It’s very rare occasion indeed when a person who you’ve seen perform before your very eyes in the back of comic book store is now on your TV screen hosting Saturday Night Live. Yes, KUMAIL NANJIANI (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley, The Indoor Kids), who once co-hosted The Meltdown, which started out at the Nerdist Showroom in back of Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, hosted this weekend’s episode of SNL season 43 for the first time. His monologue was a thing of comedic beauty and pushed the envelope in the most endearing, yet profound way. In his set, Kumail joked about the negative reactions he received to his largely autobiographical comedy film The Big Sick (which dealt with an interracial couple navigating their cultural differences), his family’s response to discovering he’d followed in his uncle’s footsteps, his two prong plan to combatting racism, compared the rise of Islamphobia to the newfound popularity of the Will & Grace reboot, and pointed out the inaccuracies of racism. Enjoy!
OK, now how long until Kumail’s Meltdown co-host Jonah Ray (MS3TK) is hosting? It WILL happen! Check out the rest of the SNL episode starring Nanjiani HERE.
Mentions: Watch SNL Saturdays 11:30/10:30c on NBC.