Why Seth Meyers Says This 2-Part Zach Galifianakis SNL Sketch Was Like a "Magic Trick"
The May 4, 2013 sketch featured edits made in real time and featured a cameo from Jon Hamm.
Each episode Saturday Night Live consists of magic comedy moments — but for Seth Meyers, one experimental sketch worked like a true "magic trick."
When Zach Galifianakis hosted SNL for his third time on May 4, 2013, he starred in a groundbreaking two-part sketch called "Darrell's House." Written by Meyers, the sketch had the SNL editing team working in real time during the live show, with two different versions of "Darrell's House" airing in the same episode.
"I’ve never written anything with a better payoff," the Late Night with Seth Meyers Host told The Ringer in February 2025. "It was like a 'ta-da!' when you didn’t realize you’d been watching a magic trick."
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In the high-concept sketch, Galifianakis plays Darrell Sparks, a man who is hosting a local public access show — Darrell's House — in his living room. It's the first episode of his talk show, and Darrell is hilariously uncomfortable in front of the camera. What makes it even more awkward is throughout the filming, he's repeatedly stopping and giving his editor Marcus Yonks (who is offscreen) notes on what to fix in post.
The biggest change Darrell wants is when Mad Men star Jon Hamm shows up as the show's celebrity guest. During "The Filming" sketch, Jon Hamm is played by a stand-in named Wayne Smote (Kenan Thompson). But in the second part, "The Final Cut," Wayne is replaced by the real Hamm in a cameo, thanks to the magic of post-production.
Meyers explained how, with mere minutes between the airing of the two versions, the SNL team pulled off this unbelievable update.
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Seth Meyers describes how the SNL team made "Darrell's House" with Zach Galifianakis and Jon Hamm
As Meyers recounted to The Ringer, the editor for "Darrell's House" was Oz Rodriguez, who co-directed 2024's Ladies and Gentleman...50 Years of SNL Music documentary with Questlove. was in charge of the edits for "Darrell's House." Rodriguez "only had 15 minutes of real time" to deliver the new "Final Cut" during the live show. The result is a sketch Meyers says is among his favorites from his time at SNL.
"We had dress [rehearsal], and we all felt pretty good about it working. At dress, Oz was basically saying, 'I think we could do it in this amount of time,'" Meyers told The Ringer. "And he pulled it off. Oz finished the edit and rushed down, and we watched it together. It was very fun to watch a director pant in the way that the rest of us were always sort of panting."
Watch "Darrell's House: The Final Cut" below, and watch all 50 seasons of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
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