The 7 Best Holiday SNL Skits Guaranteed To Make You Laugh

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a fan of Saturday Night Live since I was younger than was appropriate (thanks to my corrupting older brothers!). I love all things SNL, but my absolute favorite, favorite, favorite skits are their holiday skits! These sketches are truly something I look forward to each and every year, and as a self-proclaimed Saturday Night Live aficionado, I am proud to share the joy and present to you the 7 Best SNL skits for the holidays.

1. Children’s Christmas Clothing Ad

This parody of a Macy’s commercial keeps it real, and REAL FUNNY by perfectly describing the nightmare that is dressing your child in holiday clothing. From half off “hard, shiny shoes for girls that hurt” to an extra 10 percent off snow boots that “are so hard to put on, it’ll strain your marriage,” this one will have you cry-laughing into your eggnog, because it is 100 percent REAL.

2. Best Christmas Ever

This gem starring Matt Damon and Cecily Strong is one of the best SNL skits for the holidays because it is 100 percent an accurate description of what Christmas Day is really like for parents. My laughter and tears were totally out of control watching this sketch, which flashes between two parents putting on a brave face about their wonderful Christmas Day and scenes of pre-dawn wake-ups, in-law battles, and pretending to like the ridiculous present your kids got you. Once again, it is TOO real and TOO funny!

 3. Hallmark Channel Christmas Movie Promo

Oh my word, whether you love Hallmark Christmas movies or love to hate them, this promo will have you in fits of laughter. SNL really outdoes itself with this spoof of Hallmark’s signature sappy, far-fetched, magical Christmas movie plots. Whether the heroine is dating a “young Santa” or becomes “trapped in a snow globe,” you know you’ll watch it anyway! It’s one of those things that’s funny because it’s TRUE, making it a must for this list of best SNL skits for the holidays, for sure. 

4. NPR’s Delicious Dish: Schweddy Balls

OK y’all, this is one of the most famous Saturday Night Live holiday skits from my youth, and after all these years I am STILL HERE FOR IT! I used to love, love, love this recurring sketch starting Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon as two frumpy, out-of-touch NPR hosts, and nothing beats this Christmas installment guest-starring Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy, a baker whose signature Christmas treat is balls . . . of all sorts . . . you know, popcorn balls, truffles . . . you get it. Settle in for lots of inappropriate puns and snort-laughing! It’s the best!

5. Motivational Santa

Here’s another one from my youth that I absolutely adore: Chris Farley as motivational speaker-turned-motivational Santa Matt Foley. Oh, may Chris Farley rest in peace, he gave us so many wonderful SNL memories! Here he uses his gig as a mall Santa to try and scare the youth of America straight rather than granting their Christmas wishes, and it is straight-up painfully hysterical! 

6. The Hanukkah Song by Adam Sandler

I am a huge Adam Sandler fan and this Hanukkah song Sandler wrote to help his fellow Jewish kids feel less left out during the holidays started it all for me! (And seeing Happy Gilmore seven times in the theater cemented it. LOL.) Sing it with me now: “Put on your yarmulke, it’s time to celebrate Hanukkah!” I sing this every year even though I do not celebrate Hanukkah, because it’s hilarious, catchy, and a good reminder that Christmas isn’t the ONLY holiday our fellow Americans are celebrating.

7. I Wish It Was Christmas Today

Let’s follow up Sandler’s original SNL song with another unique to Saturday Night Live: I Wish It Was Christmas Today. Horatio Sanz, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, and Tracy Morgan began performing this in 2000, and got together to perform it on the show many, many times for over a decade. They even reunited to perform it after they were no longer cast members. What’s hilarious about it (besides the lyrics) is the fact that Kattan just holds a keyboard and Morgan just dances (stonefaced!) while Sanz and Fallon make the music. It all works and rest assured: this holiday ditty will cheer you up and get stuck in your head!

There you have it, folks! The 7 Best SNL skits for the holidays curated just for you!

I hope you enjoyed this roundup and that you will look to these recent and classic skits to get you giggling if you need an extra dose of holiday cheer this season! 

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Articles by Jenny Rapson

Jenny Rapson

Jenny Rapson is a follower of Christ, a wife and mom of three from Ohio and a freelance writer and editor. You can find her at her blog, Mommin' It Up, or follow her on Twitter.