This was some dark humor.
Monday’s solar eclipse had a knock-down, drag-out fight with Friday’s NYC-area earthquake — in a wild Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch that found the comic side of both headline-making phenomena.
Cast member Marcello Hernández dressed up as the earthquake — complete with a hat featuring city landmarks — and had it out with SNL veteran Kenan Thompson — playing the solar eclipse — over which natural event reigned supreme.
One thing they agreed on was Mayor Eric Adams’ subpar response to Friday’s tremors.
“I’m sure Mayor Adams would have it totally under control,” Thompson quipped, when musing about how crazy people would go if both the eclipse and earthquake happened at the same time.
Hernández began the gag by being interviewed by Weekend Update host Colin Jost and bragging about the effect the tremors had on the metro area around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
“People stopped working for five — even six minutes — to text their friends, ‘Did you just feel something?’” Hernández quipped.
“The flights were delayed for 30 minutes,” he continued, adding that they were normally delayed for an hour.
The rare quake — the strongest to strike near the Big Apple in 140 years — completely took over the news, pushing other big headlines to the wayside, Hernández said, namely that of the man running around Manhattan punching women in the face.
When asked by Jost why he was identifying as the New York City earthquake when the tremors originated roughly 60 miles out in New Jersey, Hernández noted that he was a transplant: “I grew up there but I moved to the city.”
That’s when Thompson stormed in, accusing the earthquake of stealing the thunder from the solar eclipse, which has been heavily anticipated across several states for months.
“You want to do a little shimmy shake and try to steal my thunder. Well, what you’re gonna do when the solar eclipse runs wild on you. Come Monday, all of America will be covered in eternal darkness,” Thompson said.
The two natural events bickered over which would cause more disruptions — with each claiming that they would successfully confuse “dogs for a couple hours.”
The pair ultimately decided to team up, with the earthquake striking a second time on Monday as the solar eclipse causes several minutes of darkness.
“That’d be biblical!” Thompson said. “That’s the kind of thing that used to make ancient people throw a virgin into a volcano.”
Jost tried to sway Thompson and Hernández away from the idea, implying it would be too chaotic for the city to handle.
That’s when Thompson mocked Hizzoner, referencing the city’s disastrous delay in sending out an emergency alert after the earthquake struck.
The city’s first notification — which was sent 13 minutes after the quake was confirmed — said the earthquake had already occurred in the New York City area and advised residents to “remain indoors and to call 911 if injured.”
City and state officials said there were no reported infrastructure issues as a result of the quake, noting that all major bridges and tunnels had been inspected.
The SNL episode Saturday night was hosted by Kristen Wiig and had musical guest Raye.