A cut SNL sketch sees Dave Chappelle stretch his wings

By William Hughes | November 17, 2016 | 3:56am

Aux Features TV

Not everything makes it on to Saturday Night Live, especially after the notoriously brutal dress rehearsal that weeds out unsuccessful material early on Saturday night. That winnowing happens even on evenings when the show is unanimously declared to be on fire, as it was on last Saturday’s triumphant outing, hosted by Dave Chappelle. People desperate for cut Chappelle content are in luck, though, because NBC has posted a video that didn’t make it past dress online, allowing everybody to bask in the sheer oddball weirdness of “A Motel Painting,” featuring an appearance by Dave Chappelle: arrogant swan.

Those four words are pretty much the entire sketch: some writer clearly imagined the passive-aggressive conversations happening behind the scenes of a boring wildlife painting in an empty motel room, and just sort of ran with it. It’s pretty easy to see why the video got cut—it’s weird, but not audacious, David S. Pumpkins-level weird—but there’s still some good stuff there for anybody who’s ever wanted to hear Chappelle rip into some nervous ducks on the subject of classical ballet.