SNL UK After Party 5/2/26 - S1 E6 “I Bloody Love You, You Mad Bastard!”
Host: Aimee Lou Wood
Musical Guest: Meek
I must recognize that SNL UK is not aimed at me. I am, too American and too old to be within striking distance of the target demographic of this show. That said, I like to fancy myself as an objective observer of all things comedy, and as such I have opinions. Want to hear them? Well, head on down to the pub, buy me a pint, and check in on this week's SNL UK After Party.
Cold Open
King Charles (Larry Dean) and Camilla (Emma Sidi)are returning home from their recent visit to the United States, where King Charles addressed Congress. Aboard their plane, Charles states he is ready to return home because, “I hate being in any country where mummy isn’t on the money.”
Their flight is diverted back to America when it is revealed that they have been hijacked by none other than British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (George Fouracres). Stormer reveals that he plans to keep the plane in the air as long as possible because he cannot be removed as Prime Minister as long as the Monarch is out of the country. His evil plan is foiled when the flight attendant reveals she is actually Angela Rayner (Celeste Dring), who - according to my research and certainly not my encyclopedic knowledge of British politics - resigned as deputy PM last year due to a tax issue. She is then foiled by another flight attendant (Jack Shep) who reveals he is the one and only Paul Selby. Apparently, sensing the American audience's confusion, King Charles asks, “And we're supposed to know who that is?” Selby reveals that he is in fact not famous, but that he is the one member of the public who actually likes Starmer. This is the sixth episode of SNL UK, and if I'm not mistaken, it is the sixth cold open to feature Starmer. This Fouracres guy is giving James Austin Johnson's Trump a run for his money on number of appearances in cold opens.
The Cold Open was amusing, if not hilarious, and was a perfectly pleasant way to open the show. Yes, it did feature Starmer heavily yet again. But, at least it gave some room for Charles and Camilla to appear whilst Camilla was enjoying weed gummies that she got in America.
Monologue
Aimee Lou Wood, who has appeared in such shows as Sex Education and The White Lotus, comes out to prove that her perky persona is not real and that she is, in fact, "a weird lady." She starts off by saying it has been her dream to scat like Kim Cattrall did in a YouTube video from many, many years ago. She proceeds to do so and executes the tribute quite well.
In countering the public's perception of her, as a bubbly actress, she states, "The only thing bubbly about me is my IBS." She then proceeds to do readings of audience members' past lives. Most were dogs. One was the Pope, and one dog was apparently Pablo Escobar.
The monologue seemed to meander and go on a bit too long, but Wood herself seemed charming and fun.
Dangerous
Things unfortunately almost immediately nose dive with the first sketch, a pre-recorded music video about a clumsy woman. I am honestly at a loss as to why this was arguably funny. It was certainly no Lonely Island, though it kind of made me want to go to one (Sorry, that was too harsh).
Dr. Who
Next up was a Dr. Who parody. I was hopeful about this sketch which featured Hammed Animashaun as the Doctor and Wood as his companion. The idea of a parody of the venerable British sci-fi show is great and is something we would be unlikely to see on the American version, but is the premise bigger on the outside than the sketch is on the inside? Well...
Here, the Doctor and his companion arrive on Trexelor 5 as the Tree of Knowledge prepares its once every trillion years bloom. One taste of that fruit will provide all knowledge. Already, the setup really could be a Dr. Who episode. But there's a catch. The tree is actually a horrendous creature who communicates through farts. The creature is extremely gross and bloody, in addition to being gaseous. The companion is having none of it. She refuses to eat the very gross-looking fruit and decides instead to start vaping her triple mango cartridge. Alas, the mango is fatal to the inhabitants of Trexelor Five, and that is the sketch.
I will give credit to the line "I'm allergic to champagne, so it comes out of me like fizzy gravy." Hey, if you're going for low-hanging fruit from the tree of knowledge, you might as well go for it.
An Italian Plumber With Princess Problems
Side note: SNL UK gives overly long titles to their sketches. I just didn’t want you to think I came up with this.
In what appears to be an attempt to capture a Martin Scorsese vibe, Fouracres portrays Mario while Wood is Princess Peach, affecting a perfect Marisa Tomei imitation from My Cousin Vinnie.
The two squabble, with Princess Peach making the comment, "You're always off go-karting with that monkey that wears a tie and nothing else."
When she confronts Mario by saying Link and Zelda still keep their marriage fresh, Mario proclaims that “Zelda does Pilates”.
At one point, Yoshi runs into the room and creates havoc, and then Toad appears (Shep) and proceeds to murder Mario and possibly Princess Peach with a hammer, though we don't see this carnage. Instead, we get a freeze frame that should have clearly been cut away from several seconds before it was.
I'll give credit to the sketch for Wood's performance and the effort to bend the genres. But, to crib a quote from Raging Bull from the Scorsese film, this one defeated its own purpose by relying more on the genre bending than anything else.
A Generation Z Reboot of a British Classic
See what I mean about the titles?
Anywho, here's another one that probably worked better for a British audience. A beloved children's story has been given a Gen Z reboot starring Wood as herself, Animashaun as Jayden Smith, Dring as Millie Bobby Brown, and Dean as Tom Holland. Instead of just being a bunch of twee British youth, the characters are portrayed as cynical Gen Z kids who vape and don't care about anything. Again, this one just did not hit for me at all. I recognize that maybe if I were familiar with the British children's story, it might resound a little more, but otherwise there wasn't much to this that would generate laughter. I'm not sure why they put “celebrities” in this thing when there appeared to be little effort to actually do any celebrity impersonations. At all.
Airport Lost and Found
In this sketch, Wood goes to the airport lost and found to retrieve her lost suitcase from the lost and found employee (Shep). Wood concedes that her suitcase contains a bomb, but she has no intent on using it at the airport. “Obviously, I’m not trying to kill anyone. I’m not a man,” she say.
Instead, she wants to use it in a dressing room where the mirrors are upsetting. She and Shep bond over their hatred of the store. Eventually, the suitcase falls to the ground and begins to beep. The two believe they are about to be blown up, at which point Shep admits he is gay. However, the bomb fails to explode, and the suitcase is opened to reveal that it is, in fact, not a bomb. It is a George Foreman grill, and then the whole thing just kind of falls apart from there. Wood and Shep have high energy and they give it a go, but the lack of any real ending here hurts the sketch.
Weekend Update
Weekend Update has some quality jokes this week. Up top is the King's visit to the United States. Ania Magliano states the King presented President Trump with a bell, which he will hopefully wear around his neck to warn young women when he is approaching. A picture of Camilla shows her with a large necklace, to which Magliano says, “Camilla, seen here wearing Princess Di’s Horcrux…”
In what seems like its going to be a shot at America, co-anchor Paddy Young says that the King and Camilla watched Appalachian clog dancers in America, and due to the fact of generations of inbreeding, the royals enjoyed them thoroughly.
Young tells a joke where some pigeons were found roosted in a postal vehicle. He then adds, "What a crazy mixed-up world we live in. Pigeons used to carry the post; now the post carries pigeons." There was a certain charm to the stupidity of this joke, but the show takes it to the next level when Young opens up a trap door under the stage to show riders cowering in fear as he yells at them for creating such a terrible joke. He does so again when there is a story about a man who cooked steak on a bus using a hair straightener. When asked about the incident, the man said, "There was a bit of beef, but I straightened it out." He yelled at the writers again, but I have to admit I found that genuinely funny because of how absolutely horrible and stupid it was. The desk visits were okay. Animashaun shows up as a terrible lip reader who is reviewing video of the Royal visit to America. At one point he interprets a conversation between Camilla and First Lady Melania Trump as “Our hats are mad! What’s your favorite crisp?”
Larry Dean then pops in to talk about elections, which is really just an opportunity for him to do what I assume is some of his stand-up material. He does imitations of how various people talk and how you can tell which way they are going to vote as a result. For example, in America, he says liberals open their mouth wide and then make it known what they expect of you, while conservatives tend to talk with a more closed mouth so people can’t read their lips when they say racist things. He then turns to the UK, where posh Londoners don’t show emotions until the very end of their sentences. The next desk visitor is Ayoade Bamgaboye as a woman who has been to too many destination weddings this year. I didn’t really see what the joke here was, to be honest, other than she wouldn’t have chosen to go to Majorca if it was up to her.
Posh Gits
You know that Californians sketch on the American version of SNL? That's what this is. I do not like The Californians sketch. I did not like this one and understood it even less. Much like with the Californians, the audience seemed to eat it up, and much like with The Californians, I have no idea why.
Basically, this is people just saying things are awkward while talking to other people who have somewhat silly names. At least it wasn't just a series of people describing motorways.
British Pork
This is an extremely silly sketch in which actors are taping an advertisement for British pork circa 1984. The first take is done fairly normally, but then the director says that the new pork board wants it to be dark and scary because they are "hoping to frighten people into eating more British pork."
Fouracres attempts to make his delivery more menacing (though he does keep cracking up), while other actors attempt to make the ad more disconcerting, particularly Wood, who pours gravy while making a bizarre face.
The members of the Pork Board are shown to the side, loving the new direction. They are dressed as either pigs or covered in pork or both, and the whole thing is very weird. The cherry on the top, however, comes at the end when they show the actual commercial that this piece was based on. I gotta say they nailed the vibe. It's fun to think that some British writer has been sitting on this idea for 42 years. Frankly, it was worth it.
I can’t find the sketch online, but here’s the real commercial. It’s funny enough on its own.
The Goodbye Wave
Best Sketch: By far, British pork takes the crown. This was a great topper to the show. I'm a sucker for weird comedy, and this one certainly pulled it off.
Worst sketch: This could go to almost any other sketch of the night. I think I will go with Posh Gits. I just could not comprehend why the audience was laughing at all, much less as much as they were. Again, I recognize this might be a national thing.
Random Notes
- Wood did not discuss her beef with Sarah Sherman Wood made news following the American SNL episode hosted by White Lotus co-star Walton Goggins in which Sherman’s portrayal of her with slightly exaggerated teeth reportedly upset Wood.
- Meek is serious, right?
- The second Meek performance was not introduced right after a sketch, but after a break (as is normal in the American version). That’s kind of a shame. I do like the host hustling from a sketch to do the intro.
Aimee Lou Wood is a good performer. With better material, I could see her doing well on a sketch comedy show. However, this episode was undeniably weak. Again, I will concede maybe something got lost in the translation (and yes, I realize we all speak English). Rumors of the show not making it to season two started early on. I tend to ignore all SNL Cassandra talk, but I am beginning to lose my faith in this iteration.
We’ve still got two more episodes for the season, including one hosted by Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham. Here’s hoping she can help us all Believe.
Grade: D
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
