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Jamie Foxx’s black shirt and tie were perfectly tailored for his opening monologue, where he riffed on the line “how black is that?”
“Black is in,” the Oscar winner said, offering as proof that the NBA’s Nets moved to Brooklyn. “How black is that?” he asked.
He went on to talk about his upcoming role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.
“I play a slave. How black is that?” He asked. “I have to wear chains. How whack is that? Don’t worry, I get out, save my wife and I kill all the white people in the movie. How great is that?”
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But the crux of his monologue was reserved for President Obama. Noting Obama’s mixed-race heritage, Foxx said the president’s first term was the one in which his white half ruled. For Foxx, the president’s infamous dance on The Ellen Degeneres Show was all the proof he needed.
“That wasn’t President Obama. That was president Barry Gibb Obama,” Foxx said. In his second term, the truly black president Obama would change his name to “Barack Dikembe Mutombo Hussein Nelson Mandela X Obama.”
He then demonstrated how that President Obama would dance on Ellen (much cooler). 2 Chainz appeared alongside Foxx later in the monologue for a song.
The cold open featured Obama (Jay Pharoah) holding a joint press conference with House Speaker John Boehner (Bill Hader).
The president announces he is giving in to all Republican demands regarding the fiscal cliff, saying he feels bad for Boehner, who was being bullied by his own party.
Tax-hating Republicans were so outraged their leader was negotiating with Obama that they humiliated him in the women’s restroom and later threw rotten eggs at him.
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“He had one hand covering his genitals, the other trying to cover his butt crack. Neither hand succeeding,” Obama said of the bathroom incident. (Click here for a more detailed description of the cold open.)
Later in the show, Foxx skewered Tyler Perry’s foray into action, Alex Cross. Foxx played the prolific actor-director in a trailer for an Alex Cross sequel. In the follow-up, the character is one-half Cross, one-half Madea with the character split down the middle Two-Face style. True to Madea form, she has plenty of complaints about how her Cross half handles things.
Two of the show’s oddball sketches were carried off with help from guest stars. Dermot Mulroney showed up on the world’s most confusing game show, where contestants must guess if the answer is Dermot Mulroney or Dylan McDermott. Mulroney's punch line at the end makes the sketch worth a look.
Charlie Day played an uncouth Maine congressman on a small claims court show, Maine Justice, which also featured Foxx as an overly aggressive bailiff.
Kenan Thompson delivered a tragic performance in gritty documentary with some rather disturbing implications.
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Thompson plays a reformed pimp who now sells Christmas trees. The conceit of piece is that he still uses the language of prostitution, defending his trees from male patrons who want to “cut them” or strap them to the tops of their cars.
“Some want to strap my bitches to the top of the car. Hell no,” he says. The former pimp advises saplings not to get into the business, saying they are too young, and in one scene admits to succumbing to temptation and having sex with some of the evergreens.
“I’m not a perfect man. But it is what it is,” he says, ashamed.
SNL is new next week with host Martin Short and musical guest Paul McCartney.
