Jack Black brought down the house on Saturday Night Live with a show-stealing musical sketch that mashed up reggae rhythms and emo melodrama in a brilliantly absurd parody of My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade.” The target? A goth kid forced to endure the tropical horrors of a family vacation.
Dressed in full goth regalia—black trench coat, combat boots, heavy eyeliner, and a jet-black wig—Black took center stage to belt out a morose anthem that opened, “When I was a young boy / My parents took me down to Jamaica / For my high school spring break…”
The punchline? “I stayed in the room with my graphic novels / So I could masturbate.”
The sketch, titled “Goth Kid on Vacation,” featured Black alongside Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim, who played upbeat Jamaican hosts trying to inject island cheer into the brooding darkness of their vacation guest. Their reggae-inspired verses hilariously clashed with the emo angst of their reluctant visitor.
“He no wear bathing suit, he wear big black jeans,” Thompson crooned.
“He want sit in the hotel lobby look at photos of his big-boned girlfriend,” Nwodim added.
Michael Longfellow starred as the titular goth teen—named Dexter—perfectly channeling adolescent misery with scenes of him sulking in the sun, painting his nails black, and getting his trench coat tangled in a hammock. He dodged beach balls with theatrical despair and grimaced through family photos, all while resisting the joy around him.
When his exasperated mom, played by Heidi Gardner, gently suggested he write some poetry on the beach, Dexter growled back: “Happiness is a disease.”
Black returned mid-sketch to deliver a climactic verse full of dramatic flair: “My shirt is staying on / I’ll do the zipline once / Please just take me home.” The chorus repeated one last time, “Goth kid on vacation,” as the music swelled and Dexter reluctantly raised a tropical cocktail, whispering: “One love.”
The sketch brilliantly skewered teen angst, vacation clichés, and music genre tropes all at once. And with Black’s unmistakable theatrical energy, it became an instant highlight from the episode.