“It was a huge bummer”: This is what Breaking Bad star Bob Odenkirk had to say about his Saturday Night Live sketch

Bob Odenkirk’s critique of the "Chippendales Audition" sketch from Saturday Night Live is a rare example of someone within the comedy industry openly acknowledging the emotional toll a laugh can take, especially when that toll impacts a performer’s dignity. In his 2022 memoir, titled Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, Odenkirk writes with striking honesty about the sketch, which was crucial in launching Chris Farley's career.

“It was a huge bummer to me to see that scene get on the air and get such attention,” he wrote in his memoir “I know it confirmed Chris’s worst instincts about being funny — that getting laughed at was as good as getting a laugh.”

Audiences at the show laughed at Farley's exaggerated dancing, while Odenkirk saw something much darker. A talented performer like Chris has been reduced to a punchline because of his body. The sketch exposed Farley's insecurities and aimed for laughs based on the same.

Here is what Breaking Bad star Bob Odenkirk had to say about his Saturday Night Live sketch

Odenkirk’s discomfort with the sketch wasn’t just about taste but about creating comedy rooted in body shaming and defamation, which could have lasting psychological effects on performers and damage their self-esteem. His line in the memoir illustrates how the line between self-expression and self-degradation can become blurred in this kind of comedy.

“Getting laughed at was as good as getting a laugh”

He questions whether it's still comedy when it promotes harmful stereotypes or personal defamation. Or he considers how much a sketch's success should depend on audience reaction. Odenkirk also highlights how important it is to love comedy enough to question it when it becomes unfair or cruel. Whether as an audience member or performer, it's their responsibility to ask if the cost of this laughter is too high.

Odenkirk's problem with the sketch was that it doesn't provide a strong punchline or commentary, but simply tells people to laugh at Farley's body.

“Shame and laughter are synthesized in the worst way,” he added. “F— that sketch.”

This reflection on Chris Farley, seen through Bob Odenkirk’s viewpoint, provides a deeply human and heartbreaking look into the tension between comedy and vulnerability. It tells the story of a talented performer whose career was both uplifted and haunted by the very art form he loved.

Farley's comedy emerged out of this when he performed The Motivational Speaker on Saturday Night Live's Sketch

Next, the Motivational Speaker Sketch on Saturday Night Live served as a powerful counterexample. That sketch wasn't about mocking Farley's body or using him as a punchline, but highlighted his talents as a comedian. It arrived with perfect timing, commitment, physicality, and an uncontainable presence. It asked the audience to laugh with him, not at him. Odenkirk mentions the same and expresses how he was filled with joy then.

Therefore, Farley's legacy of being a troubled soul who then emerged as a beloved comedian is what makes his journey both inspiring and tragic. He dedicated himself entirely to his performances, but Odenkirk's statements prompt us all to reconsider the kind of comedy we cherish.

In the end, Farley is remembered not just for his sketches but for the depth of his heart, his generosity on stage, and the rare kind of magic that made people feel joy simply by watching him perform on Saturday Night Live.

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Farley was one of the celebrated comedians on Saturday Night Live, and he died at the age of 33 in 1997.

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