Pete Davidson is opening up about one of the most memorable moments of his Saturday Night Live (SNL) career—his first-ever sketch, which didn’t go as planned.
In the July 28 episode of Hot Ones, Davidson recalled how his first “real” sketch on the iconic TV show, featuring none other than Jim Carrey, turned into a disaster.
Davidson, 31, shared that he was beyond excited to work with Jim Carrey, a comedy legend, but the sketch—titled “Zombie Apocalypse High School”—didn’t land with the audience the way they had hoped.
The Failed Sketch: “Zombie Apocalypse High School”
Davidson explained that in the sketch, he played the zombie son of Carrey’s character, who wasn’t a zombie. While the idea sounded good in theory, things quickly went south when they performed it live.
“The sketch bombed to high heavens,” Davidson admitted. “It’s a long one, like six minutes. I’m eating d—,” he recalled, admitting that he was “eating it” in front of the live audience.
However, there was a small moment that got some laughter. Davidson mentioned a scene where he was supposed to attack Carrey, and Carrey hits him with a bat. “That got a pop,” he said.
Jim Carrey’s Attempt to Save the Sketch
Despite the sketch’s poor reception, Carrey tried to salvage the situation. Davidson explained how Carrey, being a seasoned comic, understood that the audience responded to the bat-hit moment. “Jim is a comic, so he knows if that works… so the rest of the sketch he just keeps wailing on me with this NERF bat,” Davidson said.
But the continuous hits with the bat started to hurt, and Davidson jokingly added, “At one point, as a zombie, I went ‘Argh, no more.’”
Even though Carrey did his best to save the sketch, Davidson admitted that the experience wasn’t one he looks back on fondly. “It’s online if you want to watch a 20-year-old crumble with his idol,” he said.
Davidson’s Journey on Saturday Night Live
The sketch aired as part of SNL’s 40th season in 2014, with Jim Carrey hosting and Iggy Azalea as the musical guest. Davidson was an SNL cast member for eight seasons, until 2022.
His time on the show included several iconic sketches, and he made an appearance during SNL’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2025, reprising his infamous Chad character in a digital skit.
Reflecting on His SNL Audition
Davidson also shared his emotional reaction when he was forced to watch his SNL audition for the Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. “I teared up a little bit because, you know, I’m like 20 there, so it’s before all the bad stuff happened,” Davidson admitted.
