Jack Black put on the eyeliner and dialled in the melodrama for a goth-flavoured sketch on Saturday Night Live.
He parodied My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ with a reggae twist that somehow actually worked.
The sketch, titled ‘Goth Kid On Vacation’, aired during Black’s first hosting return to SNL since 2005. It saw him posted up in Jamaica alongside Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim, playing the tortured alt teen dragged into sunlight by well-meaning parents. Dressed in full Gerard Way cosplay, Black reworked the MCR classic with lines like: “When I was a young boy / My parents took me down to Jamaica / For my high school spring break…”
From there, it took a hard left into the usual Jack Black terrain: graphic novels, self-loathing, and masturbation. The line delivery was pure theatre kid in corpse paint. It was exactly what you’d expect from the Tenacious D frontman riffing on emo royalty in a resort setting.
The whole thing played like The Black Parade meets Club Dread, and it landed. Not just because of Black’s commitment, but because the sketch understood the absurdity of throwing a goth into paradise — and didn’t soften the punchlines.
Elsewhere in the episode, Elton John and Brandi Carlile performed two tracks from their new collaboration album — backed by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith — while SNL took a couple swings at Morgan Wallen’s recent walk-off, dropping references in the cold open and Weekend Update.
Black, in town promoting A Minecraft Movie, joked ahead of the taping that he was having “night terrors” about hosting again. Judging by the sketch’s online traction and the crowd reaction, he probably slept just fine after.
If nothing else, the sketch proves two things: Gerard Way’s legacy is untouchable, and Jack Black is still the king of chaotic genre crossovers. Even if it means singing MCR over reggae in a fake Caribbean cabana.
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