Larry David and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders may have been featured guests on this week’s Saturday Night Live episode, but Queens College also had a starring role in the program.
The Flushing institution of higher learning was the setting for a taped sketch, “Bern Your Enthusiasm,” in which David played a neurotic version of Sanders that was similar to his role in his HBO sitcom, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The campus stood in for Iowa in the sketch that parodied the real Sanders’ tight loss to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic Iowa Caucuses. In the sketch, the fake Sanders — much like David’s “Curb” character — fell into several awkward social encounters that ultimately cost him the election.
Most of the sketch was shot on campus days before the live episode aired. The exterior of Student Union Hall is clearly visible during a scene in which the fake Sanders refuses to help a car accident victim.
SNL regulars Aidy Bryant, Bobby Moynihan, Cecily Strong, Jay Pharaoh, Leslie Jones, Kyle Mooney and Taran Killiam also appeared in the sketch; several of them played characters recognizable to “Curb” fans.
As for the real Sanders, he took a break from the New Hampshire Primary campaign to appear in a separate sketch with David. At one point, Sanders steals one of David’s catchphrases in describing the campaign as “pretty, pretty, pretty good.”
Feel the “Bern Your Enthusiasm” sketch below.
