When Larry David hosted SNL this past weekend, most coverage focused on his two Bernie Sanders-related sketches—a great Curb Your Enthusiasm parody and a survival debate on a sinking ship. Less remarked upon was a fun little sketch in which an FBI cadet played by Kenan Thompson must distinguish lethal threats from harmless civilians in an elaborate firearms-training simulation.* The “lifelike target dummies” were all played by real people, including Larry David as a fake civilian named Kevin Roberts whose neon hair, orange attire, and loud, annoying interjections blurred the line between benign and target-worthy.
If you had trouble keeping a straight face when David called himself “the coolest bitch in town” and exhorted “Can a bitch get a donut?,” you weren’t alone. The rehearsal footage shows David cracking up at every turn, totally unable to read his lines. His voice gets higher and his face grows redder the harder he tries to get the words out. Even seasoned comedy pros have their breaking points, and David’s, apparently, is having to yell, “Breaking news: Kevin Roberts just got to second base with a lady!”
Correction, Feb. 10, 2016: This post originally misspelled Kenan Thompson’s first name.
