Stefon

Stefon Meyers (né Zolefsky^[3]), simply referred to as Stefon, is a character played by Bill Hader on Saturday Night Live who appeared as the New York City correspondent for Weekend Update with Seth Meyers, created by Hader and former SNL writer John Mulaney. Meyers introduced Stefon as a guide who knows all about New York and asks him for tips on essential destinations and events for visitors. Stefon recommends unusual clubs and parties with bizarre characters and very specific tastes, described as "visions a dying gay man would have if he was under too many blankets,"^[4] "nightmares of a crystal meth addict," or a "coked-up gay Candyland."^[5][6]

Production

Stefon's segments were inspired by real people Hader and Mulaney had encountered, including an email Mulaney had received recommending parties and other points of interest to him, and a barista at a coffee shop that Hader met who looked and talked like Stefon.^[7] Stefon's last regular appearance on SNL was on May 18, 2013, owing to Bill Hader's leaving the show. This episode is when Seth Meyers would realize how much he actually loved Stefon and would "marry" Stefon as part of the Weekend Update comedy skit.

Often Hader can be seen suppressing fits of laughter (known as breaking), as some of the more outlandish descriptions are new to him. Hader, on late-night TV interviews, said that this happens with such frequency because changes are often made to the script up until the live show, and frequently Hader doesn't see the final cue cards until the live broadcast. As a result, some of the more outrageous things that Stefon says are relatively or completely new to Hader. "I have not gotten through a single Stefon update without breaking," Hader says. "I'm still working on it."^[8]

On an episode of Comedy Bang Bang, Mulaney describes the writing process he and Hader use for Stefon. Mulaney will change the cue cards between the dress rehearsal and live broadcast, meaning Hader has little more knowledge of the script than the studio audience does. Mulaney said that over time, it has become something of a challenge for him to see how much he can make Hader break by changing the jokes.^[9]

After being unable to perform the character without breaking for two and a half years, Hader successfully remained in character as Stefon during the season finale of the show's 36th season, with host Justin Timberlake. However, this appearance was much briefer than his others, with his appearance only lasting about 30 seconds. According to Hader, it is "completely ironic" that he played a character like Stefon, because he dislikes clubs and other "loud place[s]" so he avoids them.^[10]

When Meyers' Late Night premiered on February 24, 2014, a Stefon Matryoshka doll with a veil embellishment, originally hand-crafted by Matryoshka artist Irene Hwang and commissioned for a crew holiday gift, was unveiled as part of the decor of Meyers' desktop.^[11][12]

Personality

Stefon is a flamboyantly gay "city correspondent" for Weekend Update. He appears to be always nervous, as indicated by how he can never keep his hands still and constantly rubs them together. Stefon always touches his face and hair, and it seems like he has frequent anxiety attacks. A possible explanation for this is his excessive consumption of recreational drugs.^[7] Stefon is very knowledgeable about parties and nightclubs featuring very bizarre themes and characters, which he recommends when host Seth Meyers asks for suggestions for tourists, much to Meyers' frustration. Stefon is apparently infatuated with Meyers; he expresses disappointment when Meyers mentions his girlfriend, and has stated that he envies Meyers' mother for changing his diapers as a child.

According to the May 7, 2011, episode of Saturday Night Live, his mother is named Ms. Stefon, and his father is David Bowie. In the October 20, 2012 episode, he revealed that he has a son, as well as a dog named Bark Ruffalo. He lives in a trashcan outside the RadioShack at 23rd and 7th. Stefon wears gaudy Ed Hardy shirts, multiple rings, and an asymmetrical, highlighted haircut.^[13]

Format

Stefon, the City Correspondent on Weekend Update, is introduced by Seth Meyers and is asked for recommendations for tourists. Stefon’s dialogue always begins with “New York’s hottest club is …” and then he starts listing the outlandish patrons that you can meet at this club. He is frequently interrupted by Seth Meyers, who asks for more family-friendly destinations, but Stefon only continues talking about increasingly ludicrous New York clubs with suggestively descriptive names (Crease, Gush, Push, Booooooooof ["with nine O's"], Spicy, Kevin?, Whimsy, Your Mother and I Are Separating, PANTS!, et al.).

Security, entertainers, and clientele at the venue are surreal, implied to be from hyper-specific or obscure subcultures, which an impressed Stefon usually introduces by complimenting "this place has everything". Bouncers include: jacked-up homeless guys in period swimming costumes, Hobocops (homeless RoboCops), a bulldog who looks like Wilford Brimley, and a rabbi who looks like Joaquin Phoenix. Passwords for some of the clubs include "My wallet? YEEEEAH, RIGHT!" ("the last words of murdered blues legend Sweet Willie Walker") and "Diabetes" (said in a Wilford Brimley voice). When mentioning the club's typical patrons, he lists outlandish characters such as screaming babies in Mozart wigs, Puppets in disguise, an Albino who looks like Susan Powter, Puppets practicing Karate, sunburned drifters with soap bubble beards, and groups of guys with afros in graduation caps. Underground celebrities to be found at the venues include Blingo (Black Ringo), Jewish Dracula Sidney Applebaum, nine-year-old Tokyo pimp Ichi Yakaguro <ref name="test.,^[14] and 300-pound Chinese baby deejay DJ Baby Bak Choy.^[15]

When describing the club’s attractions, Stefon repeatedly uses vague faux pop culture portmanteaux and slang terms including "Jewpids" (Jewish Cupids), "Furkels" (fat Urkels) and "Teddy Graham people" ("...when a guy has the stumpy arms but with the belly"). Stefon also frequently mentions objects personified by midgets ("human fanny packs," "human traffic cones," "human fire hydrants," "human boomboxes," "human suitcases," "human kites", "human R2-D2s", "human piñatas", "human Roombas" (also called "Hoombas") and "human Magic 8 balls."). When Seth Meyers pointed out in one segment that the term "midget" was politically incorrect, Stefon corrected himself and referred to them as "Fun-Sized". The club owners Stefon describes are almost always malapropisms of famous celebrities' names, e.g., Snoozin Lucci, Jew Diamond Phillips, Tranderson Cooper, Baloney Danza, Fat Sajak, Gay Liotta, Gay Dunaway, Tranny Oakley, D-bag Chopra, and Blow J. Simpson. His style comes close to absurdist humor, mocking New York City's notorious Club Kid scene. In the November 10th, 2012 episode, hosted by Anne Hathaway, Stefon did not appear, but Hathaway made a joking reference to playing him.

Final regular appearance and guest appearances

Stefon made his last recurring Weekend Update appearance on Season 38 Episode 21 on May 18, 2013. After Stefon's usual comment on "New York's hottest club", Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers again criticized his recommendations, making Stefon flee out of NBC Studios to get married. Seeing the error of his ways, Seth goes after him to the wedding at the New York Garden Church on Fifth Avenue only to find out that Stefon is getting married to Anderson Cooper. Seth goes in after Stefon and takes him away from the wedding back to Studio 8H, where they proclaim their love for each other. The wedding guests included Black George Washington as the minister, a puppet in disguise (ALF in a trenchcoat), human traffic cones and a human fire hydrant, HoboCops, Jewpids, infamous gay running back Blowjay Simpson, a group of guys with afros and graduation caps, grown men in wedding dresses, jacked homeless guys in period bathing suits, Gizblow the coked-up Gremlin, Furkel, evil chef Wario Batali, Germfs (German Smurfs), Sidney Applebaum the Jewish Dracula, a screaming geisha, Hanukkah cartoon character Menorah the Explorer, and DJ Baby Bak Choy. Ben Affleck makes a cameo appearance reprising his role as Stefon's brother, David Zolefsky.^[16]

Stefon returned to the Weekend Update desk in a guest appearance along with Amy Poehler to wish Seth Meyers good luck in his final Weekend Update, as Meyers prepares to become the new host of Late Night. Stefon's jokes included that the world (outside of SNL) "has everything...", such as homeless weightlifters that look like The Croods, Japanese daredevil YOLO Ono and human DVRs, to which Stefon replied "It's that thing where a midget sits on your TV and tells you what happened on Scandal. And like a regular cable box, it goes down all the time". Before Seth's final Weekend Update goodbye, he acknowledged Stefon as his husband. In this appearance, Hader again broke character after the human DVR joke.

As part of Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary Special, Edward Norton appeared as Stefon during the special's 40th anniversary-themed Weekend Update. Feeling like Norton was failing his impression, Stefon appeared to try guide him into doing the correct hand gestures. After that, Seth Meyers appeared behind both Norton and Stefon and mentioned briefly their unnamed children.^[17][18]

Saturday Night Live appearances

Appearances outside of Saturday Night Live

In December 2011, Hader (as Stefon) and Seth Meyers made an appearance at A Funny Affair for Autism benefit.^[20][21]

See also

• Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 2008–2009

References

External links

• Stefon - SNL Exclusives
• Hulu Video
• EW.com: Complete list of Stefon's clubs