On "SNL," Santa's Elves Are Concerned About "Stu"

If you had “Christmas-themed parody of Eminem’s ‘Stan’” on your Saturday Night Live Bingo card this week, you might be ecstatic right about now. If you’re reading this with some bemusement — a Christmas-themed parody of…what? — keep reading; all will be explained.

It has been 20 years since Eminem’s “Stan” first hit the airwaves, telling the story of an obsessed fan through a series of letters. What might happen, you might ask, if the recipient of a similar series of missives was Santa Claus? Hence Pete Davidson as a Santa-obsessed rapper who really, really wants a PS5, and whose letters to the North Pole have the elves very worried about their own safety.

The combination of the song parody and the Christmas theme can feel a little random at times, though there are a few moments that push at the limits of the sketch, including Bowen Yang’s very intense portrayal of Elton John. And there’s a beat at the end that adds a whole new layer to the self-referential nature of the parody.

Was it the most surreal musical moment from last night’s Saturday Night Live? No; that honor would have to go to the sketch where Kyle Mooney shot an animated bird with a bow and arrow. But Davidson riffing on Eminem is pretty entertaining to watch, and that counts for a lot.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…