‘SNL’: Elon Musk’s Absurd Wario Sketch Has Viewers in Disbelief

Businessman Elon Musk played the anti-hero of the Super Mario franchise in an SNL sketch this weekend, and the internet is still reeling from the absurdity of it all. Musk’s debut performance on Saturday Night Live got generally poor reviews, and the sketch where he played Wario stands out as particularly bizarre. Many are still discussing the premise on social media, however.

Musk wore a stuffed costume and an exaggerated mustache in order to look like Wario, in a sketch where he was apparently on trial for crimes against the Mushroom Kingdom. The premise was simple, and the cast did their best to take it to an unexpected conclusion, though as with other parts of the episode, the timing was a little off. The punchline ended up being a comparison between Wario and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, though this fell flat and seemed to make many people wonder what the guiding thought between the sketch was to begin with.

Many were also put off by the sketch’s enthusiastic embrace of online meme culture, which felt too on-the-nose to many and seemed like a way of trying too hard for easy laughs. Many even blamed the sketch for the sudden plunge in the price of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which Musk mentioned just moments before in another segment.

All in all, the Wario sketch may be the stand-out part of an SNL episode that will live in infamy. You can watch the whole episode now on Hulu, with a free trial here. Scroll down for a look at the responses to Musk’s portrayal of Wario.

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Cheap

Some joked that the sketch idea must have come about because it was cheap and easy, posting links to affordable Wario costumes online. Some even suspected they had found the one Musk was wearing in the sketch.

Legacy

SNL looms large in the comedy genre and in the entertainment industry as a whole, and many fans thought that this episode did not live up to its standards. They imagined the series creator Lorne Michaels watching in horror.

Italian Elon

According to a report by The Verge, at the time so many people were mocking Musk that Twitter had to create a new policy where any user who changed their display name to “Elon Musk” was automatically suspended. Somehow, “Italian Elon Musk” outlived them all and became the king of the Elon parodies for a brief time.

Favorite

After the show, Musk’s first post was to say that “Wario” had been his favorite part of the night. Fans responded in outrage, calling on him to comment on the rapid decline in Dogecoin prices.

Grimes

Musk’s girlfriend Grimes made an appearance in this sketch as well, though it did not get many comments. Those that did mention it tended to focus on how few other people were mentioning it.

Dogecoin

Many were watching the cryptocurrency markets alongside SNL this weekend, expecting Musk’s public endorsement of Dogecoin to move the needle. They were horrified to see the Dogecoin price dropping rapidly at the exact same time he was on screen dressed as a Nintendo character.

Wiki

Finally, the account of the Super Mario Wiki responded to the sketch’s prominent citation on Twitter, calling it “terminally unfunny.”