SNL UK After Party 4/04/26 - S1 E3 “It Won’t Bloody Leave”
Host: Riz Ahmed
Musical Guest: Kasabian
For the first time in its three-week run, SNL UK has an episode on the same night as the American version. Does the UK version hold its own or even surpass the American version? Let's find out at this week's SNL UK After Party.
Cold Open
For the cold open, we return to number 10 Downing Street, where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (George Fouracres) welcomes us with a greeting “In the strongest possible terms, hello."
Starmer wishes to take a do-over on the speech he gave on the Iran crisis earlier this week. He assures viewers that his administration is working on the Middle East situation, and that “the pace we are working at is leisurely.”
Starmer acknowledges that he is not the most charismatic individual to present this message, so he brings on some Brits who may have more appeal to the public.
First up is Harry Kane, the current captain of the English football team and former Tottenham Hotspur standout. Portrayed by Al Nash, Kane analyzes the Iranian war as he would a soccer match. He states that Iran has a solid attack and is solid in defense. “It's going to be nice.” Next to stage is Olivia Colman (Emma Sidi). CD provides a great impersonation of a revved up Coleman Providing her insights into the conflict. Finally, Peppa Pig (Annabel Marlow) comes to the podium to give Insight to the war.
The whole thing is interrupted by a power outage, followed by the requisite “Live from London. It's Saturday Night!”
It continues to be fascinating to see the political current events cold open through the British lens. It is also fun to see the parade of British celebrity impersonations that the show provides. Olivia Coleman, for goodness sake!
Monologue
Academy Award-nominated actor Riz Ahmed is very comfortable on stage. He talks about how he is known for intense drama such as Sound of Metal and Four Lions, and is currently promoting Bait (a comedy about an actor auditioning for the role of James Bod).
Ahmed talks about how England is a nation with an ongoing identity crisis. For example, he states that the British "like it when things are a little bit crap." For example, he states that British compliments are a little bit crap, such as when someone says "he's a character," which really means "he's a knob." He also identifies that Brits love cricket, which is a game that can go on for five days and still end in a draw.
On all this, it was an entertaining, if not hilarious, monologue, and it sets Ahmed up as a charming host.
Why Do People In TV….
In a pre-recorded country music spoof, the singers ask, "Why do people in television and movies always have their cell phones turned up loud?" We see various examples of this that make no sense, such as why everyone in a school setting has their text noises deployed and why do people in a business meeting all have their phone notifications turned on so that their phone beeps as a scandal erupts regarding one of the participants. The song then goes on to ask, "Why do police only have coworkers at personal events in television and movies?"
It's a funny enough concept, but probably a little too long for its laugh-to-minutes ratio.
Traitors
In a send-up of the game show Traders, contestants instead play Great Big Crab Man. In this show, contestants are trying to figure out who among them is in fact a great big crab man. Despite the fact that one contestant is clearly a giant crab person (Nash), contestants still argue over who the great big crab man is. Sidi's character, for example, keeps selecting non-white contestants instead of the giant crab. It's a pretty blatant attack on inherent racial bias in game show contestants, but the sketch is funny, particularly as we show footage of the great big crab man engaged in one of the challenges on the show. This felt like a fresh, absurd sketch.
Operation
In another taped piece, Kama Ahmed is at a party where someone brings out the Operation game. He claims it's very easy and for kids, but cannot successfully remove any of the pieces without setting off the buzzer. He proceeds to obsess on the game to the point of setting up a murder board and alienating his family as he tries time after time to get a piece without the buzzer going off.
Eventually, just in the nick of time, he gets a piece as his wife is about to walk out the door. We flash forward six months, and the couple are in a restaurant when someone declares that there is a medical emergency. A man lies on the floor (Nash), who looks exactly like the Operation guy, and Ahmed goes to work. Of course, the man is not a cardboard character on a game board, so when Ahmed attempts to perform surgery on him, a Grand Guignol gout of blood sprays all over the restaurant patrons and staff.
Instead of pulling out a bread basket, for example, Ahmed actually removes the man's intestines, ultimately killing him. As the sketch ends, Ahmed is dragged away by the police as the victim's body is wheeled out. As a tag, a red light flashes from under the sheet covering the corpse as it is taken away.
This sketch works because of Ahmed's intensity and commitment to the actual acting involved in the sketch. It's a great take on the usual surprise bloodbath trope that we've seen on SNL for quite some time.
OG FM
The DJs on a retro radio station ( Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboyea, and Nash) Play music literally all the time. This means that even when they're talking, music is playing and sound effects are firing off. They announce that they want to discuss a serious problem to their aging listeners, which is prostate cancer. Ahmed appears as Dr. Rishi, an expert who tries to be serious but keeps getting interrupted by music sound effects and shout outs (“Big ups to the North Sea.”
Finally, to compete with the mayhem in the studio, Dr. Rishi does a freestyle rap about prostate cancer. It predictably kills with the audience. Of course, it does have the problem that any sketch like this has: there's no real way to end it other than everyone vibing to the music.
Weekend Update
Ania Magliano and Paddy Young present stories on expected and unexpected stories. Magliano opens with a joke that falls flat about Iran, noting the conflict is in its second months, so things are getting serious. She does better with a more barbed story about the US bombing a civilian bridge, stating the Administration apologized saying they thought it was a school.
There are jokes about the US calling the British navy old and outdated. Magliano says “Too old and outdated for Donald Trump. What? Is it over 18?” Paddy says one British naval admiral says he will sail over to give Trump a piece of his mind “just as soon as the wind picks up.” He then adds that in fairness the British fleet only has one submarine, and half its crew are dead before popping up a picture of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.
There is a pointed joke about Mark Zuckerberg building a bunker and a peacock who knocks on doors (purportedly to announce it’s a sexual offender). And there’s a joke about Easter sure to ruffle some feathers.
This week has not one, not two, but three desk visits!
The first segment is a reaction to an apparent AI remake of Love Island in which all the participants are animated fruit. Apparently, this is a real thing. To respond to this, an actual Love Island contestant (Sidi). This bit doesn’t really do much, but is worth it for the angry fight at the end about whether a tomato is a fruit.
In another bit, an adorable door mouse who is stuck in a balloon appears to give an interview. The mouse (Jack Shep) is going through these stages of internet fame right before our eyes. He starts out as an influencer, then gives a hot take ("Raspberries are nice"), and then proceeds to start a podcast. It's unclear if Shep is speaking for himself or for his character when he says "being adorable was always my superpower."
Finally we get a visit from a father and son (Fouracres and Nash) who still do skin-to-skin contact, despite the fact that the son is 32. This appearance is inexplicably funny and clearly a little disturbing to Magliano, who slowly backs away from it at the end of this weekend updates segment.
Royal Society of Literature
In this sketch, the Royal Society of Literature in London has tasked writers with creating works of Gothic horror that tap into universal fears. One author creates Nosferatu, another creates The Wolf Man, and, finally, an author (Fouracres) creates The Bastard Seagull. The author is covered in bird poo and tells a chilling tale of a seagull that will not leave him alone. He even does a reading from his work, which describes how he is vexed by multiple seagulls.
When he takes questions from the audience, they ask why the main character simply doesn't close his window, to which he replies it is stuck. When asked about the possibility of introducing a bird of prey to help with the situation, 4 Acres declares that his "character" introduced an owl who now believes that it is one of the seagulls' babies. Fouracres’ legitimate Shakespearean acting skills make this sketch very funny, and the continually heightened ridiculousness of it really pays off. There's even a delightful seagull puppet that arrives near the end. This was a fun sketch.
Birthing Class
Attendees at a birthing class are surprised when Ahmed and his partner, the Easter Bunny (Animashun) arrive. Since this is the Easter Bunny's big weekend, he is about to give birth to approximately 82 million eggs. He discusses how difficult this is and receives sympathy from the attendees until one points out that he must be thrilled that so many people eat his eggs. This is news to the Easter Bunny, who is very upset to learn that people think of chocolate as food.
That's really it. The absurdity of the situation really can't fill the entire length of the sketch. This was rightly put at the final slot of the show and would not have led to outrage had it been cut for time.
The Goodbye Wave
Best Sketch:
Royal Society of Literature. This was very funny and original. Plus, the simple title "The Bastard Seagull" is entertaining enough to warrant this win.
Worst Sketch:
Why Do People In TV… This just felt like it dragged on and didn’t deliver enough laughs to justify its early time slot or production values. It raises an amusing point, but once raised there’s just not a lot of laughter packed into the premise.
Random Notes:
- The sound mix for musical guest Kasabian seemed better than the mix for acts on the US show.
- I’ve said it before, but the show’s tighter format (including no break before musical guests or the farewells) make the British version seem zippier. Overall, there feels like less filler.
- Cast members are still working on covering up line flubs. It’s interesting that they try to downplay it with a throw away line as opposed to cracking or making a big thing of it.
- I still enjoy the fact that there are a few references to people each week that I simply don’t get. I could use this as a learning opportunity! (But, I’m and American, so I almost certainly won’t).
- The sets seem a little smaller than those at Studio 8H in New York. It seems like the cast sometimes has difficulty getting out of them quickly when sketches end.
I am honestly enjoying the UK version of the show. I grew up with British sketch comedy, and I am happy to have a chance to return to it. The cast and crew of SNL UK are doing some interesting and even edgy work at times, and as they lean more into their sensibilities, the show is becoming fascinating to watch.
Can you directly compare SNL and SNL UK? Yes and no.They are obviously closely related, but they have enough differences that there’d be some interesting conversations around the family dinner table.
All-in-all, SNL UK is a welcome addition to the comedy game.
Grade: B+
As always, we grade SNL episodes in comparison to other SNL episodes. Not TV in general. If you want to support our content, consider subscribing on Substack
