If Michael Che was looking for a way to make Weekend Update’s Christmas Joke Swap even more uncomfortable than usual, he certainly found it this year thanks to an all-time swerve. Apparently he told co-anchor Colin Jost that he didn’t want to do the Joke Swap this year. Then, live on the air, he surprised him by saying they were doing Joke Swap segment anyway.
A visibility confused and blindsided Jost said he hadn’t prepared any jokes, and Che, smirking like a kid that just got one over his parents, told him he’d just have to read the jokes he prepared. Jost played along and read the off-color jokes that touched on race, sex abuse and his wife Scarlett Johansson getting old. He clearly wasn’t a happy camper about it though. You can watch the bit in its entirety below…
The Joke Swap is, of course, the most popular recurring segment on Weekend Update. The long-time anchors typically force each other to read absolutely vile jokes the other has never seen before during the Christmas episode, as well as the final episode of the season. Typically Che is a little more vicious with what he makes Jost do, but after this one-sided dunking, you know Jost is going to be coming for the throat later this season. I’d imagine he’ll get his revenge during the final episode of the season, but it’s certainly possible he works with the writers and crew to throw up some middle fingers sooner than that.
The best thing about Jost and Che, who have been together behind the Weekend Update desk longer than any other duo in the show’s long history, is they quite obviously have a ton of natural affection and chemistry together. That manifests itself in them being able to take shots at each other and eliciting reactions that feel like brothers rather than co-workers.
That’s why these Joke Swaps always feel on the ride side of the line, even though, objectively, they’re saying horrifying things. They’re quite clearly trying to punish each other, not whatever racial group or gender or subject matter they’re hammering.
It’s unclear how many more Joke Swaps we’re going to get. I would certainly imagine we’re going to get one during the last episode of the season after this chicanery, but beyond that, it’s an open question mark. Rumors swirled that the duo might finally leave Saturday Night Live over the summer. They both wound up coming back, but it’s entirely possible we won’t get so lucky this coming summer, given how many other opportunities they get. We’ll just have to wait and see.
SNL will be off the next several weeks for the Christmas holiday, but it’ll return in the new year with exciting new hosts and the same Weekend Update greatness we’ve come to expect.
