‘SNL’ skit goes on an awkward ride at Worlds of Fun, and Kansas Citians are loving it
It starts with a shot of the iconic balloon above the “Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun” sign, with the Mamba roller coaster snaking in the background. Probably a commercial for the Kansas City amusement park, right?
But then the scene switches to “Saturday Night Live” cast members and guest host Nick Jonas in a skit, standing in line to ride the Viking Voyager. Wait, our Viking Voyager? Apparently so.
See, on most theme park rides, people sit two by two, side by side. But not on this log flume. Riders sit one in front of the other, which can get pretty cozy — or awkward. We’re betting “SNL” cast member and Kansas City native Heidi Gardner saw the comic potential from her KC youth and pitched the idea for last weekend’s show.
In the sketch, she’s one of five hormonal teenagers figuring out how to pair up for the ride and who must be the odd one out. That fifth wheel will be stuck snuggling with a giant stuffed version of Joe Gardner (no relation to Heidi) from the movie “Soul,” a prize that Kyle Mooney has just won at the ring toss.
As they queue up, Jonas asks, “Isn’t this the one where you kind of sit in each other’s laps?”
“Wait, you do?” Gardner exclaims — as if she doesn’t know.
Gardner and Mikey Day are perfectly willing to test it out on a demo seat from the ride. “I guess I’ll sit here,” Day says, “and then you’d be between my legs …”
Then Jonas and Ego Nwodim do the same. “Like what do I do with my arms, ’cause I don’t want them to get wet,” Jonas says. “I think they’d be my seat belt, like this,” Nwodim tells him, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist.
And then poor Kyle Mooney ends up with the guy from “Soul,” again, even though he already rode with him on the Zulu and Mamba.
“No big deal,” Worlds of Fun tweeted Saturday night after the sketch aired. “Just over here making our #SNL debut - repping KC!
“Stand tall, Vikings!”
And Kansas Citians on Twitter were loving it.
Gardner, by the way, graduated from Kansas City’s Notre Dame de Sion, where, in her high school yearbook during senior year, she was voted Most Likely to Become a Cast Member of “Saturday Night Live.”
Here’s the full skit:
This story was originally published February 28, 2021 at 10:29 AM with the headline "‘SNL’ skit goes on an awkward ride at Worlds of Fun, and Kansas Citians are loving it."
