Cecily Strong's clown abortion SNL "Weekend Update" sketch is a game-changer -- one of the starkest political critiques in the show’s recent history

Vox

Before Strong's "Goober the Clown" sketch, Saturday Night Live, for the most part, has sidestepped saying the unsayable, opting instead to stick "to its long-running habit of doing straightforward comedic imitations and letting the real-life, absurdist politics speak for themselves under cover of parody," says Aja Romano. "What becomes clear over the course of the bit is that this may well be Strong’s own personal anecdote, too," adds Romano. "As it’s related between clown gags, it’s a reminder that some things do go unsaid in American life, but they might not be the ones we hear the usual suspects yell about. Throughout the skit, Strong ineffectually tries to clown — her spinning bow tie winds up tilting vertically, her attempt at making a balloon animal results in failure, and her clown horn refuses to honk. This plays out alongside her visible agitation over being a 'clown' who must continually discuss abortion because of increasingly restrictive abortion legislation around the country. The effect is twofold: As she continues the sketch, the words “clown abortion” become increasingly discomfiting and absurd, arguably highlighting the absurdity of extreme anti-abortion rhetoric. The clown conceit itself becomes increasingly flimsy and hard to maintain. When she realizes her horn isn’t working, she riffs for a few seconds, then apparently ad-libs 'I’m not a clown' before soldiering on. The admission, tossed out as an aside, lands like a small explosion, a sobering release of tension...When they’re able to — despite the barriers in place — there’s a real kind of relief and communion, and the retelling of her experience seems cathartic. The tone of the sketch shifts into a gentle reminder that the abortion debate impacts real people, human beings whose voices and stories are rarely heard as the war over their bodies rages on around them."