Rihanna & Andy Samberg In SNL Digital Short: “Shy Ronnie”

“Tip for watching ‘SNL’: don’t expect brilliance every sketch. You won’t get it. And THEN, you’ll get brillz, like ‘Shy Ronnie.’” So wrote blogger Aaron Altman during the show tonight, and I have to agree: SNL can suffer for high expectations, but Samberg’s digital shorts have the best batting average on the show — and tonight was a classic. Why Rihanna was performing before a classroom of young children with an awkward, brace-faced kid named Shy Ronnie isn’t important, it’s just that it happened. Though Rihanna’s always-stylish delivery was great (guest stars and stars in general love to cameo in these Lonely Island digital shorts — great exposure and, more importantly, they look like hella fun), it was Samberg’s restraint that made it, since we’re so used to seeing him bust violently into rap that those barely-audible whispers added a level of meta-hilarity. The whole thing was ridiculous but just this side of sublime. Watch below:

p.s. I laughed out loud in this one, too.
p.p.s. Rihanna wore chain mail during her performance of Russian Roulette. I hear it’s not the same without a gun.

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