On SNL, Colman Domingo makes hosting debut with cool vibe and plenty of laughs

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If it feels like Colman Domingo is everywhere, you’re not wrong.At a screening for the recent hit film “Project Hail Mary,” I clocked the Oscar-nominated actor in not one, but two trailers: for the upcoming biopic “Michael,” playing the pop star’s father, Joe Jackson, and for Steven Spielberg‘s sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day.”The Oscar-nominated actor might even be overdue for hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time.

In addition to all his movie and TV-show acting, he has sketch comedy experience, having spent two seasons on Logo TV’s “The Big Gay Sketch Show” almost 20 years ago.Given that, and his versatility on screen, you might think Domingo would be a natural fit for “SNL.” And you’d be right: in sketch after sketch, even in a couple that weren’t particularly great, Domingo was solidly in the groove, staying focused but loose throughout the show.Whether he played a fashion school teacher giving sassy descriptions of a crime suspect on a live news broadcast, someone who cuts hair and gives sex advice at a Black barbershop for white men, a pimp at a funeral, or an astronaut trying to record a sincere video diary, Colman hit all the right beats.He also did well with some of the more esoteric material, like a silly take on the “Dead Poets Society” free-spirited teacher trope, a science show featuring a host who keeps making people dress up as part of the set design, and an “Animorphs” parody, “Beastomorphs,” in which Domingo played a space alien villain.Add to that a very entertaining monologue and Colman proved to be an ideal host.

So what could go wrong? In the goodbyes, it sounded like Colman was about to share something very sincere, starting by saying the night was about, “All the little boys in the inner cities” before he was abruptly cut off as the broadcast ended, both on local broadcasts and on Peacock (the ...