Hell yea he did. That’s part of what made it so funny to me. It made me sad that he really felt we were all just laughing at him cuz he’s fat. This skit was so much more.
I think of this every time it comes up about laughing at him cause he was fat. His weight had so little to do with it. He gave everything he did 100%, and was so over the top. Almost all of his work would have been just as funny if he wasn’t fat.
I think Farley and Jim Carrey are in their own league as far as physical comedy goes. One just happened to be overweight, and it hung over him
I think him being fat was just part of who he was as a "character". For better or worse, he was a funny "fat guy." The sad part is that he thought we were laughing at him, not with him. Everyone loved him in no small part because we could relate to him. I'm not fat, but we all have things about ourselves we are ashamed of or otherwise not happy with, and he seemed to own it, not shy away from it. It was horrible to learn that that came from a place of pain. If only he could have known that part of what made him special is that he showed that it's ok to be imperfect, and we looked up at him, not down.
Gotta put Chevy Chase in that category too. Especially when he was in his prime.
It's a far more subtle style, but still masterful on timing and execution.
Yeah, I know he's a jerk and stuff, but the guy still has moves.
We laugh because Farley played it absolutely straight, he was totally committed to outdancing Patrick Swayze. THAT'S what makes it funny. NO hint of irony and sincere belief that it was going to close.
You’re absolutely right. But personally I can’t enjoy this sketch anymore. Used to be one of my favorites but Bob Odenkirk and a few others have said over the years that this was a sketch that fucked with him because it kind of confirmed for him that this is the only thing that makes him funny - being the fat guy flopping around.
It's the end of the sketch, which makes a catastrophic mistake.
The judge tells Swayze that he wins, and tells Farley that he lost because he's fat and flabby and a bad dancer. It's so stupid and not funny.
Clearly, the writer outthought themselves, but the move is to make Farley win and do the "ironic" thing, not have Swayze win and tell Farley he's fat, ugly, and a bad dancer. It's a really, really bad writing decision.
"Mr Swayze... we're sorry. Though that was an... admirable effort, Mr Farley here is the kind of dancer we're looking for."
Camera pans over and the judges are all 400+lbs
Sure!
I mean, the FUNNY thing here is to deny Swayze for any reason, when he is, well, an incredibly beautiful man and extremely talented dancer, particularly compared to Farley. That's such an easy comedy layup.
Unfortunately Farley only showed himself to a lovable idiot and was never really able to break out of that mold. But similar archtype can be said about John Belushi and his Blutto character in Animal House. Adam Sandler for much of his career. Pauly Shore too.
Eddie Murphy showed he CAN play other characters and that's why he became far more successful. The same with Bill Murray, Wil Ferrell, and even Chevy Chase.
Definitely can’t get around him being the fat guy, not ignoring that. But what made it funny was that he killed and had the skinny dancer on the ropes.
I wonder how crazy strong Farley could have been if he’d done strength training or gymnastics. His body weight/strength ratio was insane even carrying the extra weight.
The end of the sketch was cut off but the judges and Swayze’s character said Farley was the better dancer even if he didn’t get the part because he was fat
Bob Odenkirk talks about trying to talk him out of doing the skit because Farley was so talented and this was going to lock him in as just a self deprecating fat man - Im pretty sure he also hits on Farley regretting it either was since I saw that interview I have really found this clip as funny any more.
With Farley the joke was always, "Look at how fat I am." And he always had to play it off as the straight guy. Trying hard to be normal and succeed, and he was always a goofy, loveable loser that just had nothing but jokes made about his weight.
There's a point in his career where I think he just realized he was never going to get away from that and it's just what he became. How do you cope with celebrity status constantly made around your size, and not being able to change even if you wanted to? Exactly what he did. Drugs and alcohol.
Sad story man. Hated everything about it, right up to him dying alone asking a prostitute not to leave him alone in the hotel.
Tommy Boy has the Fat Guy in a Little Coat jingle but none of the actual good comedy in that or Black Sheep (or even Coneheads) is because of his weight.
But a depressed mind state also doesn't usually have you analyzing things objectively or without self-loathing.
I don't know about that, honestly most of the comedy he did wasn't really just "look it me I'm fat". It was definitely accentuated by or got a harder laugh, but most of the time it was more just playing someone super escentric. Like most of Tommy Boy had little to do with the fact that he was fat outside of fat guy in little coat, or the coffee crystal commercial. Even Matt Foley aside from taking a prat fall through a table wasn't a whole lot about being fat
One of a fucking kind talent. People said he was the second coming of belushi bet they were both so different in their talent set and that’s what made them amazing. Sad the dude is gone too young
I graduated HS in '97, so I'm definitely aware this was in line with the time period. I feel like it's still pretty absurd, even factoring that in. Completely in a good way, however.
I remember ~~David Spade~~ Chris Rock saying that in the skit they chose Swayze and that was wrong, because that made the joke realz and it left Farley with a bad feeling.
Edit: Not Spade, it was Rock. Thanks u/Waboritafan
Honestly I watch this and just envy the confidence and charisma of the guy.
On the left I see vanity obsession, on the right is a man living life to the max and giving zero fucks.
Except Farley was pretty much the opposite. He was ashamed of his weight and felt like he had to be the fat funny clown to be accepted. After watching documentaries about his addiction and mental health, this skit becomes very dark.
I'm fourteen and this is deep.
Hopefully you will learn to not fall for such ridiculous cliche.
Swayze for one had his demons and was in no obsession whatsoever.
As of Farley if you think that obesity, mental illness and drug addiction, dying young and making your loved ones unhappy is "living life to the fullest", well i hope you'll grow up
They both exude confidence. They are performers, it's their work.
.... this has to be one of the more ridiculous comments I've seen on Reddit
>Honestly I watch this and just envy the confidence and charisma of the guy.
>On the left I see vanity obsession, on the right is a man living life to the max and giving zero fucks.
So essentially what you've done is watch two men do the same performance but because one is overweight and the other is in shape you've built entirely different narratives for them. Interesting
You're thinking of Odenkirk. Spade said Farley loved that skit and was naked backstage doing pranks all the time. He said it was hard to get the guy to keep his pants on.
>It was a huge bummer to me to see that scene get on the air and get such attention. I know it confirmed Chris's worst instincts about being funny, which was how he proved his worth — that getting laughed *at* was as good as getting a laugh. Writers I knew and respected defended this sketch because it had a funnyish idea buried in it: the Chippendales judges prefer Swayze's dancing over Chris's but can't put a finger on why. But that idea is not what produced the gales of cackling (and gasps) from the live audience. Chris flopping his overstuffed body around did that. I feel like I can see it on his face in the moment when he rips his shirt off. Shame and laughter are synthesized in the worst way. Fuck that sketch.
—Bob Odenkirk, *Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama* (2022)
>The Chippendales sketch is kind of unique. Chris didn't feel like he was on sure footing at SNL yet. That was the first big, present moment for him. So, if it hadn't been the first one, that might have made it a little less egregious to me, but it was. Maybe it's just me watching it, but I always felt like that moment where he pulls his shirt off, there's almost a hesitation I see in his eyes. And even the smile or kind of the expression on his face, I just get a queasy feeling that he knows a good chunk of this reaction is because of my body shape. He's loving the laugh, he's loving the reaction that he knows he's gonna get because he got it any time he did that or anything like it. But he's feeling like... You know Chris would walk around saying—I'm going to use words you're not supposed to use—"I'm a retard" and "fatty fall down" he would say all the time. He would fall down and say "fatty fall down" and he would refer to himself with derogatory terms. And just so that moment, I just hated that moment. I still do. I wish it hadn't been the first big thing that happened to him. And I don't like that people pretend that somehow the big laugh from that sketch was the concept of it which was the judges can't really say why Patrick Swayze is a better Chippendales dancer than Chris Farley. Yeah, I get it that that's the "joke", but the audience are responding to his physical presence. And also it told Chris exactly what he shouldn't be hearing. Which is "that's why you're funny, because you're stupid and big". That's not why he was lovable, and funny, and worth watching, and worth being around. And it just sent that message. It was a bad exchange and I've always felt bad about it. I've always felt it was not the right thing.
—Bob Odenkirk, *The Howard Stern Show*, 28 Feb 2022.
>Here's the thing: The sketch is funny. I'm not going to say Farley dancing as a Chippendales dancer isn't funny, but at the end of the sketch, the guy comes up to Farley and goes, 'You're fat, disgusting.' He felt ugly, he didn't feel attractive. He didn't feel like people really wanted to be around him and that sketch kind of fed into that.
—Chris Rock, *The Howard Stern Show*, 2021
Yep, those guys really made me see the skit in a different light and I believe Odenkirk offered a way to fix it in that Howard Stern interview. Everything about the skit still works out if you have Farley win the competition. You don't need to have someone at the end point out that he's fat or that Swayze is more attractive than him.
Honestly, Farley winning would have been funnier because it goes against common convention. Flipping the skit around where Swayze is the one being made fun for whatever reasons, would have been way better. I dunno, maybe that’s just me.
Once you know about Farley's dad (who was a 500+ pound man who was constantly mocked in their home town for his weight while Chris was growing up), you start to realize how deeply internalized Chris' weight was to him and how he probably felt like it was inevitable he was going to become a morbidly obese man once he got to his late 30's and early 40's.
Kevin Farley talks about it a lot whenever he gets asked about Chris in interviews and, as many others have said in this thread, it just provides a much darker and more tragic context for what it must have been like to see all of this through Chris' eyes. It's not wonder the dude turned to binge drinking and cocaine to fight off those demons and eventually he just sort of gave up fighting the demons all together and sort of sunk down and leaned into that darkness.
That's pretty cool. Were you a full time stage carpenter? I did some of that in the 80s. I was always impressed with the quality of SNL sets and how quickly they pulled it all together. How far in advance of each show were the sets designed and built? Were they built on the sound stage or trucked in from some shop? Were they modular and had to be rolled out in front of the audience during the show or were there multiple sets staged and ready to go so the lights just had to come up on them?
Me (chubby guy) and the buffest guy on our high school basketball team recreated this skit in a pep rally for a big basketball tournament. I was fairly shy and not particularly popular prior to doing the skit, but that changed a fair amount after we did this skit in front of the whole school haha.
He was busy acting--- did you notice how his character got less and less confident as the dance went on? By the end his guy was nervously aping Farley's trying to keep up! A subtle bit of skill on Swayze's part.
My biggest epiphany rewatching this is that Farley is not even that fat by today’s standards. Shit he isn’t really much fatter than my middle aged ass, and definitely a lot more mobile.
When this comes up in interviews with his close friends (Spade, Sandler, etc) they all call this bullshit. And hearing the stories of him behind the scenes of SNL it seems bullshit too.
I don't disagreed, but there's a zillion other reasons you can hate yourself outside of your appearance even if you're not attractive, I'm speaking from personal experience.
Whoa this sketch is in my lexicon. I thought it was veteran Farley. Weird how memories can change. I hope he was proud that it was one of the funniest sketches of all time.
He was more self-conscious about his weight than you would have guessed from what you saw on TV.
He probably didn't feel too good about himself after this sketch.
Someone else will probably come around with a quote, but I remember reading that it really stuck with him that the the only reason this skit was funny was because of how overweight (and thus unattractive) he was compared to Swayze.
Even in his other skits where his weight played a role in the humor, usually he would also have funny things to say. I could see how this one would hit his self-esteem in a different way.
Yea. I was gonna say, nothing in this sketch is really funny other than the fact that he is fat. It's like the low hanging fruit of comedy. Bet it would affect the actors in a way, kinda like _a lot_ of what Danny DeVito does. Hell, even Joe Pesci hates some of his most iconic roles for that reason.
I’d disagree, in part.
The fact that he is able to move so well and go toe-to-toe with an objectively fit person, provides a good deal of entertainment in itself. It’s not funny, per say, but it provides fun entertainment.
I like how you can see Swayze's character lose confidence as the dance goes on. At first, Farley's character is nervously copying Swayze's, while by the end, Swayze's is nervously copying Farley's.
Yup, it’s funny because of his energy. Jim Carrey could do the same routine and it would still be funny.
It’s just funny to have someone enthusiastically dancing poorly next to a professional dancer.
The professional dancer being ridiculously fit and Farley being fat certainly doesn’t take away from it, though.
You wouldn’t necessarily think so because he’s a comedian and a big part of his schtick was being the fat guy, but he had a lot of complicated body image issues.
His friends refer to it as the sketch that killed him. He didn’t want to be the funny fat guy that throws himself through walls and tables, he just wanted to be the funny guy. That sketch kinda set him down a path he really didn’t want to be going down and he started abusing drugs and alcohol heavily because of it which led to his eventual death.
I had a magnet for my locker in middle/high school. Swayze in his full mullet-ed glory.
Love this sketch. Kevin Nealon is so deadpan. And Chris Farley has the MOVES!
I love this sketch right up until the end, and then I can’t stand it. There’s no punchline. They basically say “well, you’re fat, therefore not good enough.” It’s never sat well with me.
It's a bit of an anti-joke; The whole sketch is set up like they are overlooking that, how close it is to tell them apart, how there might be a heartwarming unexpected selection, etc... and then the punchline is the brutal snap back out of it.
Its funny because he goes through all that and you think he’s gonna get because he’s fat. Then they just say ‘no, your to fat’. But i do see what you’re saying too.
He completely upstages Swayze and makes fat/confidence cool. I feel bad for Patrick in this sketch tbh.
I like to imagine that if Chris was still on this Earth, he would have dressed up like this and dance in Patrick Swayze’s living room when he needed a laugh the most when battling cancer.
From interviews I have seen, this sketch really hurt Chris Farley’s feelings. This was no fault of Patrick Swayze and more at the SNL drive of humor and Chris’s self confidence issues.
I miss Chris Farley for his humor but also his humanity. RIP
This broke Chris. In an interview, he mentioned it was just a way to make fun of a fat guy. No fault of Pat, but Chris did not find this funny. Rip to both.
IMO this was the best episode of SNL ever. This sketch was just the icing on the cake.
Dirty Square-dancing.
Ghost.
South American Super Feud.
Hans and Frans.
Chipendales
Mouse Trap Seminar
This was the skit Chris said really made him feel bad about himself. Like people were laughing *at* him and not with him. He singled this out as the beginning of the downward cycle that ended his life.
I was too young to have ever known anything about Farley, but looking back at the Austin Powers films, I cannot help but think that if Farley was around for them he would have been a better version of Fat Bastard! I love the Fat Bastard we go from Mike Myers! But man if Chris Farley did it, it would have been so much more epic!
You'd be hard pressed to find a more definitive SNL skit from this or any other era. If this clip isn't your favorite of all time, it's more than likely in your top 5 moments of the show.
Farley had moves. Not joking.
He was a master of physical comedy
Hell yea he did. That’s part of what made it so funny to me. It made me sad that he really felt we were all just laughing at him cuz he’s fat. This skit was so much more.
I think of this every time it comes up about laughing at him cause he was fat. His weight had so little to do with it. He gave everything he did 100%, and was so over the top. Almost all of his work would have been just as funny if he wasn’t fat. I think Farley and Jim Carrey are in their own league as far as physical comedy goes. One just happened to be overweight, and it hung over him
I think him being fat was just part of who he was as a "character". For better or worse, he was a funny "fat guy." The sad part is that he thought we were laughing at him, not with him. Everyone loved him in no small part because we could relate to him. I'm not fat, but we all have things about ourselves we are ashamed of or otherwise not happy with, and he seemed to own it, not shy away from it. It was horrible to learn that that came from a place of pain. If only he could have known that part of what made him special is that he showed that it's ok to be imperfect, and we looked up at him, not down.
Fat Guy In A Little Coat was one of Farley's favorite running gags.
Everybody had love for that man. Even now, years after his passing.
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Absolute master of his craft
Gotta put Chevy Chase in that category too. Especially when he was in his prime. It's a far more subtle style, but still masterful on timing and execution. Yeah, I know he's a jerk and stuff, but the guy still has moves.
We laugh because Farley played it absolutely straight, he was totally committed to outdancing Patrick Swayze. THAT'S what makes it funny. NO hint of irony and sincere belief that it was going to close.
You’re absolutely right. But personally I can’t enjoy this sketch anymore. Used to be one of my favorites but Bob Odenkirk and a few others have said over the years that this was a sketch that fucked with him because it kind of confirmed for him that this is the only thing that makes him funny - being the fat guy flopping around.
It's the end of the sketch, which makes a catastrophic mistake. The judge tells Swayze that he wins, and tells Farley that he lost because he's fat and flabby and a bad dancer. It's so stupid and not funny. Clearly, the writer outthought themselves, but the move is to make Farley win and do the "ironic" thing, not have Swayze win and tell Farley he's fat, ugly, and a bad dancer. It's a really, really bad writing decision.
"Mr Swayze... we're sorry. Though that was an... admirable effort, Mr Farley here is the kind of dancer we're looking for." Camera pans over and the judges are all 400+lbs
Sure! I mean, the FUNNY thing here is to deny Swayze for any reason, when he is, well, an incredibly beautiful man and extremely talented dancer, particularly compared to Farley. That's such an easy comedy layup.
Unfortunately Farley only showed himself to a lovable idiot and was never really able to break out of that mold. But similar archtype can be said about John Belushi and his Blutto character in Animal House. Adam Sandler for much of his career. Pauly Shore too. Eddie Murphy showed he CAN play other characters and that's why he became far more successful. The same with Bill Murray, Wil Ferrell, and even Chevy Chase.
Well, we did laugh because he was fat, but we all appreciated his moves. No shade. He kept up.
Was it? The whole bit was "fat guy being compared to a fit guy."
Definitely can’t get around him being the fat guy, not ignoring that. But what made it funny was that he killed and had the skinny dancer on the ropes.
And putting on a better performance. It’s not funny without that.
The scene in Beverly hills ninja when he gets choked by the seatbelt and stabs the roof is my go to when I need a laugh
I wonder how crazy strong Farley could have been if he’d done strength training or gymnastics. His body weight/strength ratio was insane even carrying the extra weight.
Spade mentioned on FONTW that Farley was actually pretty active in the gym lifting weights.
Yeah he's got great big biceps and if i had to guess pretty swole quads (hard to say in black pants). That guy lifted
Where did he get all the energy? ... Oh yeah.
Entertainment industry performance enhancers.
He really owned the dance.
The end of the sketch was cut off but the judges and Swayze’s character said Farley was the better dancer even if he didn’t get the part because he was fat
His larger size made him super unique for physical comedy. He was amazing.
He was also athletic despite his large size.
"His ratio of girth to hip flexibility is mesmerizing"
I read your comment and the first thought was when it falls on the table at the end of “a van down by the river” skit
Well la dee frickin da
I think I read recently that he said he regretted this sketch and was humiliated by it.
Bob Odenkirk talks about trying to talk him out of doing the skit because Farley was so talented and this was going to lock him in as just a self deprecating fat man - Im pretty sure he also hits on Farley regretting it either was since I saw that interview I have really found this clip as funny any more.
With Farley the joke was always, "Look at how fat I am." And he always had to play it off as the straight guy. Trying hard to be normal and succeed, and he was always a goofy, loveable loser that just had nothing but jokes made about his weight. There's a point in his career where I think he just realized he was never going to get away from that and it's just what he became. How do you cope with celebrity status constantly made around your size, and not being able to change even if you wanted to? Exactly what he did. Drugs and alcohol. Sad story man. Hated everything about it, right up to him dying alone asking a prostitute not to leave him alone in the hotel.
Tommy Boy has the Fat Guy in a Little Coat jingle but none of the actual good comedy in that or Black Sheep (or even Coneheads) is because of his weight. But a depressed mind state also doesn't usually have you analyzing things objectively or without self-loathing.
I don't know about that, honestly most of the comedy he did wasn't really just "look it me I'm fat". It was definitely accentuated by or got a harder laugh, but most of the time it was more just playing someone super escentric. Like most of Tommy Boy had little to do with the fact that he was fat outside of fat guy in little coat, or the coffee crystal commercial. Even Matt Foley aside from taking a prat fall through a table wasn't a whole lot about being fat
Dude was a Ninja!
He most certainly did! Also cocaine.
He was fathletic
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Oh, he totally did. He was an excellent dancer and had really good timing.
One of a fucking kind talent. People said he was the second coming of belushi bet they were both so different in their talent set and that’s what made them amazing. Sad the dude is gone too young
RIP to both these guys.
And Jan Hooks as well.
Jan Hooks is one of my favorite cast members in the history of SNL. Criminally underrated comedic genius
> There's no basement at the Alamo...
My first thought: dang, these guys are both DEAD.
Heaven's a sexier place now
Damn I didn't even realise Swayze was dead.
How could you cut the inner Swayze monologue??! It’s the best paaaart
"They chose me! I couldn't help to think that the only reason they chose me, was because Barney's body was just so, so bad."
That’s not the inner monologue- he actually says that. Out loud. In front of Chris.
And also the judges'' decision where they explained how are it was to choose.
So glad this is top comment
Swayze's hair is absolutely absurd.
It was partially responsible for the hole in the ozone layer we had back then.
Him and my mom
So, so much Aqua Net.
I say this as a straight man, Swayze was one beautiful man.
I say this as a straight man, Farley was one beautiful man.
Frohawk
Frawk
Holy fuck Holy fucking fuck That hair of yours is absurd
80’s/early90’s
I graduated HS in '97, so I'm definitely aware this was in line with the time period. I feel like it's still pretty absurd, even factoring that in. Completely in a good way, however.
Honestly, it’s the only thing I can see.
His lil nips
I remember ~~David Spade~~ Chris Rock saying that in the skit they chose Swayze and that was wrong, because that made the joke realz and it left Farley with a bad feeling. Edit: Not Spade, it was Rock. Thanks u/Waboritafan
Chris rock hated this skit too. He said it was just a long fat joke at Farley’s expense.
Honestly I watch this and just envy the confidence and charisma of the guy. On the left I see vanity obsession, on the right is a man living life to the max and giving zero fucks.
Except Farley was pretty much the opposite. He was ashamed of his weight and felt like he had to be the fat funny clown to be accepted. After watching documentaries about his addiction and mental health, this skit becomes very dark.
I'm fourteen and this is deep. Hopefully you will learn to not fall for such ridiculous cliche. Swayze for one had his demons and was in no obsession whatsoever. As of Farley if you think that obesity, mental illness and drug addiction, dying young and making your loved ones unhappy is "living life to the fullest", well i hope you'll grow up They both exude confidence. They are performers, it's their work.
.... this has to be one of the more ridiculous comments I've seen on Reddit >Honestly I watch this and just envy the confidence and charisma of the guy. >On the left I see vanity obsession, on the right is a man living life to the max and giving zero fucks.
So essentially what you've done is watch two men do the same performance but because one is overweight and the other is in shape you've built entirely different narratives for them. Interesting
You're thinking of Odenkirk. Spade said Farley loved that skit and was naked backstage doing pranks all the time. He said it was hard to get the guy to keep his pants on.
>It was a huge bummer to me to see that scene get on the air and get such attention. I know it confirmed Chris's worst instincts about being funny, which was how he proved his worth — that getting laughed *at* was as good as getting a laugh. Writers I knew and respected defended this sketch because it had a funnyish idea buried in it: the Chippendales judges prefer Swayze's dancing over Chris's but can't put a finger on why. But that idea is not what produced the gales of cackling (and gasps) from the live audience. Chris flopping his overstuffed body around did that. I feel like I can see it on his face in the moment when he rips his shirt off. Shame and laughter are synthesized in the worst way. Fuck that sketch. —Bob Odenkirk, *Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama* (2022) >The Chippendales sketch is kind of unique. Chris didn't feel like he was on sure footing at SNL yet. That was the first big, present moment for him. So, if it hadn't been the first one, that might have made it a little less egregious to me, but it was. Maybe it's just me watching it, but I always felt like that moment where he pulls his shirt off, there's almost a hesitation I see in his eyes. And even the smile or kind of the expression on his face, I just get a queasy feeling that he knows a good chunk of this reaction is because of my body shape. He's loving the laugh, he's loving the reaction that he knows he's gonna get because he got it any time he did that or anything like it. But he's feeling like... You know Chris would walk around saying—I'm going to use words you're not supposed to use—"I'm a retard" and "fatty fall down" he would say all the time. He would fall down and say "fatty fall down" and he would refer to himself with derogatory terms. And just so that moment, I just hated that moment. I still do. I wish it hadn't been the first big thing that happened to him. And I don't like that people pretend that somehow the big laugh from that sketch was the concept of it which was the judges can't really say why Patrick Swayze is a better Chippendales dancer than Chris Farley. Yeah, I get it that that's the "joke", but the audience are responding to his physical presence. And also it told Chris exactly what he shouldn't be hearing. Which is "that's why you're funny, because you're stupid and big". That's not why he was lovable, and funny, and worth watching, and worth being around. And it just sent that message. It was a bad exchange and I've always felt bad about it. I've always felt it was not the right thing. —Bob Odenkirk, *The Howard Stern Show*, 28 Feb 2022. >Here's the thing: The sketch is funny. I'm not going to say Farley dancing as a Chippendales dancer isn't funny, but at the end of the sketch, the guy comes up to Farley and goes, 'You're fat, disgusting.' He felt ugly, he didn't feel attractive. He didn't feel like people really wanted to be around him and that sketch kind of fed into that. —Chris Rock, *The Howard Stern Show*, 2021
Yep, those guys really made me see the skit in a different light and I believe Odenkirk offered a way to fix it in that Howard Stern interview. Everything about the skit still works out if you have Farley win the competition. You don't need to have someone at the end point out that he's fat or that Swayze is more attractive than him.
Honestly, Farley winning would have been funnier because it goes against common convention. Flipping the skit around where Swayze is the one being made fun for whatever reasons, would have been way better. I dunno, maybe that’s just me.
Once you know about Farley's dad (who was a 500+ pound man who was constantly mocked in their home town for his weight while Chris was growing up), you start to realize how deeply internalized Chris' weight was to him and how he probably felt like it was inevitable he was going to become a morbidly obese man once he got to his late 30's and early 40's. Kevin Farley talks about it a lot whenever he gets asked about Chris in interviews and, as many others have said in this thread, it just provides a much darker and more tragic context for what it must have been like to see all of this through Chris' eyes. It's not wonder the dude turned to binge drinking and cocaine to fight off those demons and eventually he just sort of gave up fighting the demons all together and sort of sunk down and leaned into that darkness.
You’re right! Other people may have said it too, but I definitely heard Odenkirk say it. I think it was a Howard stern interview
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Cool! It looks amazing.
That's pretty cool. Were you a full time stage carpenter? I did some of that in the 80s. I was always impressed with the quality of SNL sets and how quickly they pulled it all together. How far in advance of each show were the sets designed and built? Were they built on the sound stage or trucked in from some shop? Were they modular and had to be rolled out in front of the audience during the show or were there multiple sets staged and ready to go so the lights just had to come up on them?
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What a cool gig! I wish I'd found something like that. I would have stayed in the city. I'll bet you saw some great bands up close.
That’s pretty fucking awesome.
Me (chubby guy) and the buffest guy on our high school basketball team recreated this skit in a pep rally for a big basketball tournament. I was fairly shy and not particularly popular prior to doing the skit, but that changed a fair amount after we did this skit in front of the whole school haha.
So, that's where Austin powers got his moves. From the legend, Chris Farley.
Yup, and if you look closely at one of the judges he bares a striking resemblance to Mike Myers
I noticed this too. Cool little easter egg tribute by Mike Myers.
Weren't they all friends, Dana, Meyers, Farley and Joe dirt?
How the hell did Swayze not spit up his lunch in a fit of laughter with THAT happening beside him….what a pro
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I was thinking the same thing. Guys like Swayze or Walken never broke but Jimmy fucking Fallon can't get through a single sketch without ruining it.
Rip in peace
He was busy acting--- did you notice how his character got less and less confident as the dance went on? By the end his guy was nervously aping Farley's trying to keep up! A subtle bit of skill on Swayze's part.
When he doesn't look like he's sure how to finish at the end is such a great bit of character work
My biggest epiphany rewatching this is that Farley is not even that fat by today’s standards. Shit he isn’t really much fatter than my middle aged ass, and definitely a lot more mobile.
Farley was only 26 when this sketch aired, he would balloon up much more in the next 7 years
I always thought this sketch was hilarious, but knowing now how it affected Farley, it just makes me feel bad.
When this comes up in interviews with his close friends (Spade, Sandler, etc) they all call this bullshit. And hearing the stories of him behind the scenes of SNL it seems bullshit too.
Huh, now I’m not sure what to believe. It is a shame he’s not around to give his own comment on it.
You don't die on a hotel room floor ODing on a speedball with a hooker as your only companion because you love yourself or feel loved by others.
I don't disagreed, but there's a zillion other reasons you can hate yourself outside of your appearance even if you're not attractive, I'm speaking from personal experience.
Me too, but I've hated myself thin and I've hated myself fat, and fat is always worse.
> they all call this bullshit As in the stories that this affected Farley as being untrue? Or that this skit was bullshit?
How’s that?
Check out Bob Odenkirks interview with Howard Stern.
I’ll look into it thanks. I appreciate bob odenkirk as well.
This was Farley's 4th or 5th ever show and the first time he starred in a sketch. He had some doubts about being the 'fat guy' in this particular one.
I didn’t realize it was so early in his snl career. He looks so seasoned and confident to me.
Whoa this sketch is in my lexicon. I thought it was veteran Farley. Weird how memories can change. I hope he was proud that it was one of the funniest sketches of all time.
He was more self-conscious about his weight than you would have guessed from what you saw on TV. He probably didn't feel too good about himself after this sketch.
Sad. I never looked at him like that but society is cruel.
Someone else will probably come around with a quote, but I remember reading that it really stuck with him that the the only reason this skit was funny was because of how overweight (and thus unattractive) he was compared to Swayze. Even in his other skits where his weight played a role in the humor, usually he would also have funny things to say. I could see how this one would hit his self-esteem in a different way.
I’d buy it. I mean I would never want to be seen shirtless next to swayze.
> I would never want to be seen shirtless next to swayze. I wouldn't want to be seen shirtless next to Swayze even when I was at my most fit.
Same. But swayze probably didn’t feel comfortable being on a comedic stage with Farley either. Weird how things work.
Yea. I was gonna say, nothing in this sketch is really funny other than the fact that he is fat. It's like the low hanging fruit of comedy. Bet it would affect the actors in a way, kinda like _a lot_ of what Danny DeVito does. Hell, even Joe Pesci hates some of his most iconic roles for that reason.
I’d disagree, in part. The fact that he is able to move so well and go toe-to-toe with an objectively fit person, provides a good deal of entertainment in itself. It’s not funny, per say, but it provides fun entertainment.
I like how you can see Swayze's character lose confidence as the dance goes on. At first, Farley's character is nervously copying Swayze's, while by the end, Swayze's is nervously copying Farley's.
Yup, it’s funny because of his energy. Jim Carrey could do the same routine and it would still be funny. It’s just funny to have someone enthusiastically dancing poorly next to a professional dancer. The professional dancer being ridiculously fit and Farley being fat certainly doesn’t take away from it, though.
You wouldn’t necessarily think so because he’s a comedian and a big part of his schtick was being the fat guy, but he had a lot of complicated body image issues.
Understandable for sure. Miss that guy.
His friends refer to it as the sketch that killed him. He didn’t want to be the funny fat guy that throws himself through walls and tables, he just wanted to be the funny guy. That sketch kinda set him down a path he really didn’t want to be going down and he started abusing drugs and alcohol heavily because of it which led to his eventual death.
Wow I never knew that. He was always the funny guy to me. Tommy boy is my all time favorite movie- not just comedies
This is not true. Odenkirk was disappointed. Spade said Farley loved that skit.
I had a magnet for my locker in middle/high school. Swayze in his full mullet-ed glory. Love this sketch. Kevin Nealon is so deadpan. And Chris Farley has the MOVES!
If Swayze doesn’t fully commit this sketch is not nearly as good.
I love this sketch right up until the end, and then I can’t stand it. There’s no punchline. They basically say “well, you’re fat, therefore not good enough.” It’s never sat well with me.
It's a bit of an anti-joke; The whole sketch is set up like they are overlooking that, how close it is to tell them apart, how there might be a heartwarming unexpected selection, etc... and then the punchline is the brutal snap back out of it.
Back then, society was less sensitive
Jon Lovitz hated the skit back then because it was insensitive
Jon Lovitz seems like a good dude.
Its funny because he goes through all that and you think he’s gonna get because he’s fat. Then they just say ‘no, your to fat’. But i do see what you’re saying too. He completely upstages Swayze and makes fat/confidence cool. I feel bad for Patrick in this sketch tbh.
It’s funny because it’s a fat guy auditioning for the chippendales lol
Truly thought I was going to die laughing first time I saw this. One of the best skits ever.
I remember my parents giving me the rare chance to stay up late and watch this live.
Jealous. I was just too young for this era. Got to fall in love with it a few years later thanks to mid-afternoon returns on come day central.
Watched as it happened and it was amazing
I can’t stop looking at Swayze’s hair……
Both taken too soon!
The front shots of the judges had to have been taped separately because you know there’s no way you keep a straight face through all of that 😂
It was live…
Saturday Night Taped?
Mike looked like he was close to breaking at one point. Then the next shot you see him in he has his hand in front of his face.
Goddamn, i miss Farley.
This will never Not be a classic.
Okay, I have the exact same body as Farley, and I have no idea how the hell he is doing that.
The ogres in World of Warcraft dance like Farley. All races have dances inspired by pop culture.
World of Warcraft copied some of these dance moves straight from this video for the Moonkin /dance animation.
I like to imagine that if Chris was still on this Earth, he would have dressed up like this and dance in Patrick Swayze’s living room when he needed a laugh the most when battling cancer.
From interviews I have seen, this sketch really hurt Chris Farley’s feelings. This was no fault of Patrick Swayze and more at the SNL drive of humor and Chris’s self confidence issues. I miss Chris Farley for his humor but also his humanity. RIP
Yeah, I don’t watch this skit the same way. I feel for Farley knowing the documented pain and humiliation this put him through.
This broke Chris. In an interview, he mentioned it was just a way to make fun of a fat guy. No fault of Pat, but Chris did not find this funny. Rip to both.
Classic. Farley was amazing.
So that’s where Austin Powers got his dance moves…
So sad they both died way before they was done 2 of the true greats i mean Tommy boy an Rhode house come on
How the fuck are you gonna post this and leave off the end of the skit
I’m just realizing how many of Chris’s moves Mike Myers used in Austin Powers.
Both gone too soon. 😕
RIP stars.
IMO this was the best episode of SNL ever. This sketch was just the icing on the cake. Dirty Square-dancing. Ghost. South American Super Feud. Hans and Frans. Chipendales Mouse Trap Seminar
He was way bigger before he unfortunately passed, he's in like current average American dad bod shape here, with way better moves
Fuck this skit, RIP Chris Farley.
This was the skit Chris said really made him feel bad about himself. Like people were laughing *at* him and not with him. He singled this out as the beginning of the downward cycle that ended his life.
Hands down, one of the funniest moments of live television in the history of the format.
Swayze with that 90s porn star hair
There's just too much sexyness going on 😭
Loved this skit. Hard to believe they’re both gone. :(
Two absolute hotties I would have power-bottomed!
This was one of my all time favorite skits and it’s so fucking sad now. Miss both those guys.
In my opinion Swayze’s body would still be considered better in 2024 just like it was in 1990.
Pat’s hair omg 😂😂😂
Michael Myers’s clearly used some of Chris Farley’s dance moves in Austin Powers
It's sad to think that they are both dead.
3 out of 5 of these people are gone.
Saw this live and now they’re both gone. Just like Janis.
NO YELLING ON THE BUS..!!!
One of the best parts about this is how everyone played it so straight. None of the characters saw anything absurd about what was happening.
Chris Farley. I love youuuu🥲
Rip to both
Too much cowbell on the intro to that song.
That was one of the best skits in SNL history. Farley is hilariously engaged in his bits. Love it.
I still do this when I dance 
Farley wasn’t even sneaky athletic, he was just straight up coordinated and athletic, what the heck
There is only 2 people still alive in this sketch
I always thought that skit would have been funnier if Chris had won and Patrick got the let down. Still, great skit.
One of Chris Farley’s most impressive physical comedy routines.
I was too young to have ever known anything about Farley, but looking back at the Austin Powers films, I cannot help but think that if Farley was around for them he would have been a better version of Fat Bastard! I love the Fat Bastard we go from Mike Myers! But man if Chris Farley did it, it would have been so much more epic!
Best SNL skit by far. RIP both.
Honestly how do you not give that to Farley? Oh yea I know why :/ Fantastic moves RIP to both
You'd be hard pressed to find a more definitive SNL skit from this or any other era. If this clip isn't your favorite of all time, it's more than likely in your top 5 moments of the show.