The Art of the Squirm
It happens every December, and every time, Colin Jost looks like he’s searching for a trapdoor in the Studio 8H floor. You know the look. His face turns a specific shade of Harvard-crimson, his hand goes to his forehead, and he stares at a teleprompter card that contains a sentence designed to end his career.
When Colin Jost and Michael Che swap jokes, it isn’t just a segment. It’s a televised hostage situation where the ransom is their respective reputations.
What started as a weird little Thanksgiving one-off back in 2015 has evolved into Saturday Night Live’s most reliable viral engine. The premise is painfully simple: Che and Jost write jokes for each other that they haven't seen until they are live on air. Because Michael Che is a professional agent of chaos, he usually spends his week crafting the most racially insensitive, socially catastrophic, or personally humiliating lines possible for Jost to read. Jost, the "polite" face of Weekend Update, is then forced to deliver them with the enthusiasm of a man reading his own death warrant.
Why the 2025 "Ambush" Changed Everything
Honestly, the tradition hit a weird snag recently. In the December 2025 Christmas episode, the dynamic shifted in a way that left a lot of fans—and apparently Jost himself—genuinely stunned.
Usually, it’s a two-way street. Jost gives Che a few mild digs about his sex life or his distaste for work, and Che hits back with a "nuclear" option. But for the Season 51 holiday show, Che pulled a fast one. He told Jost they were skipping the bit entirely. He lied.
When the cameras rolled, Che announced it was time for the swap. Jost’s reaction wasn't just "pro-performer" shocked; it was "I didn’t write anything for you and now I’m the only one in the line of fire" shocked.
- The "Retire, Lorne" Moment: Che forced Jost to tell their boss, Lorne Michaels, to "retire, bitch" on national TV.
- The Wednesday Dig: In a move that truly tested the limits of the FCC, Jost had to read a joke about Jenna Ortega (the Wednesday star) that was so dark even the Studio 8H audience—usually primed for anything—gave a collective gasp.
- The Gravy Train: Naturally, Che couldn't resist bringing up Jost’s wife, Scarlett Johansson, making Jost joke about her "gravy train" hitting a wall due to menopause.
Some people on Reddit and social media hated it. They felt it was too one-sided, like watching a middle-school bully take a kid's lunch money for ten minutes straight. Others argued it was the only way to keep the bit fresh after a decade. If the swap becomes predictable, it dies. By making it an "ambush," Che restored the one thing the segment actually needs: genuine fear.
The Scarlett Johansson Factor
You can’t talk about when Colin Jost and Michael Che swap jokes without talking about Scarlett Johansson. She has become the "Final Boss" of the joke swap.
There is a specific cruelty in making a man insult a global movie star who also happens to be the mother of his child. In 2024, the show took it a step further by having the camera cut directly to Johansson in the audience while Jost read a joke about how her "Black Widow" was less impressive than Coretta Scott King.
Watching her react—sometimes with a laugh, sometimes with a genuine "oh my god" look—is the secret sauce. It reminds the audience that these aren't just characters; they’re real people with real holiday dinners that are about to get extremely awkward.
Is It Just a "Loophole" for Edgy Humor?
There’s a valid criticism that floats around comedy circles: Is the joke swap just a "get out of jail free" card?
The argument is that SNL gets to tell "canceled" jokes—stuff about race, religion, or sexual abuse—by using the "he made me say it" defense. It’s a loophole. If Jost says something wildly racist, the audience laughs because they know a Black man (Che) wrote it. It’s a layers-deep irony that shields the show from the usual backlash.
But if you ask Michael Che, he’d probably just say it’s funny to see a "pretty boy" from Harvard say things that make him want to crawl into a hole. The humor isn't really in the punchline; it's in the perspiration. The comedy comes from the 0.5-second delay where Jost processes the words, realizes how bad they are, and decides he has to say them anyway because it’s live television.
Historical Highlights (The Ones They Barely Survived)
If you're looking for the "Mount Rushmore" of terrible things these two have said to each other, you have to look at these specific eras:
- The Pandemic "Remote" Swap: In 2020, during the SNL at Home era, Che did a one-way swap because he had lost his grandmother that week. He told Jost, "Her favorite part was when we did joke swap," and then used that emotional leverage to make Jost read the most horrific jokes imaginable. Pure evil.
- The Rabbi and the Civil Rights Hero: Che has a habit of bringing "witnesses" onto the set. He once brought out a woman he claimed was a civil rights icon just to sit next to Jost while he read jokes about "the struggle." In another year, it was a Rabbi.
- The 2025 Lorne Michaels Attack: Forcing a staff member to tell the most powerful man in comedy to "retire" is a level of job-security-gambling that we haven't seen since the Norm Macdonald days.
How to Watch the Next One
The joke swap usually only happens twice a year: the last episode before the Christmas break and the Season Finale in May.
If you want the full experience, don't just watch the YouTube clips. Those are edited for "clarity." The real magic is in the dead air. It's in the moments where the audience is too stunned to laugh and you can hear the faint sound of Michael Che cackling into his sleeve.
Actionable Insights for Fans
- Watch the background: During the swap, watch the cast members in the back of the set. They’re often hearing these for the first time too, and their reactions are usually more honest than the audience’s.
- Check Michael Che’s Instagram: He often teases the "prep" for these weeks. It’s a masterclass in psychological warfare.
- Look for the "Cut" Jokes: Often, the most brutal jokes are the ones they didn't say. Following the writers on Twitter/X after the show sometimes yields "deleted scenes" that were too hot even for the swap.
Whether you think it’s a cheap gimmick or the last bastion of truly "dangerous" network comedy, the Colin Jost and Michael Che swap jokes tradition isn't going anywhere. As long as Jost is willing to be the world's most high-profile punching bag, Che will be there with a pen and a very mean idea.