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Watch 'SNL' makeup crew transform Kate McKinnon in 4 minutes

The comedian transforms from Attorney General Jeff Sessions into a creepy mermaid in the time it takes most people to get a cup of coffee.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

"Saturday Night Live" crew members have the exquisite timing of a bomb-disposal squad. As was shown in this December video where stagehands expertly break down a set in just two minutes, speed matters when you're live from New York.

There wasn't a new "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, but on Monday, the NBC sketch-comedy show shared another behind-the-scenes video showing off the crew's crack timing. This occasion, it was the makeup artists' time to shine.

On the March 11 episode, actress Kate McKinnon left the stage made up as Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Over the course of one four-minute commercial break, the makeup artists had to transform her from Sessions into a disturbing mermaid named Shud.

As with the set-breakdown video, the crew all know exactly what to do, and manage to stay out of each other's way while completing their own tasks. McKinnon's Sessions wig comes off, and a grotesque chin-and-nose prosthesis goes on her face, blended with makeup to match her own skin. By the time she sneaks off to the set of the mermaid sketch, sporting weirdly melty hands and a seaweed-covered costume, it's hard to believe there was ever a time constraint on the look.

"To be fair, it doesn't take much to transition from Jeff Sessions to a sea monster," cracked YouTube commenter TRCizzle.

"Saturday Night Live" will return with live shows on April 15 with Jimmy Fallon hosting, and will debut its new simulcast, meaning the show will air live in all mainland US time zones. Chris Pine will host May 6, Melissa McCarthy May 13, and Dwayne Johnson will host the season finale May 20.

According to NBC, the show is averaging 11 million viewers weekly, making this its most-watched season in 24 years. Political sketches, including Alec Baldwin as President Donald Trump, McCarthy as Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and McKinnon as Sessions, have earned the show plenty of publicity.

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