SNL Brought Back The Barry Gibb Talk Show, And For Once, Jimmy Fallon Wasn't The One Trying Not To Laugh

Jimmy Fallon accomplished way more than most cast members during his fantastic six season run on Saturday Night Live. He hosted Weekend Update. He developed several long-running characters fans looked forward to seeing. By the end, he was easily one of the show’s most recognizable faces, and yet, if you were to ask many fans about his tenure, chances are most would probably bring up his propensity to laugh in sketches. As brilliant and magnetic as the comedian was and still remains, he developed a reputation because of several high profile giggly moments. Well, let the record show he appeared in a sketch on SNL last night that easily could have gone south and was an absolute pro.

The sketch in question was The Barry Gibb Talk Show, which is, perhaps, Fallon’s most well-liked recurring bit. In it, he and Justin Timberlake, playing Barry and Robin Gibb, interview thought leader style guests and ask them political questions while singing in their trademark falsetto voices. The whole thing is utterly absurd, and you can tell, during several moments, Timberlake and host Dakota Johnson are actively trying not to laugh, which was picked up on by many YouTube commenters. Each let out at least one little laugh and are rocking a nervous, on the edge of losing it smile at other moments, but Fallon keeps it together throughout the whole hilarious runtime. You can check out the magic below…

The chemistry between Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake is just off the charts here, which is no surprise given their history. Everytime they do one of these sketches, it somehow both feels perfectly rehearsed and completely off the cuff. It’s a testament to their timing and how in sync they are with each other. Officially, this is the seventh time they’ve done the characters together on SNL, but they’ve showed up on The Tonight Show too.

And with good reason. These sketches are always a fantastic balance between utter silliness and sharp writing. They’re, of course, acting goofy, but they’re not just out there making noises and random references. Some of the things they’re saying are quite funny, as exemplified by the bit where he talks about intentionally watching Saltburn with his family, which is next level outrageous for obvious reasons

Justin Timberlake is no stranger to being in SNL sketches either (and no stranger to breaking character). He’s a member of the illustrious Five Timers Hosting Club and also made a ton of additional appearances. In fact, anytime he’s involved as a musical guest, I assume we’re going to get at least one sketch appearance and potentially something with his longtime buddy Jimmy Fallon. Fans always love seeing the two together, though when they do, there’s always a risk of at least one of them breaking character.

You can check out a fantastic montage of the top ten moments Jimmy Fallon broke character below. That’s right. He’s broken character so many times on SNL that Mojo was able to put together a top ten list that even left some high profile moments off. 

Saturday Night Live has an exciting upcoming hosting schedule. It will return next week with Ayo Edebiri, who should be fantastic. Also, Jennifer Lopez is the musical guest; so, chances are you’ll probably see her in at least one sketch too. Fingers crossed they’re both able to get through the show without laughing mid-sketch. 

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Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.