Everyone should have known Michael Keaton was going to be fantastic as the host of SNL, but he exceeded my expectations. Keaton has the two things that are necessary to be an excellent host, and they were both on display Saturday night: he has excellent comedic timing and he doesn’t take himself seriously. The second thing seems kind of obvious, but a lot of celebrities come on and won’t throw themselves into characters because their afraid of damaging their own egos, but not Keaton. He played wacky characters all night, but none were weirder than himself in the final sketch of the night. ‘Easter Candy’ was like a deranged version of a Mr. Rogers Easter Special, and Keaton plays himself going through an Easter basket with his assistant/maybe wife Portia. Bobby Moynihan shows up halfway to make a poop noise and it’s just so weird and so wonderful. The best part about SNL is that after FORTY YEARS on the air, they’re still not afraid to get weird. It amazes me that at 70 years old Lorne Michaels is still in tune with his writing staff and let’s them be as wacky as they want. They could easily put out safe sketches and a get a few laughs, but they’re never afraid to go for the home run and just blow you away. I also wish I was in the writers room for this sketch, because I’ve always wanted to know how much the writers wrote and how much the host added his own style to it. The writers definitely came up with all of the jokes, but I have to imagine Keaton created the voice, and his facial expression after he told the audience he gave up cocaine for Lent was amazing. This is Keaton’s first time hosting since 1992, so I can’t imagine he’ll be back soon, but anytime he’s on that stage SNL is in good hands.

– Ryan