Shane Gillis Bombs In His 'SNL' Monologue

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 25, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 25, 2024 |

Cold Open — In a rare, very good political cold open, four Republican Senators (Rubio, Rich, Scott, and Graham) sit in a booth and, over dinner, recount all the terrible things that Donald Trump has said and done to them, before adding the obligatory “He’s the greatest President ever.” It is sad. And the fact that the Republicans are OK with the world seeing them as they are seen here is pathetic. (Score: 7 out of 10)

Shane Gillis — I watched Shane Gillis’ stand-up special on Netflix yesterday because I don’t want to be the knee-jerk liberal reactionary who rejects everything out of hand and tries to get people fired or canceled. I want to understand. It’s a free country. People have the right to say what they want to say, and this guy is popular with a certain crowd. But Gillis also says a lot of bigoted things. He has a whole schtick on Down Syndrome where he frequently uses the r-word, and there are bots all over the Internet who will drop into the comments section and defend it (you wait). My wife and I had a long conversation about him yesterday, and I guess it came down to why? Why in 2024 does this guy still call women a bitch; why does he use the r-word; why does he make racist jokes before basically saying, “Just kidding!”

It’s because he still wants to put people who are not white men in their place. He wants to remind them of where he is — or where he thinks he is — in the social hierarchy. It’s dehumanizing, and Gillis tries to hide behind that dumb-white-guy character, but he’s the guy with the microphone and the huge audience. He has a huge platform. Making fun of himself does not absolve him of the dehumanizing language. You want to bring back bellbottoms? Or the Electric Slide? Cool. But trying to bring back “gay” and ret***ed? Come on. Having a relative with Down Syndrome doesn’t make it OK to say, man, just as having a Black friend doesn’t make it OK to use the N-word.

What’s interesting about the monologue here is that Gillis does have an adoring audience. The SNL audience is decidedly not it. This audience has no real context for Shane Gillis’ humor. The entire stand-up set came off as cringy, tone-deaf, and mean, and parts of it were recycled from his previous stand-up. The man called his mom — who was in the audience — a bitch and used the word “gay” like kids used it in the ’90s. It might work in front of his audience, but it was painful to watch in front of an audience that hasn’t been primed for a dehumanizing stand-up act straight out of 1994. This was a terrible stand-up set on every level. I hope it was worth it, Lorne. (Score: 2 out of 10)

Jamaican Church — A white family from Ohio decides to go to a Jamaican church while they’re on vacation, and the dad gets swept up in it and does some bad Jamaican patois. It’s not a great skit, but it might have worked with, say, Jake Gyllenhaal. But it’s kind of weird to have a white guy who is kind of racist doing this skit, isn’t it? I’m not trying to be antagonistic, but honestly, it’s awkward. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)

Rock Bottom Kings — An ad for a gambling app where you can also make bets on how your gambling-addicted friend will hit rock bottom. Clever. All too accurate. (Score: 5.5 out of 10)

HR Meeting — During a meeting with HR, they learn that you can only ask a woman out once, and if she says no, you aren’t allowed to ask again. The Shane Gillis character wants to know when the clock resets and if he can bank yesses from women who tell him no. Eh. (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Trump Shoes — A trailer for the new Trump sneakers, which don’t make you better at your job, but they do give you the ability to convince people that you’re better at your job. Funny. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

The Floor hosted by Rob Lowe — This one did not go well. I don’t really understand what The Floor is, but it apparently requires contestants to identify things based on their picture. The Gillis contestant is given a lot of pictures of Black people to identify but he passes because he doesn’t want to incorrectly identify a Black person on national TV. Again, a funnier skit had it not starred a guy who is kind of racist. (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Weekend Update — Jost and Che are their reliably decent selves, though a few of those jokes are TOO MUCH. Marcello Hernández, meanwhile, plays a frozen embryo — Hernández is starting to make a name for himself on the show — and Bowen Yang plays Truman Capote to talk about Women’s History Month, where he just shit-talks female historical figures. See? It’s funny because we know that Bowen Yang is not actually a sexist creep. “No one loves women like a gay man who hates women.” (Unfortunately, there are no embeds yet of the Hernández and Yang segments). (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

High School Reunion — Shane Gillis plays a high-school bully who peaked in high school, and here he is making fun of his class’s most successful alum, Forrest Gump. It does not go well for the bully. This is a good use of Gillis. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Fugliana — A sex doll for men who don’t want to feel inferior to hot sex dolls. “The average-looking sex doll for below-average-looking men.” The best part is watching various female cast members play a sex doll (especially Sarah Sherman). (Score: 6 out of 10)

Alexa — The Alexa listens to everything, and tailors ads specifically to your wants, so why is this guy getting ads for Green Bay Packers butt plugs? Eh. (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)