Aidy Bryant's Most Memorable SNL Moments
"Saturday Night Live" has been on the air since 1975. With a cast that has featured comedy titans like Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader, and too many more to name here, it must be incredibly difficult to leave any kind of impact. During her 10 years on the show, however, Aidy Bryant forged a legacy of hilarious characters, gut-busting bloopers, and moments that will go down in history as some of the funniest ever.
From creating original characters like "Weekend Update" travel expert Carrie Krum, to satirizing public figures like Ted Cruz, Bryant has thrown herself into several roles with total commitment, making viewers buy into the performance without question. She leans into humanity's eccentricities so expertly that even in her more outlandish moments there is a sense of relatability that we connect with completely. To honor her remarkable decade on the show, we're looking back and ranking her most memorable moments.
She was hilariously unlucky as Dena Beans
When Selena Gomez assumed hosting duties in 2022, her "Only Murders in the Building" co-star Steve Martin appeared in a pre-taped mockumentary segment. The frequent "SNL" guest star played Archie Gizmo, inventor of the whoopie cushion. He struggled with figuring out what noise the cushion should make until he met his muse, a young woman (played by Aidy Bryant) named Dena Beans.
Archie was taken with Dena's appearance, but what really inspired him was the fact that Dena passed gas every time she sat down. Thus, the whoopie cushion as we know it was born. Things didn't stop there, though. He entered into a relationship with Dena and found her to be outlandishly unlucky. Essentially, any gag gift from 40+ years ago came as a result of Dena Beans experiencing some form of mishap.
The facial expressions on Bryant's face throughout the sketch are what really sell it. When she sits down, she has a pleasant smile. When snakes pop out of a can, the horror is palpable. Every time she gets electrocuted she has such a cartoonish and over-the-top reaction that you can't help but howl with laughter. The highlight might just be Dena sitting down, passing gas, and then immediately being struck by lightning. It is perfectly silly in such a wonderful way.
She took us inside the mind of Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Melissa McCarthy's portrayal of former White House secretary Sean Spicer was historic. She played him with such ferocious disdain that you couldn't help but lose it every time she showed up. Following that up was always going to be difficult. So when the show decided that Aidy Bryant would be a good fit for incoming press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the choice to take things in a more surreal direction with a sketch titled "Press Conference" was a welcome one.
The look and the voice are about as close as you're going to get in a comedy show satirizing someone, but Bryant nails the attitude completely. Seeing her throw ridiculous insults at journalists and explaining how to find the center of a maze on a McDonald's placemat would have been enough for a funny skit, but then we travel into Huckabee Sanders' subconscious and discover exactly what's going on in there.
We're shown that the press secretary sees this as her moment to shine. She's singing the Demi Lovato song "Confident" and acting like a rock star, really loving this opportunity she has in the spotlight — she can say whatever she wants because it's her time and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks. It's a creative and funny way of exploring the origin of the bizarre antics of a public figure.
She played Tinker Bell's half-sister Tonker Bell
The magical story of Peter Pan, the eternally young boy who brings the Darling children to Neverland for a series of adventures, has been enchanting young people for over a century. Walt Disney's animated adaptation from 1953 (despite its offensive depictions of Native Americans) is perhaps the best-known and widely recognized version of the tale. The design of Peter and his fairy friend Tinker Bell is what you probably think of when you hear their names.
"SNL" turned this on its head when host Jim Parsons played Peter. He pays his old friends the Darlings a visit in a memorable sketch co-starring Aidy Bryant. This time, though, Tinker Bell was unavailable, so her half-sister Tonker Bell (Bryant) came along instead. This far-sassier fairy has the same mother as Tinker Bell, but Tonk's father was an intelligent housefly. This, apparently, resulted in a fairy who was incredibly confident, did not hesitate to put people down, and could eat entire human-sized hamburgers.
The fun in this sketch comes from Bryant's obvious relish in playing the role. She seems to be having a ball talking smack to these kids and playing a character who sort of resembles Disney's classic interpretation but who can swear and talk frankly about sex. If only Tonk hadn't been stepped on so many times.
She lit up Weekend Update as travel expert Carrie Krum
The satirical news sketch "Weekend Update" has been part of "SNL" since its inception. It has seen several different hosts and even more special correspondents over the years. The segment has often been a showcase for cast members to try out different characters who may not work in other sketches. Aidy Bryant has had a few herself, but the one that stands out the most — thanks to her naïveté, enthusiasm, and charm — is that of 7th-grade travel expert Carrie Krum.
The character is brought on to advise viewers on travel destinations they might find interesting during certain times of the year. However, unlike your usual travel experts, Carrie is limited to places she has visited with her parents. For instance, as far as she is concerned, "one of the absolute global destinations has got to be Columbus, Ohio." There's nothing wrong with praising the city of Columbus, of course, but it isn't exactly the kind of place you would typically call a must-see vacation destination.
Her reasons for what makes Columbus so great are directly related to her own family's vacations. Of the main attractions, she mentions cousins, aunts, and uncles with ponytails. Her most endearing characteristic is her excitement. When she's about to drop a particularly juicy bit of gossip, she becomes so overwhelmed that she just keeps repeating the name of the host. Carrie is a great character who we hope to see return at some point in the future.
She was the best part of A Girl's Halloween
Anyone who has ever started out a night of drinking with the best intentions only to see it turn into a sloppy, drunken disaster can relate to the 2016 sketch "A Girl's Halloween." It sees cast members Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, and Vanessa Bayer getting ready to celebrate the spooky season by going out to a club and just having a "chill" night. The sketch is intercut between their preparations for the night versus the harsh, miserable reality. The ladies essentially go against every single goal they set for the night.
Strong says she won't drink, but winds up so sloshed she's slurring her words, starting arguments, and vomiting during dinner. Bayer says she likes dressing up as cheese when her friends are dressing up as cats, but then she scolds them for forcing her to be the cheese when they got to be cute. Bryant is so proud of her gray high-heeled shoes that match her outfit, but she keeps stumbling over them.
The moment that Bryant is forced to sit in the middle of a drenched city street and fix her shoes because she can't stand any longer is so real and hilariously relatable that it hurts. All three cast members nail their parts, but Bryant steals the show with her perfectly obnoxious drunken performance.
Bryant and Seth Rogen made a great team in Steakhouse
In the sketch "Steakhouse," Aidy Bryant plays a woman who broke both of her arms and relies on her husband (played by host Seth Rogen) to do everything for her. This has been a difficult period for Rogen's character. He doesn't appear to be very good at handling everyday tasks for his wife and he even describes it as the worst time of his life, even though he was in Afghanistan. They are out for dinner with a group of friends and Rogen is forced to hold a glass of wine up to his wife's face so she can drink, apply her lipstick, and even feed her.
He is absolutely terrible at each task, failing to perform the most basic functions properly. When she informs him that the heat from the steak might cause her to pass out, he undoes her blouse as opposed to fanning her or moving the steak, or just undoing a few buttons. Then he tries to feed her and that just needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. When he misinterprets her direction to "cut it," the result has the entire cast on the verge of breaking into laughter, which is always entertaining.
(Do It On My) Twin Bed is one of the best SNL music videos
Whether they are parodies or originals, "SNL" music videos rarely disappoint. When multiple cast members are involved and they get to showcase their individual talents, it makes the experience even more entertaining. Such is the case with the song "(Do It On My) Twin Bed." An ode to awkward attempts at sleeping with your significant other in your childhood bedroom while visiting your family during the holidays, the song is both catchy and genuinely funny.
The real highlight comes from the mention that each room also contains a school picture. We then get a quick montage of the ladies in the sketch dancing in front of blown-up versions of actual childhood photos. Aidy Bryant's bit is hands down the most memorable — you get a sense of exactly the kind of young person she was while also feeling terrible for her having to pose like that while wearing quintessential '90s overalls. The picture is so perfect that they actually use it again in a kind of morph effect to remind you that yes, that is a real picture of the woman singing and dancing in this video.
She lampooned Ted Cruz in Oops, You Did It Again
Usually, issues of the day are pulled straight from the headlines and used as fodder for the "SNL" cold open. Sometimes this will be a special report from the White House or a breaking report from some cable news network. It's an effective way of getting the hot-button issues out of everyone's system so we can all have a good time until "Weekend Update" comes along and just shreds the news to ribbons.
In early 2021, we were reaching COVID-19's first anniversary in the United States, Britney Spears and her conservatorship were in the public eye, governor of New York Andrew Cuomo was under fire for misreporting COVID-related deaths in nursing homes, actor Gina Carano caused controversy with some tasteless tweets, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz was being roasted for fleeing his state during a crisis. The February 20, 2021 episode of "SNL" addressed all of these scandals in a sketch called "Oops, You Did It Again," a fictional talk show hosted by Britney Spears (played by Chloe Fineman).
In the sketch, Britney invites guests onto her show to apologize for their misdeeds. Pete Davidson portrays Cuomo, Cecily Strong appears as Carano, and Aidy Bryant does an incredible Ted Cruz. Bryant plays Cruz as such a smarmy con artist that no one on stage wants to be seen with him. She does this so convincingly that Strong can't get through her lines while acting opposite her without laughing.
She told Trevor she loved him during Girlfriends Talk Show
"Girlfriends Talk Show" was an ongoing series of sketches starring Cecily Strong as Kira and Aidy Bryant as her co-host/BFF Morgan. Each new installment puts extra strain on their relationship as Kira continuously brings on special guests without notifying Morgan in advance. She and the guest usually bond over cool things that have nothing to do with Morgan, alienating her and destroying her self-esteem.
While all the sketches are pretty funny, "Trevor, the Cutest Boy in School" stands out because it isn't just about Kira flaunting a new best friend in Morgan's face, it's Morgan having to cope with being right next to her secret crush. Although she denies the attraction at first, Morgan can't help but reveal out of the blue that she loves him. Being as cool as he is, Trevor takes the revelation in his stride. He tells poor Morgan that he thinks she's really funny and that he could imagine spending the whole day laughing with her — then spending the night making out with another girl. Ouch.
She flirted with Ryan Gosling as cringey teen Melanie
In the "Birthday Party" sketch, Aidy Bryant plays an inappropriate teenager named Melanie. She ruins her friend Taylor's birthday party by being totally gross with Taylor's dad, played by Ryan Gosling. This wasn't the first time the character appeared on the show. Previously, when Drake was the host, she ruined a birthday party by flirting with her friend's dad so aggressively that her mother was brought in to take her home — and the same thing happened this time out.
Whenever Gosling's mustachioed father character enters the room, Melanie can't help but make a move on him, much to his horror. She is so inexperienced at this that everything she says is horrible and disgusting. The reason this sketch wins out over the prior one is the fact that Bryant almost succeeds in making Ryan Gosling lose it completely by popping into frame and saying something she really shouldn't. The cringey sketch ends with the overly-stimulated Melanie crashing into a wall and then falling face first into Taylor's birthday cake, destroying the table that it's sitting on in the process.
She almost lost it playing the host of Inside the Beltway
The sketch titled "Inside the Beltway" features Aidy Bryant hosting a political discussion show regarding the 2019 impeachment hearings of then-president Donald Trump. The premise is that she and two guests (played by cast member Cecily Strong and host Woody Harrelson) are optimistic that these hearings may signal the end of the Trump presidency. Her third guest, played by long-serving "SNL" cast member Kenan Thompson, isn't convinced. As they discuss the facts of the case, Thompson reiterates his belief that nothing will happen. To illustrate his point, the show cuts to past clips in which similar discussions were had and, in fact, nothing happened.
Instead of cutting away to pre-recorded clips of the cast in different costumes, however, we actually see the cast undergoing quick wardrobe changes. The sketch itself is funny, but it really kicks into gear when an eager wardrobe person runs into frame to change Bryant's costume before Thompson has a chance to finish his line. This look behind the scenes has everyone cracking up, with Bryant suffering the most since she is playing the host. Watching her trying to keep it together and get out her lines is the real magic of this moment.
She took no prisoners in Aidy B and Cardi B
Sometimes the nice ones need to blow off a little steam. That's exactly what happens when Aidy Bryant becomes obsessed with Cardi B's recent album in the sketch "Aidy B & Cardi B." After discussing the album with Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, it occurs to Bryant that she needs to be more assertive and bold like Cardi B. She doesn't hesitate in this new life goal either. When Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett ask if they're interrupting girl talk, Bryant lays into them, leaving the pair shocked.
She continues on her empowerment rampage through the halls of 30 Rock, giving the late Chadwick Boseman a hard time instead of admitting how much she loved him in "Black Panther," talking trash about everyone she works with on social media and imagining herself as a star in a music video surrounded by men. This confuses everyone since she's usually so nice. Everything comes to a head when she meets the actual Cardi B and is oblivious to the fact that her new idol is a little embarrassed by her.