty (Halsey) defending Davidson's exaggerated method-acting and showing admiration for it. Davidson shines in this sketch, truly going over the top to provide the comedically dramatic acting required to nail his part.
Career Day
The second Mordecai (Pete Davidson) sees his elderly father, Abraham H. Parnassus (Adam Driver), stumble into his classroom on career day, the sketch is instantly funny. Driver's character provides an aggressively passionate speech to the children about what it means to be an oil man. He goes as far as singling out his son (Pete Davidson) as a weak link in the classroom, making all the kids point fingers at him.
Laughter ensues as Davidson is exponentially embarrassed in front of his classmates, while simultaneously trying to hide this fact. Davidson clicks with any guest star, and his performance with Driver exemplifies this. In this memorable sketch, Davidson struggles to hold back his laughter while Driver continues intensely enlightening the class regarding his trade.