Tom Hanks Becomes New Halloween Poster Child
On the evening of Oct. 22, America was not aware of what the late night comedy sketch show, “Saturday Night Live” was cooking up. All we knew was that “America’s Dad” Tom Hanks was hosting and America’s weird aunt, Lady Gaga, was the musical guest. Sure that sounds like a fantastic show, but what else could Hanks do that he hasn’t done? Being a part of the “5-Timers Club”, will we see anything new? This being his NINTH time hosting the late night program. Just to clarify, the “5-Timers Club” is a group that consists of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Justin Timberlake among others. These are individuals that have hosted “SNL” five times or more.
It was towards the end of the show that this little gem of a sketch titled “Haunted Elevator” graced America’s television screens (or smartphones).
It starts out with sketch comedy veteran Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, and Beck Bennet walking into an elevator. This seemed like it was going to be a “Tower of Terror” mock up. Boy was I wrong. Before you continue with the article, watch the sketch below.
To get a little personal, I was a little cranky while watching this sketch and I wasn’t really interested in laughing at this point. I sat there for the first five seconds and thought that it was the dumbest sketch I have ever seen. Until Tom Hanks, dressed as David S. Pumpkins (“He has an initial now?!”), showed up in a pumpkin suit with a hairdo only bride of Frankenstein could love. Accompanying him were cast members Mikey Day and Bobby Moynihan as the beat boxing skeletons. Without much explanation and leaving us with many questions, these three start to dance to this funky, weird song that sounds a little like “Spooky Scary Skeletons”. This sketch got me; what I mean by that is, I was laughing and so into the moment with this sketch, I didn’t even know why I was laughing. What the hell was I watching? Why do I even find this hot mess of a sketch funny? Why do we care about David S. Pumpkins?
Tom Hanks is so treasured by the American people. He could read slam poetry by reciting a PF Chang’s dinner menu and it would STILL be Oscar worthy. In our eyes, Hanks can basically do no wrong at this point in his career. This sketch was so driven by Hanks comedic abilities to make us laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time, and make it WORK! Day and Moynihan hit it home with them not breaking character and being just as weird as Hanks was. Name a more iconic trio….I’ll wait.
We care about David Pumpkins because he isn’t the hero we deserve per say, but he hero we need right now. Real life itself is already too scary with the big orange man and the lady who can’t sort out her mail. Pumpkins just wants to “scare the hell out of you” in the most innocent way possible and to be honest, I appreciate him. Thank you Tom Hanks, thank you “Saturday Night Live”, and thank you especially to David S. Pumpkins and his beat boxing skeletons. You were there when no one else was.
Don’t even try to get this as a last-minute Halloween costume. Spirit Halloween has stated that their pumpkin suit jackets are sold out. Any questions???
