Top 10 Funniest SNL Monologues Ever
#10: Tiffany Haddish on Fame, Fashion & Current Events
Back in Season 43, Tiffany Haddish made history as the first Black female stand-up comedian to host “SNL.” Dressed in her gorgeous Alexander McQueen red carpet gown, she lit up the 8H stage with her bright and bubbly personality. She talks about her rise to fame and latest movie, shares her take on current events, and provides some pretty sound advice to battle predatory behaviors. She also explains why she’ll keep wearing that dress until the day that she (hopefully never) dies. But no matter what the subject, she injects her classic big-energy humor and keeps the audience laughing out loud the whole time.
#9: Steve Martin on Keeping It Real
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Out of his 15 hosting stints, it’s Steve Martin’s 1991 monologue that we always return to when we need a good laugh. The A-Lister proves that he’s still grounded by going out of his way to give the rest of the cast a shoutout. Well, kinda. He might be famous, but Martin prefers to keep it real and grab life by the… we’ll let him finish that one. Not only is he, erm, gracious to his fans, but we learn that he has great creative vision too. And if it was up to him, “Father of the Bride” could have been a very different movie.
#8: John Mulaney’s Observations
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We’ve come to expect great things from the mind behind sketches like “Lobster Diner” and characters like Stefon. And of course, this former “SNL” writer always delivers. His monologue covers a lot of ground from his interfaith marriage, subway announcements to seeing Woody Allen and siren sounds. What makes it even funnier is his ability to remain poker-faced while the rest of us can barely breathe from laughter. His self-deprecating, observational style of humor hits every comedy spot. You’ve barely finished laughing before he hits you with the next punchline. Just try and hold it together long enough to enjoy his siren impersonations.
#7: The “30 Rock” Reunion
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This particularly special monologue marked Tracy Morgan’s celebrated return to Studio 8H after his terrifying car accident. To commemorate the momentous occasion, his former “30 Rock” castmates reunited in a seemingly prophetic episode. With mentions of Skrillex, Psy, and “Smash,” the flashback could not have been more quintessentially 2012. For fans of the NBC comedy, it was a much-needed dose of the zany humor we’d so missed. The sketch manages to be both sentimental and hilarious and renewed our love for Morgan’s wacky sense of humor. We were so thrilled to see him making us laugh once again.
#6: Paul Simon’s Turkey Costume
What do you do when you have a musical icon hosting the Thanksgiving episode? You get them to sing “Still Crazy After All These Years” while wearing a turkey costume. But what might have sounded like a great idea in the writers’ room leaves Simon feeling like a bit of a well, turkey. He stops the performance to complain about this crazy concept and his deadpan delivery only makes his misery even funnier. His confrontation with head honcho, Lorne Michaels, is hilarious too. His comedic timing was so spot on that he could have easily had a second career as a stand-up comic.
#5: Bernie Mac’s World View
The late great comedy icon Bernie Mac hosted back in 2003. Showing his comedic versatility, Mac’s observational gags made for an unforgettable episode opening. Whether he’s talking about the state of the world or traveling as a celeb, he had audiences doubled over with laughter. The best part is that his jokes hit just as hard today as they did back then. This monologue easily goes down as one of the best in “SNL” history. His edgy commentary will help you find some brightness in what can be a pretty dark world. If somehow his hosting stint slipped your radar, we’d recommend checking it out.
#4: Eddie Murphy Returns
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Joining the cast aged just 19, Eddie Murphy has often been hailed as the person who saved “Saturday Night Live.” Somewhere between his movie career taking off and slightly stalling, he returned to his studio 8H roots. Finding the perfect balance between poking fun at himself and spotlighting his post-“SNL” success, Murphy had the audience in stitches. His monologue exemplified just why he was one of the show’s biggest breakout stars. Unfortunately, we would have to wait almost another 35 years until he’d be back again. But it was totally worth it and he proved once again that even after all these years, he still got it.
#3: Kumail Nanjiani Destroys Prejudice
Making a strong “SNL” debut, Nanjiani used his monologue to hysterically ridicule racism. Retelling the story that inspired his comedy film, “The Big Sick,” he shares some of the more problematic reviews it received. Kumail makes some incredibly valid and insightful points about Islamophobia and racism in general, but with a brilliantly cutting comedic spin. He compares the rise of Islamophobia to the “Will & Grace” revival, differentiates between Muslims and Sikhs, and just totally skewers ignorance. We’re laughing so hard that we can barely catch our breath between jokes. He ends particularly strongly as well. All we can say is bring back Kumail Nanjiani!
#2: Norm Macdonald on Being Fired
About a year-and-a-half after he was fired from the show, Norm Macdonald was invited back to host. Clearly, it was water under the bridge since he accepted. Well, not before he used his monologue to take a few shots at the show. Who would have thought that being fired would provide perfect material for a comedy monologue? Macdonald muses over how he went from being told that he’s not funny enough to be part of the cast to becoming entertaining enough to host. His conclusion is side-splittingly hilarious. Following his standout monologue, it feels like “SNL” got very wrong when they let him go. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Award-Winning Comedy A Reminder of Why We Loved Her on the Show Amy Schumer on Being Amy Schumer This Is Classic Schumer Humor Taylor Swift’s Musical Musings Whether It’s Music or Comedy, Taylor’s Always on the Beat Michael Keaton, Batman, & Beetlejuice We Just Wanted to See His Greatest Hits
#1: Robin Williams, Just, Robin Williams
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Even watching it now, we’re super envious of anyone who was in the room when Robin Williams hosted in 1988. As we’d come to expect from this versatile comedian, every moment of his monologue is pure hilarity. Whether he’s making us laugh with his impressive arsenal of impressions, commenting on the Raegen administration, or mocking televangelists. Sure, some of his jokes might appear dated now, but his delivery is timeless. There’s no match for Williams’ unbounded energy and genius comedy styling. Naturally, he stole the entire show before it had barely begun. He’s so effortlessly brilliant that we never wanted this monologue to end.
