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A Texas Senator Interrupts the Trump Impression to Question the Format
· New York time
Newly elected Texas Sen. James Talarico appeared in Saturday Night Live's cold open and questioned how many more sketches would use the device of Donald Trump freezing the action to ramble. In the sketch, James Austin Johnson's Trump answered: “Infinity!” Variety reported the exchange during the opening sketch. The cameo brought a politician into a recurring piece of political comedy to complain about its recurrence. That made the format itself the subject of the joke, rather than simply another stage for the show's Trump impression. SNL has long used familiar characters and repeated devices to give viewers an immediate point of recognition. Here, the audience also got a character willing to ask whether that recognition had become a little too familiar. Johnson's reply supplied the show's wonderfully unreasonable counteroffer. A newly elected senator interrupting a comedy sketch to question its production habits is a neat reversal. Politicians normally have to endure comedians commenting on them. This time, the politician arrived to request a little editorial restraint, and the impression promised an unlimited supply.
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