“Who are you?” Beck Bennett screams in the SNL sketch that took over the internet. “I’m David Pumpkins,” Tom Hanks responds, with an unblinking grin. Kate McKinnon wonders, “Yeah, and David Pumpkins is…?” “His own thing!” Okay, but who are the dancing skeletons surrounding David Pumpkins? “Part of it!” The entire point of “Haunted Elevator” — and before it, “Mafia Meeting” and “FBI Simulator” — is that there is no point; it’s silly, funny, and bizarre.
But not as bizarre as “Motel Painting,” a cut-for-time sketch from Dave Chappelle’s episode. It’s easy to see why it didn’t make the live broadcast, either. For one thing, the sketches that made it, from Chappelle’s monologue to The Walking Dead-meets-Chappelle’s Show to “Election Night,” are really good; also, it’s super weird. Two ducks, voiced by newcomers Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor, argue with a swan (Chappelle) in a painting in a crummy motel. The ducks are mad that they always end up doing all the work in the pond, while the swan does nothing but “look stunning.” And… that’s it.
The in-studio audience is very confused about what’s going on, except for one guy who starts clapping with 16 seconds left. He’s a big Swan Lake fan.
(Via Saturday Night Live)
