We have reached the bye week battle that was set up by our cockamamie bracket system. We are going to knock out all the bye rounds this week, and that will set the stage for Elite 8 action as the road to the Golden Gilda grows shorter!

Yellow Division: Please Don’t Destroy-Original Princes of Comedy vs. Washington’s Dream.
The Please Don’t Destroy boys got the bye, but their matchup is a doozy., as they face the Nat Bargatze led Washington’s Dream, a smart, funny and pointed sketch. Here’s the write ups for these two contenders:

Please Don’t Destroy - Original Princes of Comedy:
The lads meet with [host Pete Davidson] and watch some of his teenage stand-up videos. This seques to when the PDD guys were elementary school Def Comedy comics. The juxtaposition of grade school white guys working their material at the Apollo works out really well, delivering a piece that is ridiculous, inappropriate, and, above all, very funny. A dig at John Mulaney (delivered by Mulaney) is priceless.

Not as many twists as usual from Please Don’t Destroy, but they aren’t really needed here after the premise is revealed.

I’ve missed these guys.

Washington’s Dream:
Bargatze is George Washington telling his troops around the campfire of his vision for America, which is essentially using a different series of weights and measures than the rest of the world. But not always.

This sketch was very smart and funny, again made even better by Nate’s delivery. His delivery of “Nobody knows” when asked how many yards are in a mile was perfection. And, Kenan constantly being ignored when asked how Black Americans would be treated after the war added another layer to an already strong sketch.

Let’s roll the highlights!

The Original Princes are very funny, but Washington is able to defeat the royalty. History does indeed repeat itself. This sketch is a powerhouse. Washington has won some early battles, but will he win the war? Time and the tourney will tell.

Green Division: Cold Open-Santos vs. Airplane Baby

Bowen Yang’s farewell to truth -impaired Congressman George Santos was the only Cold Open in the tourney. It was also drew the Green Division’s bye. Does Bowen’s crowd-pleasing character have what it takes to beat up a baby?

Let’s take a look!

Cold Open - Santos:

The absurdity started immediately this week as Sarah Sherman portrayed Wolf Blitzer in a cold open that -to absolutely no one’s surprise- featured Bowen Yang as ousted Congressman George Santos giving his farewell press conference. Yang seemed to relish what is - presumably - the last appearance of this character. During questions from the press, Yang’s Santos declared he was leaving behind his Congressional title to retain his old ones, including “Protector of the Realm” and “Princess of Genovia.”

Yang then caps off the conference with a full on parody of Candle in the Wind, in which Santos calls himself “An evil Forrest Gump.”

The song brought down the house, and Yang deservedly got huge applause. The whole sketch felt like the kind of thing they do on the show when a cast member departs. As far as I know Yang isn’t going anywhere, but it does kind of feel like a mournful goodbye to his signature character. If not for the actual George Santos.

Airplane Baby:

Sarah Sherman is traveling with her 11-month old baby on a plane. However, the baby is Adam Driver. Or rather, it’s Adam Driver’s head poking out the top of a puppet baby body. He also speaks like an adult, but reacting to things like a baby.

It’s a wonderful, bizarre and hilarious sketch. Adam Driver throws his entire Oscar-nominated abilities into this piece, which really pays off. The oddness, hilarious material, and fantastic performances come together in a funny, original sketch.

Let’s read the tale of the tape!

This was a surprisingly tough matchup. One one hand, we have Bowen Yang killing it with his farewell to Santos. A powerhouse performance with music and comedy that brought down the house. On the other hand, Adam Driver’s Baby on a Plane was hilarious and fresh with a great performance by Driver. It’s no surprise this one ended with a last second buzzer beater to give Bowen Yang’s Santos the win.

Red Division: Weekend Update-Jost’s Son vs. Please Don’t Destroy-Gone Too Soon.

Never bet against Sarah Sherman dissing Colin Jost at the Weekend Update Desk. Sherman pretending to be Colin’s long lost son is a strong competitor to the Please Don’t Destroy gang and their hilarious and ludicrous story of their friend’s unlikely death. Which of these sketches can wind their way into the Elite 8? Ler’s see the write-ups!

Weekend Update - Jost’s Son

I used to get mad when Jimmy Fallon would crack up on Weekend Update (and elsewhere), but for some reason I don’t mind Che and Jost’s loosey goosey antics. This week had a lot of jokes that created those groans from the audience that really mean “This is funny, but I know I shouldn’t laugh”. And Che’s ongoing commentary on crowd reaction always makes me happy. Can’t say why, but there it is and here we are.

Groaners this week included comments on Biden’s support with minorities being so bad that he only got an endorsement from Obama’s “white half”. When this triggered the groan, Che said “Did you guys all forget that?”

The highlight of Update, and arguably the show, came from a visit to the desk by Sarah Sherman as an 18 year-old young man who won a ticket lottery to get to see the show. Sarah’s character was dressed exactly like Jost, and as the bit progresses, he has more and more similarities to him.

This is one of those amazing punching up bits where Sherman insults Jost, and Jost plays along gamely. The visit, where it becomes increasingly clear that Sherman’s character is Jost’s son, is interspersed with snippets from “Cats in the Cradle.”

This was a genuinely hilarious segment, and a real work of art.

Please Don’t Destroy - Gone Too Soon

In this episode, the boys are mourning the loss of a friend, and explain his demise to [host Sydney Sweeney. Suffice to say the method of the death of their friend - one Reverend Buttcheek P. Rosenthal - is hysterical, ridiculous and complex. When Sweeney does not believe their story, they prove it by showing a YouTube video of the incident complete with hilarious comments, including from some famous folks (Malala Yousafzai, for example, commented it was ‘Unfortunately hilarious’). And then, the ending adds another delicious layer as the Reverend’s celebrity father shows up and the whole thing turns out to be a commercial.

Perfection.

I don’t even want to call a winner here. Both sketches are so good that they both deserve to advance. On the one hand, you have the Please Don’t Destroy’s layer upon layer of absurdity vs. the pure joy of Sherman mugging to “Cats in the Cradle”. Frankly, some are going to question the officiating in this match-up - and maybe for good cause, but the death of Chef Boyardee’s son is just so ridiculous that the Please Don’t Destroy guys eek out this win, and set up a quarter-final Please Don’t Destroy face off with We Got Too High! Exciting times lie ahead!

Blue Division: Jerry’s Retirement vs. Beavis and Butt-Head

Our final bye match-up barely deserves mention. Can a parade of odd and very funny characters and Corn Nuts in a format used time and time again throughout SNL history beat out the hurricane of hilarity that is Beavis & Butt-Head.

Spoiler alert, no. No it cannot.

Let’s go to tape anyway.

There is nothing at all wrong with Jerry’s Retirement. It is funny and had some great cameos. But, like GWAR, Beavis and Butt-Head rule, and those two scamps make their way into the Elite 8.

Next week, we will winnow the field down to the Final Four. Stay tuned and may your brackets remain unbusted!

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SNL After Party (S49 Sketch Face Off - Bye Round)