Bill Hader revived a fan favorite character as host of this week’s Saturday Night Live. Hader created countless characters over his eight seasons as a cast member of the show, but by far, Stefon is one of the most iconic.
This week, Stefon joined Weekend Update to suggest questionable places for New York City tourists on St. Patrick’s Day. Going through an entire list of bizarre, extremely specific party spots — all of which feature Roman J. Israel Esq. — Stefon does not disappoint. As far as city correspondents go, Stefon may be the least qualified, but he is easily the most entertaining. The places he suggests are often shockingly hilarious, but the true joy lies in watching Hader try so hard, and ultimately failing, to not laugh.
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Breaking from the norm, 2018 Stefon made an attempt to be more politically correct in some of his descriptors with the help of his lawyer and “conceptual piss artist” Shy (played by John Mulaney). The comedian co-created the popular character with Hader back when he was a writer at SNL. In an interview with Conan O’Brien, Mulaney revealed why Hader tends to break character as Stefon. “I started putting new jokes on the cue cards in between dress and air,” he explained. It became a signature of the sketch.
While I’ve missed the references to sexy asbestos, key fobs, and Denzel Washington characters, I must admit, the appearance felt incomplete without the chemistry between Stefon and his desk-boyfriend-turned-husband, Seth Meyers. Ever since Stefon first came onto Weekend Update in 2008, they have played so well off each other. Without Meyers, Stefon wouldn’t have his signature gesture. “People always ask me why I put my hands in front of my face like that. A lot of it was Seth,” Hader said in an interview opposite his former castmate on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “Anytime I would say something, you would go, ‘Now Stefon,’ and I would start laughing.”
Maybe next time they can come back to the show together?
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