Categories: News

'SNL' Spoofs Bloomberg's Sign Language Interpretor, Lydia Callis

Saturday Night Live found a humorous silver lining from the tragic Hurricane Sandy in the form of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s animated sign-language interpreter, Lydia Callis.

The show’s cold open featured longtime cast member Fred Armisen as Mayor Bloomberg addressing viewers from a mock press conference. By his side was his trusty sign language interpreter, Callis (Cecily Strong). As Armisen spoke, Strong gave Callis her typical lively facial expressions, but then added her own comedic twist. When firefighters were mentioned she motioned like she was manning a giant hose, and when Armisen-as-Bloomberg joked that he would arrest President Barack Obama if he brought his motorcade to New York, Strong-as-Callis mimed like she was being handcuffed and taken away by police.

SNL then spiced things up by giving New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Bobby Moynihan) his own sign language interpreter, “Roxy Affucinelli,” played by Nasim Pedrad. “Affucinelli” had blown out air and was obnoxiously chewing gum as she matched Moynihan-as-Christie’s tough New Jersey swagger with her own physical iterations, puffing out her chest and pursing her lips as she gave every phrase an arrogant brush of the hand.

Not everyone, however, found the skit funny. Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf, felt the skit took it too far in making fun of sign language, tweeting, "Millions of deaf people use sign. Why poke fun/fake it? Poke fun at ME but not the language. Would they do that to Spanish or Chinese? FAIL."

Check out the full video below and decide for yourself how you feel about the sketch:

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.

For more like this:

VIDEO: Who Is Mayor Bloomberg's Sign Language Interpretor, Lydia Callis?

Bruce Springsteen And Jon Bon Jovi To Headline Hurricane Sandy Benefit

RECAP: 'American Horror Story' Airs Eerie 'Nor'easter' On Halloween

VIDEOS: David Letterman And Jimmy Fallon Perform Monologues To Empty Theaters During Sandy

Hurricane Sandy Sinks HMS Bounty, Captain Missing, One Crewperson Dead

uInterview

Recent Posts

Bruce Willis Thanks First Responders Of Los Angeles Wildfires Amid Dementia Battle

Willis’ appearance out and about is particularly noteworthy given how the actor has distanced himself…

7 hours ago

Trump Family Nervous Donald Trump Jr. Will Bring New Girlfriend Bettina Anderson To The Inauguration

Several sources have warned that Anderson has long been seen on the arm of rich…

7 hours ago

Kid Rock Shames ‘Angry’ & ‘Childish’ Michelle Obama For Skipping Trump’s Inauguration

In a recent conversation with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Kid Rock (real name Robert…

13 hours ago

Cameron Diaz Criticized For Returning To The Red Carpet After Ten-Year Hiatus – In Jeans!

Despite the carefully curated fashionable display, many people called Diaz out for wearing jeans to…

13 hours ago

Rapper Busta Rhymes Charged With Punching His 50-Year-Old Assistant In The Face Multiple Times

Smith, 52, was given a desk appearance ticket – meaning he must show up in…

13 hours ago

Tom Brady Shouldn’t Commentate Lions-Commanders Playoff Game Due To Conflict Of Interest, NFL Insiders Say: ‘It’s Just A Bad Look’

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady has been told he should not commentate on the Detroit Lions-Washington Commanders…

14 hours ago