‘SNL’s’ Lobster-Themed ‘Les Miserables’ Sketch Was Peak John Mulaney

Lobster has to be the most bougie crustacean in the sea, which is why SNL’s off-the-wall musical ode to the tasty dish was genius, transcendent even. That’s right, in the year of our Lord 2018, Saturday Night Live gave us a Les Miserables-themed lobster sketch and it was everything we never knew we needed.

The sketch opened with Pete Davidson ordering a tail at a diner much to the chagrin of a couple of waiters played by host John Mulaney and Cecily Strong. It wasn’t until Kenan Thompson popped up in a fish tank sporting lobster claws and a French Revolution-era jacket that their reluctance became clear.

Watching Thompson embody the aquatic arthropod version of Jean Valjean and belt out a rousing entree-inspired remix of “Who Am I” was, and this is not an exaggeration, a shining moment in the show’s 43-year history. Thompson is easily the show’s most valuable player and he proves it here. The guy can play anything and play it well. As Lobster No. 1, he sacrifices himself to Davidson’s hunger before Kate McKinnon (as Claws-ette, get it?) offers to take her father’s place.

The whole shindig ends with Mulaney, Strong, and a good majority of the cast bringing out some impressive set design, forming the barricades, and delivering a stirring rendition of “Do You Hear The People Sing?”, re-imagined here as “Do You Hear The Lobster Scream?”

Sure, if you’re not a Broadway fan some of this will just go over your head, but we’re not ashamed to admit this sketch is our brand of weird. And as it turns out, this sketch and “Switcheroo” were old sketches that never made it to air when Mulaney wrote for the show. He thanked the show for giving them a second chance at life on Twitter:

(Via SNL)