Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | December 15, 2025
I have some “comedy buttons” that, when pushed, will easily elicit laughter from my face hole. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They are triggers for my funny bone. While I wouldn’t be able to, like, list them, I know what they are when I’m exposed to them. Right now, I can say with certainty that I’m a sucker for tear-away clothing that leads to more clothing.
One of the greatest versions of this kind of joke I’ve ever seen happened in Sister Act the Musical. Eddie, a shy police officer, has a song that begins with him dancing around in his uniform. It is then stripped away to reveal an immaculate white suit. That suit was later torn away to reveal the same cop outfit he had worn before. It was fantastic and rightfully got an applause break every time it happened.
The gag was incredibly impressive because he really didn’t look any bulkier than usual. I never would have gathered that he had several outfits on, and even after seeing it more than a handful of times (I worked at the show), I still couldn’t tell. It also swerves expectations in such an incredible way, much like the SNL sketch Bachelorette Party Strippers did this week.
The setup is simple enough. A group of women is throwing a bachelorette party at a small cabin, complete with matching jammies and a feathered boa. Then, Sarah Sherman (playing a “normal” person, which always makes me laugh), reveals that she hired some strippers, much to the bride’s (Ashley Padilla) objection. It’s then quickly revealed that these are more sensitive, sweater-clad strippers who like books and offering words of encouragement.
First and foremost: one of the strippers is named “Auggie.” It’s spelled “Oggie” in the closed captions, and maybe that’s what it said in the script, but we call one of my sons “Auggie,” and that lodged itself firmly in my brain the moment it was said. They never say which stripper shares my son’s name, but I assumed it was Ben Marshall because he has red hair, and my son’s hair looks red at times. All that to say, the sketch is definitely good, because I was able to avoid focusing on what my 4-year-old son may end up doing with the rest of his life.
And good it was. Marshall and Josh O’Connor play the roles pretty perfectly. Though not much is required of them. They have to say fairly normal stuff with “sexy” voices. But their ability to stay in the moment sells the sketch. They also got the moment that sold it for me, which involved removing their sweaters to reveal the same sweaters underneath. The duo also rips off their jeans to reveal more jeans. Loved it. Marshall also reveals a Zohran Mamdani tattoo on his abs, and they both beat up a fake Mikey Day. It works.
Dustin mentioned this in his write-up for the episode, but I have to bring up that Jane Wickline almost steals the show. It’s an almost for me because I was sold on the tear-away clothes. But Wickline gets to do one of my other favorite comedic things: spouting insane or overtly sexual words and phrases with a completely straight face. She deadpans like the best of them, casually firing off lines like, “When are they gonna drop trou and show that Ticonderoga pork pencil?”
I also think it helps that I’ve been drawn to more evergreen sketches this season (for the most part). Yes, there are some fairly topical name drops here, but the premise itself is pretty broad, and that allows for easier enjoyment. I didn’t need to look up the week’s events to figure out what was going on; I merely watched it on my phone during a snowy drive back from Connecticut and had a good laugh like a normal person. It features the current cast, but “trippers but sensitive” could have worked with almost any cast since the show’s inception.
If I had one gripe, it’s the Mikey Day dummy. There was no way to obscure that it wasn’t him, and while it was funny, it could have been even funnier if he were there making his signature funny faces. The man is perfectly capable of being expressive, and I’m sure Marshall and O’Connor could have just … pretended to hit him. If the whole point was getting to throw him out the door at the end, it was not worth it. But it did lead the two gentlemen to kiss, which I can accept as a “there’s no normal way to end this, so let’s just go big” kind of solution. This thing works, and I would like Josh O’Connor’s sweater (at least one of them), please and thank you.
