‘SNL’ Sends Bad Bunny Back to the Age of Discovery — With Fred Armisen Leading the Chaos

When Saturday Night Live leans into historical absurdity, the results can be surprisingly sharp. In a standout sketch from the October 21, 2023 episode, host and musical guest Bad Bunny traded modern superstardom for royal robes, presiding as a monarch unimpressed with what his explorers had dragged back from the so-called “New World.”

The premise is simple — and that simplicity is precisely what makes it work.

A Royal Reception Gone Wrong

The sketch imagines a king (Bad Bunny) and his son, played by cast member Marcello Hernández, eagerly awaiting riches from distant lands. Instead, their returning explorers — portrayed by former cast member Fred Armisen and cast member Mikey Day — present a collection of baffling discoveries.

First comes a turkey, described memorably as a bird with “testicles” on its face. Then a llama, dismissed as essentially “a horse, but worse.” The court’s enthusiasm continues to plummet as tomatoes and pumpkins are introduced with the expectation of awe — only to be met with visible confusion and disappointment.

The joke lands because it reframes history through a modern lens: what if these now-commonplace items had to pass a brutally honest first impression test?

Tobacco Saves the Expedition

Just as the explorers’ credibility seems irreparably damaged, they unveil tobacco. Suddenly, the mood shifts. The king and prince take to smoking with immediate enthusiasm, and the entire voyage gains retroactive value.

Only then do the explorers casually mention they also discovered gold.

The delayed reveal is the punchline’s quiet masterstroke. Material wealth becomes secondary to recreational indulgence — a sly commentary wrapped in period costume.

“Just Go Around”

Running beneath the gags is a sharper comedic thread. The monarch’s primary objective was access to China for silk and spices — not llamas. When the explorers suggest their newly found land complicates that mission, the royal court repeatedly offers the same blunt solution: “Just go around.”

The line, echoed by Hernández and other cast members including Andrew Dismukes, underscores the sketch’s central absurdity. Monumental historical undertakings are reduced to playground-level logic, exposing the occasional irrationality embedded in grand narratives of exploration.

Why the Sketch Works

The humor succeeds because it highlights overlooked angles of familiar history. We rarely pause to consider how underwhelming certain “discoveries” might have initially seemed. By stripping away reverence and replacing it with blunt skepticism, the sketch exposes the gap between historical mythmaking and practical expectations.

It also showcases Bad Bunny’s comedic timing. His restrained reactions — a mix of royal authority and mounting irritation — anchor the escalating absurdity. Armisen’s return adds an extra layer of credibility; as a former cast member, he slips comfortably into the ensemble dynamic while amplifying the chaos.

In classic SNL fashion, the sketch finds comedy not in spectacle but in perspective. Sometimes all it takes is asking the obvious question: was anyone actually impressed by a pumpkin the first time around?