Joe Pesci's Saturday Night Live sketch "Pinky Ring" finds a gangster having a tough time picking a new ring. Prior to becoming an actor, Joe Pesci worked as a musician and was one half of comic duo "Vincent and Pesci" with The Sopranos' star Frank Vincent. It was thanks to his role in the obscure Mafia thriller The Death Collector that he came to the attention of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorcese, who cast him in Raging Bull. In the majority of his work with Scorcese, including Goodfellas, Pesci is depicted playing temperamental, violent gangsters.
Despite this being his most famous screen persona - especially thanks to his iconic "Funny how?" scene from Goodfellas, he's appeared in a variety of lighthearted fare. He was comic relief Joe Getz in Lethal Weapon 2 to 4 and was praised for his work in My Cousin Vinny. Pesci retired in the late 1990s but has returned occasionally in the years that followed. His most high-profile comeback was Scorcese's acclaimed gangster drama The Irishman in 2019, though he seemingly has no further plans to act again.
In 1992 - which was the year Lethal Weapon 3, My Cousin Vinny, and Home Alone 2 were all released - Pesci put his comic chops to good use when he hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live. One of the highlight sketches from this Joe Pesci SNL skit is "Pinky Ring," where his gangster character is looking for a fancy new ring for his little finger. While modern sketches from SNL - whose skits have spawned several movies - rely on performers going over the top, "Pinky Ring" - for the most part - works because it's fairly subtle while allowing the central gag to build up to a hilarious climax.
Throughout Saturday Night Live's "Pinky Ring" sketch, Joe Pesci's indecisive gangster tries on several rings. He stands in front of a mirror, miming conversations or seeing how the ring looks as he's smoking a cigar, as he's looking for a ring that really sells his power. This allows Pesci to be both reserved and hammy, and he even gets to swear up a storm - which SNL gets away with since he's only mouthing the words.
Given that Joe Pesci's Goodfellas performance was still fresh in the minds of viewers, Saturday Night Live's "Pinky Ring" skit has fun playing with that kind of persona. Joe Pesci's "Pinky Ring" isn't exactly a classic from SNL, but it took a solid hook and expertly developed it. Had the same sketch been performed in modern-day Saturday Night Live, it would likely be much louder and more obvious in its execution.