Saturday Night Live: Top 10 Chris Farley sketches of all-time

3. Japanese Game Show

The Japanese Game Show sketch is one of the rare times when Chris Farley plays the straight man, yet he still pulls it off. Japanese game shows are ridiculous enough as it is, and don’t really need to be parodied. But instead of what you normally see on YouTube, this was more like a Japanese version of Jeopardy, which makes this sketch that much funnier.

Mike Myers plays the host and only speaks Japanese (read: gibberish) throughout. But even so, it’s hilarious to see Farley try and interact with him, and the rest of the contestants. The only reason he’s competing is because he was supposed to see a game show, but by some misunderstanding, he ended up on one. And yet despite not understanding any of the questions, he’s actually able to get it right by just repeating what Myers says.

He wins 250,000 yen but instead of awarding him his money, he actually gets taken to the next stage of the game. Farley gets hooked up to wires, and if he doesn’t answer the question properly, he’ll get electrocuted. This was after he avoided having to chop off his finger by getting a question right. When he realized he couldn’t talk his way out of this one, he mustered up the only Japanese phrase he knew, but got electrocuted because he was one letter off from the correct answer.

It’s a simple premise, but it’s the actors that make it work. With Mike Myers’ over-the-top mannerisms, and Chris Farley being the only one that doesn’t know what’s going on, the dynamic between the two is fun to watch. It may be a change in what we come to expect from Farley, but the sketch is still very well done if only because of his involvement.

Next: 2. Chippendale Audition