Elon Musk is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight, and you should watch. Musk, who’s been described as a cross between Thomas Edison and Ironman, always fascinates, no matter what he does. And the combination of Musk and the 46-year-old series that gave countless comedy icons their start should be memorable.
When he takes the stage tonight, it will be a noteworthy moment for entrepreneurs–the first time SNL has a host who’s there because he’s the founder or CEO of a major company (actually two major companies and several smaller ones). Donald Trump hosted twice, in 2004 and again in 2015, but the first time around he was there to promote The Apprentice and the second time he was running for president.
In case that’s not a good enough reason to watch, here are some more:
1. Musk will probably do something unexpected.
This tweet seems to suggest that he intends to do something other than whatever was planned and rehearsed. But even if it was just a joke, one thing we all know about Musk is that he doesn’t have much of a filter. He smoked pot in Joe Rogan’s podcast, has broken down in tears during interviews more than once, and caused himself some headaches by calling an analyst’s question boring in the middle of an earnings call. What will he do this time?
2. Some of the sketches may be his own ideas.
He’s asking his 53 million Twitter followers for suggestions.
He’s also tossed out some ideas of his own, and some of them sound like they could be funny: Woke James Bond, Baby Shark Tank (a mashup of Baby Shark and Shark Tank), Irony Man, who defeats villains with the power of irony, and The Dogefather.
3. Musk will probably mention Dogecoin.
Speaking of Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency inspired by the Shiba Inu dog “Doge” meme, the odds seem high that Musk will mention it sometime tonight. He’s called it his “fav” cryptocurrency and eager buyers have driven up the price ahead of tonight’s show. They probably recall how a one-word tweet from Musk helped ignite the GameStop stock craze back in January.
When fans surrounded Musk on a New York City street and fired questions at him, one asked, “Are you going to do a lot of Doge jokes?” Musk replied, “I won’t say.”
4. Musk might sing with Miley Cyrus.
All right, probably not. Musk can’t carry a tune, as this video of him singing “My Little Buttercup” with his brother Kimbal makes painfully clear. Cyrus is tonight’s musical guest and the two have been joking around about trips to the moon on Twitter. When a fan of one or both tweeted a picture of Musk riding a wrecking ball–a reference to Cyrus’ hit song and video “Wrecking Ball”–he tweeted back “Might be something there haha.” So you never know.
5. Musk might even do an impression.
When a fan asked him if he would do an impression, Musk hesitated, then said, “I mean…do I seem like an actor?” Note that he answered the question with a question. He didn’t say no.
The fact that Musk doesn’t seem like an actor is exactly why we love him so much. He clearly likes being in the spotlight and is comfortable in front of a crowd, but he’s the opposite of a polished performer. With him, it always feels like what you see is what you get. When the Cybertruck window shattered during a live demo, his reaction–“Oh my f—ing God!”–was pure Musk, immediate and genuine.
That kind of spontaneity combined with live television and a four-decades-old comedy show that loves nothing more than to surprise the audience? I’m watching. What about you?