The most notable was a skit with cast members Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon (above), where they were playing trailer park, presumably stoned folks meeting with police to discuss an alleged alien abduction. As McKinnon described her encounter involving 40 aliens lining up to take turn at gently patting her “knockers,” legs wide open sucking on a cigarette, Gosling held his hand in front of his face as he was clearly trying to hide his laughs. As the camera cut to Aidy Bryant and Bobby Moynihan, it was clear they had caught a case of Gosling’s giggles, as well. While McKinnon amazingly managed to keep a straight face for the most part, even she lost her focus in a few instances.
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In another sketch, Aidy Bryant’s hilarious acting as a 13.5-year-old clearly infatuated with her friend’s dad (played by Gosling) had him trying hard to hold it in once again. Once Bryant started to attempt to suck his fingers, it was all over. And in yet another, where he played one of three flamboyant elves purposely trying to be naughty so they’d be “punished” by an unsuspecting Santa, he again couldn’t help but giggle as Bryant and Kenan Thompson read their dirty and suggestive lines.
Gosling also muffled a few laughs during his opening monologue, where he was joined by former cast member and fellow Canadian Mike Myers, as they joked about their Canadian heritage. Gosling, as some may know, was actually born in a small town in Ontario called Cornwall. Indeed, another sketch took viewers back to a fictional bar in Cornwall, where a former classmate, played by Kyle Mooney, tries to embarrass Gosling who’s being interviewed by a GQ reporter, played by Strong. Once Mooney takes off his shirt to suggest that Gosling couldn’t quite compete with such a hot bod, Gosling again breaks character and tries to hold in his laughs.
It was arguably one of the best character breaking moments of recent SNL history. Tops is still, of course, that Happiest Place on Earth skit from 2004 when then cast member Jimmy Fallon and episode host Lindsay Lohan essentially laughed their way through the entire first-ever Debbie Downer skit, causing Rachel Dratch, who played the popular recurring character, to lose it as well. Watch that below.
But with Gosling laughing his way through virtually the entire episode, he may just have broken an SNL record of sorts.