What The 'Saturday Night Live' Staff Thinks Of The Chris Farley 'Chippendales' Sketch

Rory Arnold
Updated May 12, 2021 671.5K views 11 items

Certain Saturday Night Live sketches have skyrocketed in popularity and become major cultural moments, but few sketches in the show's history have garnered as much love and attention as the Chippendales sketch from October 1990.

The sketch features then-newcomer Chris Farley and then-major movie star Patrick Swayze competing against each other at a Chippendales audition while dancing to Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend.” Farley completely commits to the scene with an over-the-top performance. The sketch has often been cited as the moment Farley became a major star. 

But in the years following Farley’s tragic passing from an OD in 1997, a number of former SNL cast members, writers, and producers have been critical of the sketch. As the culture has become more sensitive to how weight is represented on television, there’s no denying the problematic “joke” of the sketch.

Farley’s significant substance use during his time on the show raises questions as to whether this type of comedy was detrimental to his own body image issues and mental health. Farley’s former friends and colleagues weigh in on the subject.

  • 'I Knew In Rehearsal That A Star Was Born' - Mike Myers

    'I Knew In Rehearsal That A Star Was Born' - Mike Myers
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Mike Myers has said that it was clear even before they went live on the air with the sketch that Chris would be a hit.

    “I knew in rehearsal that a star was born,” Myers said. 

    Myers has also said that he found Farley’s physical comedy to be intimidating at times: “I improvised with Chris, and I was scared... because he had already knocked someone’s tooth out and given someone else a scar just from being so crazy.”

  • 'As Funny As That Sketch Was… It’s One Of The Things That Killed Him' - Chris Rock

    'As Funny As That Sketch Was… It’s One Of The Things That Killed Him' - Chris Rock
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Comedian Chris Rock joined Saturday Night Live in 1990, the same year Farley arrived. In the 2008 book The Chris Farley Show, an oral history compiled by Tanner Colby and Chris’s older brother Tom, Rock suggested that the sketch was noticeably damaging to Farley. 

    “That was a weird moment in Chris’s life,” he said. “As funny as that sketch was, and as many accolades as he got for it, it’s one of the things that killed him. It really is. Something happened right then.” 

    Rock criticizes the central joke and angle of the sketch, pointing out, “There’s no turn there. There’s no comic twist to it. It’s just f---ing mean. A more mentally together Chris Farley wouldn’t have done it, but Chris wanted so much to be liked.”

  • 'We All Thought You Had To Do Whatever Was Asked Of You' - David Spade

    'We All Thought You Had To Do Whatever Was Asked Of You' - David Spade
    Photo: Tommy Boy / Paramount Pictures

    David Spade worked particularly closely with Farley, both as cast members on SNL and then as co-stars in the films Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. 

    In Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, Spade offers context to Farley’s decision to do the sketch as a new cast member under pressure to prove himself.

    “It was early on, when we all thought you had to do whatever was asked of you,” Spade said. “Chris took off his shirt then because he’s a fat guy and it is funny and that was really part of the sketch. But I think later on, he didn’t want to do that as much.”

  • 'F--- That Sketch. He Never Should Have Done It' - Bob Odenkirk  

    'F--- That Sketch. He Never Should Have Done It' - Bob Odenkirk  
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Actor and writer Bob Odenkirk was a writer on SNL from 1987 through 1991 and worked closely with Farley. He even created and wrote Farley’s beloved character “Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker” specifically for Chris. But in the 2008 book The Chris Farley Show, Odenkirk had harsh words about the sketch. 

    He described it as “f---ing lame, weak bullsh*t. I can’t believe anyone liked it enough to put it on the show. F--- that sketch. He never should have done it.”

  • 'One Of The Most Difficult Sketches I Ever Had To Be In Without Laughing' - Kevin Nealon

    'One Of The Most Difficult Sketches I Ever Had To Be In Without Laughing' - Kevin Nealon
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Former cast member Kevin Nealon played one of the judges at the Chippendales audition and faced the challenging task of not cracking up while Farley gyrated shirtless in front of him. 

    “My experience was the same as anyone who’s seen it on television. I did everything I could to keep a straight face,” Nealon said. “It was one of the most difficult sketches I ever had to be in without laughing.”

    Addressing the later criticism of the sketch, Nealon told Rolling Stone that “it might have been a little embarrassing to [Chris]. Later, I heard that he had questioned whether or not to do it, because it was making fun of his body. But he was a team player.”

  • 'One Of The Funniest Sketches In The History Of The Show' - Robert Smigel

    'One Of The Funniest Sketches In The History Of The Show' - Robert Smigel
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Rolling Stone named it one of the greatest Saturday Night Live sketches of all time, and writer Robert Smigel agrees. Smigel wrote for Farley in the Matt Foley sketches, but applauded the success and structure of the Chippendales sketch.

    “I’d say it’s one of the funniest sketches in the history of the show,” Smigel said. “The way it was constructed, with everyone sincerely believing that this guy has a shot, and the judges studiously scribbling notes on his dance moves, that’s what makes it original and completely hysterical.”

  • 'Farley Was Very Comfortable With Body Stuff. His Commitment Was Total' - Lorne Michaels

    'Farley Was Very Comfortable With Body Stuff. His Commitment Was Total' - Lorne Michaels
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels has called Farley “the child that Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi didn’t have,” alluding to the parallels between Chris and John’s passing. Both Belushi and Farley descended into substance use after SNL and perished at the same age from an OD of the same controlled substances. But according to Michaels, jokes about Farley’s weight did not contribute to his decline.

    “Farley was very comfortable with body stuff,” Michaels told The New York Times. “His commitment was total. And Chris’ look of disappointment when he didn’t get it was just a wonderful moment.”

  • 'When You Get Laughs Like That, There’s Nothing Wrong With What’s Going On Onstage' - Tom Davis

    'When You Get Laughs Like That, There’s Nothing Wrong With What’s Going On Onstage' - Tom Davis
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Tom Davis was one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live when the show launched in 1975. In The Chris Farley Show, Davis defends the sketch on the grounds that it got such a big response.

    “When you get laughs like that, there’s nothing wrong with what’s going on onstage,” Davis said.

  • 'We Knew He Was Going To Hit Big, And Then He Did It Pretty Quickly - Mike Shoemaker  

    'We Knew He Was Going To Hit Big, And Then He Did It Pretty Quickly - Mike Shoemaker  
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Although Chris Farley didn’t have much screen time in his first episode of Saturday Night Live, producer Mike Shoemaker pointed out that that the Chippendales sketch was only Farley’s fourth show. 

    “We knew he was going to hit big, and he did it pretty quickly,” Shoemaker said.

  • 'I Think They Read It As Just Making Fun Of The Fat Guy Dancing' - Jim Downey

    'I Think They Read It As Just Making Fun Of The Fat Guy Dancing' - Jim Downey
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Jim Downey is a former head writer of Saturday Night Live and cumulatively worked on over 30 seasons before retiring from the show in 2013. He also wrote the Chippendales sketch, a concept that he says all began by creating a contrast to Swayze’s hunky image.

    In the 2008 book, The Chris Farley Show, Downey argues that it was the intensity of Farley’s physical performance that the audience was responding to: “He was also very nimble and a good dancer, which made it impossible to feel like it was just a freak show.” 

    Downey brushed off the criticism of the sketch as a misunderstanding of the intention.

    Interestingly though, Downey felt the success of the sketch hinged on Farley’s comfort with the joke. 

    “My overriding note to Chris was, ‘You’re not at all embarrassed here... your feelings are never hurt,’” Downey added.

  • 'We Signed Him Right Then' - CAA Talent Agent Doug Robinson

    'We Signed Him Right Then' - CAA Talent Agent Doug Robinson
    Photo: Saturday Night Live / NBC

    Even though it was long before sketches could go viral, everyone was talking the Chippendales sketch after it aired. It even helped Farley score a major representation deal with CAA.

    “All we did was show everyone a video of the 'Chippendales' sketch, and it was done,” said agent Doug Robinson. “We signed him right then.”