Jon Rudnitsky’s “Dirty Dancing” tribute on SNL

There’s usually a moment during a Saturday Night Live cast member’s rookie season when that comedian showcases the set piece from his or her audition that helped secure a spot in the cast in the first place.

Perhaps the most famous example is Dana Carvey’s “Chopping Broccoli” tune he played on the piano for his SNL audition, and turned it into such a hit piece on the show that Carvey still was playing it a generation later on late-night TV visits.

This season, Jon Rudnitsky’s the lone new cast member, and his entire New Faces showcase at Montreal last summer was an unspoken parody of Dirty Dancing. This past weekend, SNL’s Weekend Update let him trot out a truncated version of the bit, tied to the possibility that network TV will try a live Dirty Dancing musical in the coming year.

Roll the clip.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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