Summary

• Sometimes the best moments on SNL occur when cast members break character and share a laugh with the audience.
• Cast members often struggle to stay in character, but these character breaks add to the live atmosphere and humor of the sketches.
• From Gilda Radner to Will Ferrell, character breaks have become a beloved part of SNL, showcasing the actors' talent and humor.

Some of the most memorable moments on Saturday Night Live are when cast members break character by bursting into laughter. The show has been on air since 1975, becoming a staple in live comedy, and SNL launched the careers of actors such as Will Ferrell and Tina Fey, cementing the show's place in pop culture. Along with SNL's famous hosts, the cast members act in comedic sketches, ranging in absurdity, but providing audiences with a good time. Seeing how ridiculous the premise of some sketches can be at times, it's unreasonable to expect SNL's cast members to remain wholly in character.

Most of the time, cast members can take brief pauses in between their sentences, allowing themselves and the audience time to process the joke. However, the humor can become too much for cast members, causing them to break character and laugh along with the audience. Some cast members try their best to conceal their out-of-character grins, while others fully give in. Though there are many similarities between live theater and SNL, character breaks are given a more positive response in the latter setting. Character breaks from SNL cast members are appreciated by audiences because they highlight the live atmosphere, add to the already amusing sketches, and confirm the cast members are having fun.

10 Beavis And Butt-Head

Season 49

Cast members breaking character can elevate the humor in an otherwise straightforward sketch. This is what happened when Heidi Gardner broke character during the Beavis and Butt-Head sketch that took place during Ryan Gosling's return to host SNL for the third time. Gosling acts alongside Mikey Day as men who are unwittingly dressed as the cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-Head. The men distract Kenan Thompson's character as he's being interviewed by Gardner's journalist character.

The sketch works due to Thompson's confusion and the insistence from Day and Gosling's characters that their wardrobe is entirely coincidental.

When Gardner turns to ask Gosling's character to move, she lets out a slight laugh, echoed by the audience as both Thompson and Gosling's characters are baffled by the latter's resemblance. However, it isn't until Gardner turns to ask Day's character to move that she sees him dressed as Butt-Head and fully breaks character. The sketch works due to Thompson's confusion and the insistence from Day and Gosling's characters that their wardrobe is entirely coincidental, but is also undoubtedly helped out by Gardner's lasting character break.

9 Lisa From Temecula

Season 48

Ego Nwodim plays the titular character, a sister of Punkie Johnson's character who disrupts the group's celebratory dinner with her distracting table manners. Lisa is aggressively cutting into her streak as the character played by Pedro Pascal, the episode's host, is trying to tell a story. Lisa's inability to cut through the tough steak causes the table to shake uncontrollably, sending food flying and drinks spilling.

Nwodim keeps her composure as the Lisa character is oblivious to the chaos caused by her actions. Pascal is the first to break into laughter, but is soon followed by Johnson and Bowen Yang. What makes Lisa an enjoyable character is Nwodim's physical comedy and her ability to hit the mark on Lisa's outspoken comments. The Lisa from Temecula sketch has returned twice to SNL since season 48. Though the oddity of Lisa is still enjoyed by audiences, nothing compares to her debut and the character breaks that came from it.

8 Extremely Stupid

Season 2

The Extremely Stupid sketch from SNL's early days was intended to be a public service announcement that advocates for stupid people in America. Gilda Radner's character, Lisa, is meant to be the subject as her character is exceptionally dense. When she sits down next to Candice Bergen's character Fern, she complains of being thirsty, but when given a glass of milk, Lisa pours it into her purse. However, the sketch takes a turn, strengthening its memorability and humor, when Bergen mistakenly says, "You're not too bright, are you, Fern? I mean...whatever your name was."

Bergen finishes the remainder of the sketch laughing off her endearing mistake while Radner takes full advantage of it, turning to the camera and jokingly adding to the PSA, "You know, we all can't be brainy like Fern here." This mistake turned character break emphasizes the lighthearted nature of SNL, the unforeseen errors that come with live TV, and the professionalism of SNL's cast members. Radner was able to improvise and build upon the sketch's original premise, showcasing her talent and sense of humor.

7 Weekend Update: Smokery Farms

Season 44

While many character breaks on SNL are due to flubbed lines or absurd sketch concepts, others can be attributed to the props used during a sketch. During SNL's Weekend Update segment, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon act as the owners of a meat-gifting service, Smokery Farms. They assure audiences can feel guilt-free about purchasing their meat since the animals they use are ones who misbehave and lack smarts. The differing examples of animals' offenses, such as lambs who body-shame goats, are humorous in and of themselves, but much of the laughter from this segment comes from Bryant and McKinnon's character breaks.

Audiences can only imagine how unpleasant the smell is, as McKinnon and Bryant periodically scrunch their faces in disgust whilst attempting to stay in character.

Bryant and McKinnon immediately begin to break character when they are handed a basket of sliced meat from Smokery Farms. Bryant comments on the pungent smell emanating from the basket and from then on, the two laugh in between their selling points. Audiences can only imagine how unpleasant the smell is, as McKinnon and Bryant periodically scrunch their faces in disgust whilst attempting to stay in character.

6 Scared Straight: Underage Drinking

Season 34

In another addition to SNL's Scared Straight sketches featuring Jason Sudeikis as Officer Sikorsky, Kenan Thompson teams up with Tracy Morgan to intimidate the offenders of underage drinking. Morgan and Thompson's characters humorously use the plot of popular movies to scare the offenders and steer them from a path of criminal activity. Morgan and Thompson warn the characters played by Andy Samberg and Bobby Moynihan, but when they get to Bill Hader's character, they momentarily halt their shouting.

Instead, they opt to poke at Hader's face, causing his fearful expression to shift into a grin he can't help but let take over. However, Hader is not the only one to break character in the sketch. At the end, Officer Sikorsky sits down, plopping forcefully onto a metal desk. The sound of Sudeikis' landing is enough to make Hader, Samberg, and Moynihan crack smiles, breaking from their careless, juvenile characters.

5 The Love-Ahs With Barbara And Dave

Season 27

Virginia (Rachel Dratch) and Roger (Will Ferrell) are a couple that Dave (Jimmy Fallon) and Barbara (Drew Barrymore) encounter while sitting in a hotel's hot tub. Virginia and Roger explain intimate details about their lives uncomfortably and oddly, which initially only manages to make Fallon break character. However, as the details shared by the couple intensify in strangeness, Barrymore is too unable to control her laughter.

Soon enough, laughter sneaks through everyone's line reads. Similar to her breaking as the Debbie Downer character, there are moments in the sketch where Dratch is unable to complete her sentences without pausing to laugh. The Love-ahs follows a familiar SNL formula of someone remotely average interacting with peculiar individuals and adding just the right amount of awkwardness to pull off the joke.

4 Jeffrey's With Sean Hayes

Season 26

The majority of the sketch is Fallon and Hayes making offhand comments to customers regarding their stylistic choices.

As part of the multiple SNL sketches about rude clerks working at the store Jeffrey's, Jimmy Fallon was a key component. Fallon became known by SNL audiences for frequently breaking character, but one of the more notable moments was with Sean Hayes during season 26. The majority of the sketch is Fallon and Hayes making offhand comments to customers regarding their stylistic choices.

Another important player in the Jeffrey's sketches is SNL fan-favorite Will Ferrell as their boss with a love for unique technology. When Ferrell enters the sketch, he gets a phone call and pulls out a miniature phone that causes both Hayes and Fallon to break into laughter. Some of the most beloved sketches on SNL are the simplest ones that don't rely on too many jokes, but rather one odd character. Ferrell's performance is subtle, but he's fully committed to the obscurity and it pays off.

3 Close Encounter

Season 41

Close Encounter is a recurring sketch on SNL in which three individuals, two most often played by Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, are interviewed about their encounter with aliens. The debut of these sketches began with Ryan Gosling as the third interviewee in season 41. The characters played by Gosling and Strong describe their encounter with the aliens as divine and life-changing, but, as seen in other iterations of Close Encounter, McKinnon's Ms. Rafferty had an entirely contrasting experience.

As McKinnon gets into more detail about her bizarre interaction with the aliens, Aidy Bryant and Bobby Moynihan struggle to keep a straight face as the interviewers and chuckle through the remainder of their questioning. Gosling and Strong join in, but McKinnon stays in character, only smirking occasionally at the reaction of others. Throughout her time on SNL, McKinnon played several memorable characters, but Ms. Rafferty is a fan favorite for audiences, and McKinnon signed off from SNL as the character.

2 Debbie Downer: Disney World

Season 29

Accompanied by a sad and cartoonish instrumental is Rachel Dratch's Debbie Downer character. Debbie made a few appearances on SNL, but the most memorable one placed the character at Disney World. Debbie is known for ruining the mood with depressing factoids, but her gloomy outlook created a beloved SNL sketch that could be a movie.

Debbie is at Disney World with characters played by Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Lindsay Lohan, and more. Debbie's grim statements are particularly abrupt, causing the cast members to break character. With each additional topic brought up, Dratch struggled to keep her composure, ultimately joining the others in laughter. Although Dratch had trouble getting the words out at times and laughed through her line deliveries, the audience was overwhelmingly supportive with eruptive applause and laughter. Debbie Downer is one of the show's iconic characters and her debut lands her among SNL's best skits.

1 The Californians: Stuart Has Cancer

Season 37

Exaggerated and stereotypical Californian accents combined with the structure of a soap opera are just a few of the ingredients needed to create a beloved series of sketches that caused cast members to break character. The first installment of SNL's The Californians, featured unforgettable character breaks from Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. While the premise of the sketch is humorous on its own, it's Fred Armisen's drawn-out speech that played the biggest part in Hader and Wiig's break.

Years after its premiere, the most talked about part of the sketch is when Hader first breaks character.

Similar to other sketches that broke SNL's cast members, the jokes are funny enough on their own, but the self-awareness and laughter cast members share with the audience is truly what makes it work. Years after its premiere, the most talked about part of the sketch is when Hader first breaks character. It's among the hardest a cast member has tried to stay in character. Hader doesn't allow his mouth to open, for laughter will likely spill out, and he grows redder in the face as he attempts to suppress his amusement.