Taran Killam is a friend of Mozart (Justin Timberlake)

A Justin Timberlake Dress Rehearsal Exclusive!



Taran plays a friend of Mozart.

This one obviously ran too long for the jokes it got. It was amusing, but it was fairly similar to the immigrants one they did previously, so I can see why it got cut.

The crowd loved Justin's Bieber line. And of course it ended well...

"I'm bringing sexy, Bach."

Hahahahaha. Nice.

I think this skit would have been better if Justin sang and or danced as Mozart, kind of like John Belushi did as Bach back in 1975.


Enjoy!

Taran Killam is Chris Kirkpatrick in What's That Name? (SNL) with Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga

Gameshow - What's That Name?

Justin Timberlake
Lady Gaga
Fred Armisen ... Alphonse
Abby Elliott ... Katie
Bill Hader ... Vince Blight
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... Chris Kirkpatrick

On this celebrity edition episode, Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga must name various people to win money for their charities.



Taran gets a nice cheer when he comes out as Chris. This is pretty funny as Justin Timberlake makes fun of himself.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam naked in Perspectives Photo Studios (SNL commercial)

Commercial - Perspectives Photo Studios

Paul Brittain ... customer
Bill Hader ... Curt Ponzovski
Taran Killam ... customer
Seth Meyers
Bobby Moynihan ... model
Nasim Pedrad ... friend
Jason Sudeikis ... spokesperson
Kristen Wiig ... Rhonda

Fellas, thinking about sexting a picture of your member? Allow the professionals at Perspectives Photo Studio to ensure it's camera ready.



Hahahahaha. Oh, SNL. You so funny.

Nice use of the Statue of Liberty. The family photo was pretty funny.

I think Taran has the funniest moments here. =^)

Enjoy!

Taran Killam is Ian McKellen as Gandalf (Knights of the Realm)

Sketch - Knights of the Realm

Elton John
Tom Hanks ... Michael Caine
Fred Armisen ... Ringo Starr
Paul Brittain ... Barnaby Xavier St. Hidgens III
Bill Hader ... Richard Branson
Taran Killam ... Ian McKellen
Seth Meyers ... announcer (voice)
Bobby Moynihan ... shopkeeper
Andy Samberg ... Bono
Kenan Thompson ... Sir Mix-A-Lot
Kristen Wiig ... Diedre

When a dragon attacks London, England's most recognizable knights devise a plan to stop it.



Taran appears as Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Amusing behavior, but not overly funny.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam makes out with Elton John (SNL)

Show - The Silver Screen

Elton John ... Eric Sandrews
Taran Killam ... Dale Eberheart
Nasim Pedrad ... Vanessa Anne Hudgens



Nasim's impression is just filler as Taran plays the gay man against Elton John. Definitely amusing.


Overall Featured Players this week

1. Taran Killam - Playing a gay lead opposite Elton John and acting like Gandalf will get Taran the top spot this week. Taran was also a butler in the Royal Engagement and a cowboy, totaling four skits.

2. Nasim Pedrad - Nasim was in the Lawrence Welk cold open and appeared as Vanessa Hudgins in Silver Screen. Not huge roles, but they were good enough to land her the #2 featured player spot this week.

3. Paul Brittain - Paul only played a British news anchor in Knights of the Realm. He barely tops Vanessa this week.

4. Vanessa Bayer - Vanessa was only in the Lawrence Welk cold open. And she got that role cuz there's only four women on SNL this week, and the gag is that Dooneese has 3 sisters (who have never been the same 3 people, by the way).

5. Jay Pharoah - Jay wasn't on this week. However, judging from this tweet earlier this week, Jay is still on the show:

Impressions that I want to get on @nbcsnl Richard Pryor,Tupac,Nick Cage,Idris Elba,Danny Glover, Black Charlie Sheen(wait that's a Character

Enjoy!

Taran Killam rocks Eminem on SNL (how he stacked with the featured players)

Taran Killam rocks Eminem. Jay supports well as Lil Wayne. Vanessa tries in Livin Single (and doesn't too well), Nasim supports decently well, and Paul plays bit roles.


Weekend Update
Taran Killam ... Eminem
Jay Pharoah ... Lil Wayne


Rap icons Lil' Wayne and Eminem stop by Weekend Update to drop their edgy Valentine's Day song.

Hahahaha! Taran kills as Eminem! Listen to the audience! The audience loves his impression, and it's obvious why. He sounds like a great parody of Eminem and the gag comes across clear. Let's see more of his Eminem!


Sketch - Royal Taster
Russell Brand ... King Reginald
Bill Hader ... chef
Taran Killam ... taster
Michael Patrick O'Brien ... servant
Kristen Wiig ... narrator (voice)

It's not easy to taste all of a king's food for poison when the royal figure is a volatile person.



Taran is cute as the scared taste tester.


Show - Livin' Single
Russell Brand ... Damian Cryer
Vanessa Bayer ... Dina D'Angelo
Abby Elliott ... audience member
Taran Killam ... DJ Terry
Kristen Wiig ... audience member

Super single host Dina DeAngelos gets extra friendly with her guest much to the dismay of her friend, DJ Terry.



Is Vanessa funny? Hmm. In her Miley Cyrus skit, but I don't really think so in this one. Taran and Brand save Vanessa from herself in this skit.


OVERALL:
Here is our rank of how well I think they did overall...

1. Taran Killam - His Eminem was hilarious. The audience was dying whenever he opened his mouth, and it got to where they were laughing just when they looked at him nodding and staring stone faced. He also was in 5 other skits that night, the most of any cast member. He played a pretty good straight man as the concerned taste tester for the king. But he couldn't save Vanessa's Livin Single skit (luckily Brand saved it from being completely painful).

I think this is a huge step for Taran. This will hopefully prove that he should come back next year. Now it's a question of whether or not he can leverage this and deliver more funny. An easy way to do that is to bring this impression back the way Jay has brought his Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington back (and in different ways, each time).

2. Jay Pharoah - He played an amusing Lil Wayne, opposite Taran's Eminem on Weekend Update. Jay tweeted that Taran's Eminem really showed up his Wayne impression, but he promised to get them next time. Jay also supported in the Spider-man lawsuit commercial. Another Spider-man musical joke? Don't they have movies or other events to make fun of? Why does SNL have to be about current events?

I still think Jay should follow up his Denzel Washington skit with a sequel where Denzel is driving a taxi cab to prepare for a movie.

3. Nasim Pedrad - Sure Nasim didn't lead in any skits, but she was funny supporting in Bill Hader's English movie trailer, so I give her the edge over Vanessa, who starred in her own skit but still had less laughs than Nasim. Nasim supported in three skits this episode.

4. Vanessa Bayer - Vanessa starred in the Livin Single skit and she supported in the Spider-man commercial (a lot of the cast did). She wasn't overly funny, but at least she was featured on this show, which is more than we can say about...

5. Paul Brittain - Paul supports in two skits. Unfortunately nothing funny came from him this episode. After his James Franco impression, we're hoping he can keep proving himself. I still think there's a chance that he might not be back next season.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam scores 2nd place this week on the Russell Brand SNL episode

2. Taran Killam (38 points): Wow, what a huge week for the rookie. Just two episodes ago, Killam scored a goose egg for the week, but just look at him now! His Eminem impression was just as good as anything that Jay Pharoah — who, I think we’d all agree, is a very strong impressionist — has done all season long, but more importantly, he and fellow rook Vanessa Bayer paired up on what I would consider one of the best sketches of the season to this point, “Living Single.” His work as DJ Terry was laden with a deep sense pathos, which isn’t easy to pull off while still getting laughs. I think it’s safe to say that Killam has a real bright future as a Featured Player in front of him.



Read the rest:
http://www.bestweekever.tv/2011-02-16/snl-power-rankings-things-get-shouty-when-russell-brands-around/

They scored Livin Single higher than I would have, and they didn't give him the props for Eminem that he deserved. He killed the audience.

Enjoy!

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:



==========

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!~

Taran Killam supports in This You Call A Wonderful Life?! (SNL)

Show - This You Call A Wonderful Life?!

Jeff Bridges ... rabbi
Fred Armisen ... guest
Vanessa Bayer ... guest
Paul Brittain ... guest
Abby Elliott ... Donna Reed, Mary Hatch
Bill Hader ... Ben Mankiewicz
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... guest
Bobby Moynihan ... guest
Michael Patrick O'Brien ... guest
Nasim Pedrad ... Zuzu
Andy Samberg ... Moishe Samberg
Jason Sudeikis ... Jimmy Stewart, George Bailey
Kristen Wiig ... guest

You probably didn't know 'It's A Wonderful Life' was originally created as a Chanukah film.



Not overly funny, but it's appropriate in a Christmas episode, I suppose.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam is Brad Pitt on SNL's Weekend Update

Weekend Update: Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt talks about the recent cold weather blasting the Midwest.

Taran Killam ... Brad Pitt
Abby Elliott ... Angelina Jolie



Hmmm. Taran's mannerisms remind me of Brad, but what and how he says it just doesn't have the sting of other impressions. I think the audience would have preferred to see Abby rock her Angelina Jolie in a full skit instead. Sorry Taran, but this isn't as great as your Pee Wee Herman. You should have done Pee Wee as a weatherman. =^)

Taran's first Brad impression. Also portrayed by David Spade once. This is Abby's fourth appearance as Angelina Jolie, all four on Weekend Update. Molly Shannon also did Angelina twice and Kelly Ripa did her once, but Abby owns this impression. I don't see Taran's Brad Pitt achieving the same popularity.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam - Meryl Streep on Ice (SNL)

Commercial - Meryl Streep on Ice

Vanessa Bayer ... theatregoer
Paul Brittain ... theatregoer
Abby Elliott ... Meryl Streep
Bill Hader ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... theatregoer
Jason Sudeikis ... theatregoer

Meryl Streep has mastered the stage and is now taking her talents to the ice.



Unfortunately, Meryl Streep on ice wasn't very funny in this (Abby has done her better on Weekend Update). This could have been funny, but there just weren't any real jokes here. Taran's gay character is probably the only funny thing about this.

Now this is Taran's only skit this week. Other than a hilarious bit as Pee Wee Herman in that Back to the Future DVD bit, Taran hasn't really even shown why he's on SNL. I know why he's on the show (his characters and impressions are great). However, he doesn't seem to be fighting to get his best impressions and characters out there the way that Jay Pharoah and Vanessa Bayer are (and the only thing that Vanessa has done well is Miley Cyrus).

Taran's lack of ambition to get his humor up front reminds me of Jenny Slate and others who've gotten cut from the show. Taran, if you're reading this, you need to start fighting to get your best impressions and characters out there! Build skits and Weekend Update appearances around your Pee Wee Herman, touchy feely character, and guy who does impressions in his basement (maybe as a cable access show). The season is over 40% over, and you haven't given the producers a reason to keep you yet! You're about to repeat what happened on Mad TV!

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Party at Mr. Bernard's (SNL)

Devin and Rocky are in for a surprise when they show up to party at their boss's house, Mr. Bernard.

Film - SNL Digital Short: Party at Mr. Bernard's

Robert DeNiro ... Mr. Bernard
Vanessa Bayer ... guest
Paul Brittain ... witness
Bill Hader ... Ricky
Taran Killam ... attorney
Bobby Moynihan ... judge
Nasim Pedrad ... guest
Jay Pharoah ... guest
Andy Samberg ... Devon
Jason Sudeikis ... attorney
Kristen Wiig ... guest



Hahahaha. I love this! What a nice nod to the 80s and Weekend at Bernie's!

Taran makes a sweet lawyer!

Enjoy!

Taran Killam - What up with that? (SNL)

Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, and Lindsey Buckingham are guests on this edition of 'What's Up With That?'

Show - what up with that?

Robert DeNiro
Robin Williams
Fred Armisen ... saxophonist
Vanessa Bayer ... singer
Paul Brittain ... musician
Bill Hader ... Lindsey Buckingham
Taran Killam ... announcer
Nasim Pedrad ... singer
Andy Samberg ... Mothra
Jason Sudeikis ... dancer
Kenan Thompson ... Diondre Cole
Kristen Wiig ... Shasta Taffy



Enjoy!

Taran Killam is a bartender with Ben Stiller - It's a Living (SNL)

Sketch - It's a Living

Robert DeNiro ... guy
Ben Stiller ... guy
Taran Killam ... bartender
Andy Samberg ... Calvin
Jason Sudeikis ... Tristan



After a stressful day, Calvin and Tristan go to some unusual lengths to get a drink at the bar.

Taran plays a small role as the bar tender.

Hahahaha. This is messed up, but hilarious! Ben Stiller is awesome here! Great writing! Did you like it?

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Thanksgivies (SNL)

Awards are given out for common Thanksgiving dinner forgettable moments.



This was played in the last episode's Thanksgiving episode during the dress rehearsal. It obviously didn't make the show.

Taran plays a guy who announces that he's gay (but everyone knows). This character is pretty funny. I'd love to see him play it in a full skit.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Camel Tame (SNL)

Commercial - Camel Tame

Vanessa Bayer ... girl
Paul Brittain ... employee
Abby Elliott ... girl
Bill Hader ... employee
Taran Killam ... guy
Bobby Moynihan ... salesman
Nasim Pedrad ... employee
Kristen Wiig ... employee

There's a new way to stop to stop camel toe before it suddenly appears.



Enjoy!

Taran Killam is the Tin Man on Wizard of Oz (SNL)

Show - The Essentials: Wizard of Oz

Anne Hathaway ... Dorothy
Fred Armisen ... Lon Donson, The Weather Vane
Bill Hader ... Cowardly Lion
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... Tin Man
Bobby Moynihan ... The Wizard
Andy Samberg ... Scarecrow
Jason Sudeikis ... Robert Osborne

There was almost a fifth character in The Wizard of Oz that you've never heard about.



Anne really does well in picking skits. Last time she was on, she was Mary Poppins, and this time she's Dorothy. Classic!

They really did a great job on the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion and getting their makeup right! I was surprised how well all three nailed their voices, but I was especially impressed with Taran's work on the Tin Man (although Bill's Lion was also impressive).

I wonder who writes the skits like this one and the Disney ones.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Royal Engagement (SNL)

Sketch - Royal Engagement

Anne Hathaway ... Kate Middleton
Fred Armisen ... Queen Elizabeth
Bill Hader ... Prince Philip
Taran Killam ... butler
Andy Samberg ... Prince William

Prince William takes Kate Middleton to meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.



Fred as the Queen. Hahahaha. None of the four ladies on the show could have played the queen?

Enjoy!

Taran Killam is a body guard on the Manuel Ortiz Show (SNL)

Manuel tries to get to the bottom of some infidelity among friends and settles it with a paternity test.



Andy's got the best dancing here, followed closely by Taran. Wiig works over the crowd well with a slow and then fast dance. I think the gag of slowing and speeding up the music is what saved this and made it different enough than the last version.

Taran did have a mighty fine dance though.

What's interesting is that Fred has had three different styles of Spanish shows that he has made fun of over the years.

Enjoy!

Taran Killam in Millionaire Matchmaker (SNL)

Patti has her hands full with Candice, a not-so-attractive lawyer, but takes on the challenge to find her love.



Bobby rocks the mohawk!

Oh my gawsh! No way! Do you guys see it??? This is Vanessa Bayer's way of getting back (by poking fun at herself and acknowledging what happened).

You see, Vanessa had her old online Dating video leaked a few weeks back, and it makes her look a little boring...



So... this skit starts out with a similar video and heads to the next step. Coincidence, or Vanessa "fighting back?"

Other bits that connect... She basically received a lot of hateful comments, including talking about her frizzy hair, so for this character she made the frizzy hair a lot more extreme. And then people asked who the heck would go for her from that video... and the answer in this skit is Taran's version of the same annoying and boring person (but in guy form).

Enjoy!