VIDEO Sarah Silverman drops a Joan Rivers impersonation on SNL’s head

 

Sarah Silverman hosted Saturday Night Live last night, and was pretty all-around great. It seems clear she’s in the comedian sweet spot last occupied by Louis C.K.: popular culture is tuning in to her brand of weirdness at the exact moment that she’s peaking creatively.

(Though there’s an equally strong argument to be made that Silverman’s been peaking for about ten years, but that is neither here nor there.)

So, just a few weeks after winning an Emmy–and all of our hearts–she got to return to SNL, the show from which she was unceremoniously booted after one disastrous year in the cast, for a round of feel-good hosting.

Among her many great skits was this one, where she played newly-dead Joan Rivers doing a roast of other dead celebrities outside the gates of Heaven. Check it, and watch out for Ben Franklin:

 

 

And, just for good measure, here’s Silverman’s beautifully awkward monologue. It features one of the highlights of her persona as a stand-up: She’s not uncomfortable at all, which means you either have to laugh along with her or become the punchline.

 

 

The absurdity of Past Sarah asking Present Sarah twenty-year-old audience plant questions was a fun way to segue into the rest of the show, too.

What did you think of last night’s SNL? Boom? Bust? Were you tucked in bed before it even aired?