Kam Patterson played Professor Snape from “Harry Potter” during “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live.”
Patterson’s casting as Snape is a reference to HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series, in which the previously white character is being played by Black actor Paapa Essiedu.
After being introduced by Colin Jost, Patterson’s Snape began by speaking overly formally, saying “Good evening, Mr. Jost — nah, I’m playing. I don’t talk like that, bro. It’s called code-switching. Codio switchio!”
When Jost asked how his year at Hogwarts had gone, Snape said, “Not great. We got this new kid. His name is Harry Potter, and he’s racist as hell. Harry Potter — or, the Proud Boy Who Lived — spent the whole year telling everybody that the school’s only Black teacher was secretly evil.”
Jost said, “I think he’s just worried because he knows someone’s trying to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone.” “So somebody stole something, and the number one suspect is Black Snape? They didn’t even look at the white guy in the turban. So offensive. He’s got a wizard on the back of his head,” Snape said, referencing how the villain Voldemort appears on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head at the end of the first “Harry Potter” story.
“I’m really sorry that he just jumped to conclusions like that,” Jost said. Snape replied, “All good. It happens all the time. I showed up at Hogwarts, and on the first day they looked at me and said, ‘You’re the professor of the Dark Arts.’ I never even studied that! I majored in African Muggle Studies.”
“The whole wizarding world is racist,” Snape continued. “There’s one other Black guy, Kingsley Shacklebolt, a name I’m guessing they got out of the Wu-Tang name generator. Everyone’s in these dignified robes. They dressed him up like he was selling cocoa butter incense out of a barbershop.” When Jost asked, “That’s kind of a cool outfit, right?” Snape said, “Yeah, for a Haitian cab driver. And why they got to put ‘shackle’ in his name? That’s crazy, man. Shackle? Shackle!”
Jost said, “Well, for the very first time, I’m starting to think J.K. Rowling might be problematic.”
Snape went on, “The whole wizarding world is messed up. We have magic, we have wands that can do anything, and people in my world still have slaves.” He rejected Jost’s assertion that they’re actually called “house elves.” “Yes, some folk got house elves. I bet you didn’t know they got field elves too. They didn’t put that in the book, huh, Colin?”
Patterson’s cameo concluded with Snape calling out a final message for Harry: “Your mama was thick as hell, dog. I miss her so much.”
Watch the sketch below.
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