Austin Butler hosted a special SNL this weekend: It was both the final episode of 2022 and the swan song of Cecily Strong, the longtime stand-out performer who surprised viewers with news that she was done. It was a bittersweet affair, more sweet than bitter, especially when the star of Elvis donned some drag to freak the hell out of someone else doing The King: Sarah Sherman, who gave the world “Jewish Elvis.”
Butler plays one of a room full of horny residents of a retirement home who welcome to the stage a version of Presley not seen before. He changes the words to his classic songs. He banters about schvitzes and schmutz. The geriatric ladies lap it up, none moreso than Butler’s retiree, who keeps shouting things like “I’m so horny I’m gonna frickin’ explode” and “Ruin me Jewish Elvis, Ruin me!” Eventually the actor who played Elvis himself on the big screen joins her/him, doing a twist on “Suspicious Minds.”
Strong was also present, playing another face in the crowd who gets all hot and bothered by the idea of a Semitic Elvis. She’s game all the way to her last episode, a reminder that when the show returns in 2023, they’ll do so without one of their best performers, and not just because no one does Judge Jeanine Pirro like her, not even Judge Jeanine herself.
You can watch the sketch in the video above.
