Who: Alex Moffat

Cast Member Since: 2016

Alex Moffat is Saturday Night Live‘s next big utility player in the making. And I don’t say that lightly.

The “utility player” designation has been attached to some of the show’s biggest heavyweights, legends like Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, and Bill Hader – those triple threats who consistently nail impressions, characters, and writing. While the 37-year-old Moffat has certainly displayed a talent for impressions during his first three seasons, I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t unleash more and more original characters beginning in Season 45 as his comfort level on air continues to grow.

I base this on two things: First, when Moffat was hired in 2016 alongside Mikey Day and Melissa Villaseñor, the trio was viewed as replacements for the vacancies left by Killam and Jay Pharoah – both of whom also specialized in impressions, but left some truly memorable original creations in their wake. Second, given his strong improvisational comedy roots at Chicago’s The Second City and ImprovOlympic, it is very unlikely Moffat caught Lorne Michaels’ eye on just impressions alone.

But make no mistake, creating new characters cannot come at the expense of his amazing impression work. Playing President Donald Trump’s 34-year-old son Eric alongside Mikey Day’s Don Jr. is probably his most well-known bit at the moment. Day revealed the secret to playing the brothers to The Hollywood Reporter last year, and the duo has been executing it perfectly ever since Trump took office in 2016: “The suggestion from Lorne and [producer] Steve Higgins was that Don Jr. should never get too angry at Eric because then it loses the big brother-little brother relationship, which is such a great note to maintain — a level of sweetness relatable to any siblings. Don Jr. gets frustrated with Eric, but he’s never outright angry. There’s humanity at the core of it. That sounds funny to say when Eric’s just sitting there playing with a fidget spinner.” Perfect, and an angle I didn’t completely notice until reading the interview.

But Moffat’s political jabs don’t stop with the GOP and Fox News (he also does a mean Steve Doocy among other FNC personalities). His portrayals of Democrat US Senator Chuck Schumer and CNN’s Anderson Cooper can be equally hilarious and brutal. On the pop culture side, the 2018-2019 season saw Moffat add Marc Maron as well as a return of his spot-on Mark Zuckerberg. Bottom line, when it comes to impressions, Moffat is an unassuming chameleon who can tackle anyone.

As for original output, prior to Season 44, Moffat’s strongest contribution was Weekend Update guest, Guy Who Just Bought a Boat. Introduced in 2017, Moffat trotted the character our three times that year before giving him room to breathe in 2018. The Guy returned in 2019 to share his tips for a successful Valentine’s Day, but despite the time away, it was essentially the same formula and punchlines we saw in 2017.

Moffat’s biggest non-impression splash during the 2018-2019 run came late in the season with his new LSD fueled character, Terry Fink film critic. Fink easily earned a spot in the Top 20 moments of the season, and I can’t wait to see his inevitable take on this Summer’s blockbusters when SNL returns in a few months. Until then, take a few minutes to laugh at two top shelf Moffat moments from Season 44:

Sketch: Film Critic Terry Fink’s Spring Movie Review

Episode: Kit Harrington/ Sara Bareilles (4/6/19)

NOTE: Macro-dosing for Tim Burton’s Dumbo can be a real garbled mess of colors and shapes!

Sketch: Tucker Carlson Cold Opening

Episode: James McAvoy/Meek Mill (1/26/19)

NOTE: Not everyone liked this bit, but I thought it was one of the better Fox News spoofs since Jeff Richards’ take on Bill O’Reilly.

SNL REPORT CARD FOR ALEX MOFFAT: 3 Coneys

SCALE:

4 Coneys = Excellent / 3 Coneys = Good / 2 Coneys = Needs Improvement / 1 Coney = Worst

Jason Nummer still wonders what a second SNL season with Brooks Wheelan would have been like. You can follow him on Twitter at @jrnummer.

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