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It\u2019s a pity some may have given up on Saturday Night Live<\/em> during the cold open, at the agonizing sight of James Austin Johnson<\/strong>\u2019s President Trump<\/strong> and Dana Carvey<\/strong>\u2019s President Biden<\/strong> sitting knee to knee in the White House. These are not laughing times. Even Carvey\u2019s great turn as Biden\u2014stumbling around for words, eyes popping up and out in gee whiz confusion\u2014is starting to feel tiresome. \u201cIt\u2019s my own version of \u2018the weave,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI call it \u2018the wander.\u2019\u201d But then Sarah Sherman<\/strong> entered stage left as Trump\u2019s ridiculous pick for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz<\/strong>. She was nearly unrecognizable underneath those eyebrows drawn like toddlers\u2019 birds, plastic cliff of a forehead, and Elvis hair. (Alec Baldwin popped up as Trump\u2019s proposed head of Health and Human Services RFK Jr<\/strong>., but his cameos at this point are starting to feel rote.) There\u2019s a contagiousness to the delight Sherman takes in full-tilt buffoonery. And once we got Trump and Biden off the stage, the episode was off to the races.<\/p>\n Host and musical guest Charli XCX<\/strong> is a right bitchy sundae. As a sketch partner, she had good edge and a light touch. As musical guest, going solo on stripped-down stages for both numbers, she had a mesmerizing authority. (Julia Fox<\/strong> was an inspired choice to make the first intro; Bowen<\/strong> Yang<\/strong> an affectionate one for her second performance.)<\/p>\n In her monologue, Charli seemed free of nerves and pandering. She tried to help the old among us finally understand what it means to be Brat. She pointed to the double brat moves of Martha Stewart<\/strong> rejoicing in the death of journalist Andrea Savage<\/strong>, who once wrote unfavorably of her, and then Savage declaring the next day, \u201cI\u2019m alive, bitch.\u201d What a treat to see Kyle Mooney<\/strong>, who appeared with Charli in the hallucinatory favorite \u201cChristmas Socks\u201d sketch a couple of years ago, back in Studio 8H, wondering if even a mensch like him could hope for Brat status. \u201cFavorite kind of club?\u201d she quizzed him. \u201cProbably turkey,\u201d he said. Charli XCX ended her monologue with the promise, \u201cI\u2019m<\/em> here, so stick around, we\u2019ll be right back!\u201d Brat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n