23 Funniest SNL Sketches Breaking Character

Buzz Feed

6 days ago

We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us their favorite Saturday Night Live sketches where the actors kept breaking character. Here are the hilarious results.
In "Beavis and Butt-Head," when Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day wore prosthetics to look like the famous cartoon characters, but Heidi Gardner burst into laughter the second she saw their faces.
"Heidi Gardner is such a queen, and she killed me every single time she turned around and saw Mikey Day and Ryan Gosling in their Beavis and Butt-Head prosthetics. Their done-up faces seemed like such a genuine shock to her, so I'm curious if this live taping was the first (or I guess second, considering the dress rehearsal) time she saw them in full makeup. Ryan kept breaking throughout the entire sketch too, and when he and Mikey were seated together at the end they also kept making each other laugh. Such an instant classic."—spenceralthouse
Here's the full sketch:
In the newest "Close Encounter," when Kate McKinnon made a guest appearance and tried her best to make host Ryan Gosling laugh while she reenacted what the aliens did to his private parts.
"I don't think there's anything cuter than Ryan Gosling's giggle. Kate McKinnon is such a pro that she knows exactly how to get him to break character, and once it starts she's determined to keep it going. The "Close Encounter" sketches are always fantastic, and this new one had Ryan laughing for over a minute straight."—spenceralthouse
Here's the full sketch:
In "Lisa from Temecula," when Ego Nwodim kept aggressively cutting her well-done steak, which shook the entire table and made everything spill, causing host Pedro Pascal to giggle throughout the entire sketch.
"Ego Nwodim is a star. She had everyone on that set laughing at different points. Pedro Pascal broke so many times, Punkie Johnson tried so hard to hide her giggling, and Bowen Yang couldn't keep it together. So good."—sarahwainschel
Here's the full sketch:
In "The Californians: Stuart Has Cancer," when Fred Armisen delivered terrible news in the funniest way possible, and Bill Hader just couldn't take it anymore.
"Any list like this would be incomplete without 'The Californians.'"—matth4a
Here's the full sketch:
In "Extremely Stupid," when Candice Bergen's character was supposed to be much smarter than Gilda Radner's, but Candice kept messing up, and it played perfectly into the script.
"Gilda Radner causing Candice Bergman to lose it...they're two of the very best."—angels4d4
Here's the full sketch:
In "Super Showcase Spokesmodels," when Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig kept making each other laugh while announcing game show prizes.
"It's my favorite character-breaking skit of all time. It still brings me to tears."—joep45c
Here's the full sketch:
In "Corksoakers," when Janet Jackson tried sooooo hard to not say a dirty word, and no one could keep a straight face.
—acarrig
Here's the full sketch:
In "Inside the Beltway," when Aidy Bryant's wardrobe person accidentally walked on in the middle of the sketch, and Aidy completely lost it.
"Her costumer got the timing of the wardrobe change wrong, but it ended up being hilarious. Aidy lost it and could barely get through the rest of the sketch."—kaylayandoli
Here's the full sketch:
In "Dr. Beaman's Office: Test Results," when Tim Meadows unexpectedly came onstage, which made it too difficult for Will Ferrell to deliver some bad news with a straight face.
Here's the full sketch:
In "Africa Tourism," when Adele had such a big laughing fit that she literally had to crouch down in an attempt to hide from the camera.
—laurengarafano
Here's the full sketch:
In "Matt Foley: Van Down by the River," when Chris Farley dove onto the table and broke it, so everyone on screen had to cover their faces in laughter.
"David Spade cracked up several times, but the funniest was when Farley broke the table and nobody was expecting it to happen."—dougfancy10
Here's the full sketch:
In "Cast List," when Will Ferrell played an overbearing drama teacher in a cut-for-time sketch, and every single person on stage broke more than once.
"It's not just that they all started giggling. They all deteriorated in different ways, and it just made it all more perfect. Will Ferrell, of course, stayed in character the whole time, even during his break, which made it even more iconic."—strangerthanitseems
Here's the full sketch:
In "Diner Lobster," when Pete Davidson kept giggling while watching John Mulaney sing and dance to a funny Les Mis parody.
"The breaking makes it even funnier. John Mulaney is a genius."—meghanakiran
Here's the full sketch:
In "Gift Wrap," when James Franco squirted a bunch of fake blood into Leslie Jones' mouth, and she was so fazed that she couldn't get through the rest of the sketch.
—briannarose15
Here's the full sketch:
In "The Love-ahs with Barbara and Dave," when Jimmy Fallon couldn't say his lines while he was stuck in a hot tub with Drew Barrymore.
—melissab56
Here's the full sketch:
In "Escorts," when Emily Blunt literally hid under a lampshade because she couldn't say her "oopsie-doopsie" catchphrase without breaking character.
—murrays3
Here's the full sketch:
In the original "Close Encounter," when Kate McKinnon had a verrrrry different type of alien abduction than Ryan Gosling.
—golddustniamh
Here's the full sketch:
In "Smokery Farms," when Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant were so grossed out by how bad the raw meat smelled, and they couldn't help but laugh.
—elisabethsophie
Here's the full sketch:
In "Girlfriends Game Night," when Cecily Strong's character interrupted a fun game night with friends so she could try conceiving with her much older boyfriend, played by Bill Hader.
—golddustniamh
Here's the full sketch:
In "Brothers," when Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong were very confused about what was happening, and their faces showed it.
"There are a lot of sketches that will always be hilarious to me, and this is one of them. Cecily and Aidy trying to hold it together while Beck and Kyle pretend to be young brothers... It's *chef's kiss*."—rodclutcher
Here's the full sketch:
In "New Wife," when Larry David had a minute-long laughing fit and couldn't get through any of his lines without breaking.
"It cracks me up every single time."—malloryg4be
Here's the full sketch:
In "Debbie Downer," when Rachel Dratch was so funny that Horatio Sanz literally had to wipe away his tears with a Mickey Mouse pancake because he was laughing so hard.
"It brings me to tears every single time I watch it."—pattiecolvin23
Here's the full sketch:
And, of course, literally any time Bill Hader played Stefon and couldn't keep it together.
"Bill Hader breaking while playing Stefon will forever have me laughing until my stomach hurts."—naldana95
Here's the full sketch:
Do you have a favorite SNL moment that didn't make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below!