What happens when the giant animatronic mouse and his band can't perform at Chuck E. Cheese? Well, Reflection Denied joins in to help keep the show going. Host Benedict Cumberbatch proved for the second time why he's a great host for Saturday Night Live because anything they asked him to do, he was seemingly willing and ready to do it and this Chuck E. Cheese sketch was no different.
The legacy of Charles Entertainment Cheese (Chuck's full given name) is one that has left many of us confused throughout the last few years. Maybe because we learned of his tragic backstory that made him want to be an entertainer in the first place. And what makes this sketch so good is that it is marrying the idea of what makes us fascinated by Chuck E. Cheese with 80s electro bands, so we're just left further confused by what's going on.
Cumberbatch looks like he belongs in The Talking Heads with David Byrne or something like Il Divo, and he's clearly channeling that energy in his performance with Bowen Yang at his side. And the two bring to life the energy of the 80s flawlessly, and it's just hilarious that they're supposed to be performing for patrons of Chuck E. Cheese
"An untouched place where hope goes to die," Yang says in reference to the salad bar that apparently exists in a Chuck E. Cheese but what's so great is that everyone is seemingly there to see Chuck E. and the Pizza Time Band instead of, you know, there to have fun while at Chuck E. Cheese. The establishment is known for having games for people to play and things to do outside of the weird robot animals that sing at you and maybe steal part of your soul away while doing so.
But if Chuck E. Cheese started promising bands from the 80s performing instead, I might actually go back. It's just a funny version of a sketch they do quite often. Performers on stage with the audience confused by what's happening. Why this one, in particular, worked SO well is that they set it in a place like Chuck E. Cheese, and we're thrust into the fear of seeing Chuck E. and the Pizza Time Band once again.
Cumberbatch clearly missed his calling and he should have been a musician in the 80s with Yang but at least we have this sketch to make up for it.