It's funny 'cuz it's bigger than a normal hat

I've been watching some Saturday Night Live lately, and I've been finding some things about it that are impressing me. For one, they have had some clever writers on board, coming up with some interesting, albeit sometimes crude, bits of humour. Some things fall a bit flat in my opinion, but often it is funny, sometimes in a silly manner, sometimes clever, and sometimes just weird (but hey, that's my bread and butter right there).
Some good actors have also gone through the halls of the show. Comedy is a hard field to perform well, and some of these people are just spot on. Tina Fey, still with the show, is a good writer and performer (for those who don't know, she is the head writer on the show). Norm MacDonald is a near comic genius, at least in my mind. He has such a unique delivery and style, one that I find to be quite innovative and very amusing. It's not just the writing either. I saw him on a talk show, and he was just a funny guy. He would cover the weird area of humour very well. And then there's Jimmy Fallon. I don't think that man could keep a straight face if you paid him (which they were, come to think of it). But he is still a funny guy, though I haven't seen any of his movies. Belushi, Akroyd, Sandler, and so many other classic comedy actors have walked through the show. One of the biggest, though, in my mind is Will Ferrel. Farril? Ferrrillll. Whatever. That man can play such a serious funny man in a way that no one else is able. I think he is someone who can do any type of acting that he wants, funny, serious, quirky, anything, and do well at it. He is able to make people like him, even when his character isn't all that likeable (I'm thinking Ron Burgandy here, such a jerk, but somehow you just like the man). I think I've liked every movie of his that I have seen.
But what I like most about Saturday Night Live is the LIVE part. There is something about live comedy that is different than sitcoms or movies. Somehow it can make some things funnier than they might be otherwise. Jimmy Fallon is a good example of that. Because he was laughing throughout every skit (and I do mean EVERY skit) he somehow seems more real. Who among us hasn't had times where he or she has been saying or doing something funny and been completely unable to keep a straight face? I know it happens to me all the time (I'd probably be worse than Fallon if I were on a comedy skit show). And then sometimes they mess up a line and have to repeat themselves or say the wrong thing entirely. Again, that happens to everyone in real life, but never on TV or in the movies. In Elf, Will Ferall's character never stuttered or messed up, but on the show he would sometimes say the wrong line, or just miss a word that turns a sentence into nonsense. And they just keep going. That's real life. When it's live, they have to just keep going no matter what.
It brings to mind old time comedy, especially Abbot and Costello. I remember seeing an episode of A&C's old live TV show (a rerun obviously), and they were having trouble keeping in character and keeping straight faces in one seen, and out of nowhere Abbot says "Let's do the 'Who's on First' routine" and launches into it. Costello just tells him that "we aren't doing that one now" and carries on. The audience loves it, it obviously wasn't scripted, and it was hilarious. The ability to think on your feet is so crucial and so hard to do, but some of these guys are amazing.
That being said, SNL isn't without its problem. Sometimes they are overly crude (there are limits, though they are very stretched). It is possible to be crude and still funny, but crude isn't funny on its own. And there are times where the joke becomes too obvious and they try to make that the joke. Good humour is often seated in subtlety. I'm reminded of a scene in "Chicken Run" (a movie that has nothing to do with SNL, but it has a similar situation). Some chickens are working at building this flying machine, and some rats are helping them get parts that they need in exchange for eggs. At one point a chicken is laying many eggs into a sack that they are holding as she does something and one of the rats says "Eggs from heaven," and the other one replies "No, from her bum." The joke was just too obvious. Everyone knows where chicken eggs come from, and saying it is just pointint out what didn't need to be pointed out. Now that is a personal opinion, I know some people who view that line as their favourite, but it is a joke that I won't find funny very often. It would have to be executed much differently than it was there. And SNL falls into that trap from time to time as well.
All that to say, SNL isn't a terrible show. I haven't actually seen much of it in the past couple years, so maybe it is a terrible show now, I don't know. If you want to be amused, I recomend watching the best of Christopher Walken from SNL. He has hosted the show (which is what they call their guest stars) a few times and has shown that he can be a very amusing guy. The Blue Oyster Cult cowbell skit is about the funniest thing I have ever seen.
And go.