Being on SNL means often being called on to do impersonations. Pete Davidson doesn’t usually do that. He does himself, usually appearing on Weekend Update to talk about himself. But he’s done the occasional impersonation. One is Rami Malek. They look a bit alike. They both have bulging eyes, for one. So when Malek wound up hosting SNL, it was only fitting that Davidson did his impersonation of him to his face…and vice versa.
In the sketch “Celeb Game Show” — basically their version of Jeopardy! but with twice the famous guests — host Kenan Thompson lords over a treasure trove of celebs. There’s John Oliver (Mikey Day). There’s Adam Driver (James Austin Johnson). There’s George Takei (Bowen Yang). There’s Lil Wayne (Chris Redd). There’s SNL alum Kristen Wiig (Melissa Villaseñor). And there’s current cast member Pete Davidson (Rami Malek) and the night’s host Rami Malek (Pete Davidson).
Sitting a mere foot or two from Malek, Davidson still plays the host as an awkward weirdo, with a monotone drone. Malek returns the favor, amping up Davidson’s raw nerve rantiness and ability to overuse the word “dude.” Neither of them also seem to know the answer to which Revolutionary War battle was fought in NYC. (It’s the Battle of Brooklyn.) Hopefully they had a big bear hug afterwards.
You can watch the sketch in the video above.