Bowen Yang leads mock awards show at ‘SNL’ as ‘A Guy Named Ethan’
By Ryan General
January 29, 2024
Bowen Yang has a new alter ego — “A Guy Named Ethan” — to offer a satirical take on this year’s Oscar nominations.
Introducing Ethan: Yang, in character as Ethan, presented an alternative awards show called the “Ethans,” during the “Weekend Update” segment of last week’s “Saturday Night Live” with host Collin Jost. The skit delivered comedic commentary on the awards season, shedding light on the lack of diversity in Hollywood.
Yang’s “Ethan” introduced unconventional award categories like “Best Performance That Reminded Ethan of Moments From Ethan’s Past” and “Movie Moment That Made Ethan Say, ‘Okay! Wait, What?? Nice.'” For the former, nominations included playful nods to peculiar movie moments, such as Bradley Cooper’s marriage scene in “Maestro,” Paul Giamatti’s eye condition in “The Holdovers” and the chickens’ fort in “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.”
Call for diversity: Despite being the sole person to choose nominees, Ethan acknowledged the serious snubs in his awards due to a lack of diversity.
“The academy is 100% Asian,” Ethan shares. “That’s why I’m asking everyone here tonight to donate to the #EthanSoAsian.”
Hilarious moments: The skit included an “In Memoriam” segment featuring a blank screen, with Ethan joking about his fortunate year without knowing anyone who died. Yang’s character then accepted an Ethan award, delivering a speech filled with self-praise and references to Niecy Nash’s Emmy speech.
Demand for more Ethan: The skit, which has attracted over half a million views on YouTube, drew comments praising Yang’s performance and demand for more sketches featuring the character.
“Bowen’s Weekend Update sketches always make me laugh. He is so good,” one viewer wrote.
“Bowen is so good at playing characters who seem like they’re just a little quirky but are actually living in their own reality,” another chimed in.
“Please make more of these! Ethan is a great character,” commented another.
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