Taran Killam has got skills - 1/8/11 SNL episode review

Taran Killam swept up on 1/8/11, showing he's got some skills...

Robot skills (he outstages Jim Carrey at physical comedy, which is quite impressive):



He played an interesting fish character opposite Andy Samberg (kudos to Andy for helping push a featured player):



He and Paul play Bro-Botix in the "Worst of Soul Train" skit. What's really interesting is if you watch this, you'll see that Taran out performs Paul here. There's a good chance that if the writers see what Taran is capable of, they might make good use of him. Check it out:



And even in Black Swan, you can see him cause a good laugh by feeding Jim Carrey some bread crumbs:



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Nasim Pedrad did her fair share on 1/8/10. She was featured in the Black Swan sketch (mostly playing it straight and showing her genuine dance skills), and she played Ricky, having an amusing line in the Worst of Soul Train skit.

Jay Pharoah only had one role as Shooting Starr in the Soul Train skit. The writers really aren't using Jay well. He's mostly pitching himself every two weeks or so. That's what's keeping him busy.

Here are the rankings of the featured players this week:

January 8, 2011 (Jim Carrey)
1. Taran Killam plays Brad Pitt on Weekend Update. I think the audience mostly gave courtesy laughs here. Taran also supports in two small roles, totaling 4 skits.
2. Nasim Pedrad was featured in the Black Swan sketch (mostly playing it straight and showing her genuine dance skills), and she played Ricky, having an amusing line in the Worst of Soul Train skit. She played supporting roles in two other skits, totaling 4 skits.
3. Vanessa Bayer played straight roles in three skits.
4. Jay Pharoah does only Shooting Starr on Soul Train.
5. Paul Brittain does two supporting roles.

Taran takes the prize for best performance from a featured player this week. Hopefully this will help the writers see how valuable he could be to the show. Plus Taran really needs to go out there and turn in his own skits and materials (and sell writers on his stuff).

Enjoy!~