comedy week

Bobby Moynihan’s Bobby Moynihands

Photo: Comedy Central

In Bobby Moynihan’s five seasons on SNL, he’s become a staple at the “Weekend Update” desk. Drunk Uncle’s tech-phobic catchphrases like “Neeetflix me, Neeeeetflix me!”; Snooki’s shocked baritone voice; the macho posturing of Anthony Crispino — the guy has range. “Update” characters tend to have a really clear schtick because it’s tough to add physical elements while sitting in a chair: Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy makes corny jokes, Opera Man sings, Emily Litella mishears things. But Bobby Moynihan characters have more than just exaggerated points of view to help us understand what their deals are. The characters have Bobby Moynihands.

Other than Stefon’s excitedly clasped hands, there’s not a tremendous amount of gesturing from other players at the “Update” desk, maybe because Moynihan does it the best. There’s the dejected floppiness of Drunk Uncle’s backwards-facing hands that fall to the desk as dead weight, or the ostentatious waggling of Guy Fieri fingers. (Yeesh.) They aren’t huge moves or giant pratfalls or anything, but these specific hand motions wind up being as important to the characters as their voices or costumes. In honor of comedy week, here are five of the best instances of Bobby Moynihan’s Moynihands.

As the chronically ill-informed Anthony Crispino.

As Snooki.

As Drunk Uncle.

As Kim Jong Un.

And as Guy Fieri.

Bobby Moynihan’s Bobby Moynihands