Cecily Strongwasn’t clowning around when addressing the stigma surrounding abortion on the latest episode ofSaturday Night Live.
During theWeekend Updatesegment, the 37-year-old comedian appeared as Goober the Clown, who had a “clown abortion” the day before her 23rd birthday.
Saturday’s sketch comes after the Supreme Court heard arguments this week regarding the Texas abortion law thatbans the procedurefrom being performed after roughly six weeks of pregnancy.
“I really don’t [want to talk about this],” said Strong’s character, “but people keep bringing it up, so I gotta talk about freaking abortion!”
She later added, “I wish I didn’t have to do this, because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business. But that’s all some people in this country want to discuss all the time.”
Strong addressed the topic with a series of jokes and gags, beginning with a line about abortion statistics.
“Did you know one in three clowns will have a clown abortion in her lifetime?” the comedian asked. “You don’t because they don’t tell you. They don’t even know how to talk to other clowns about it!”
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After a failed attempt to honk a classic clown horn (“I’m not a clown,” said Strong while briefly breaking the fourth wall), the comic quipped about what some women face once inside a clinic.
“And in the waiting room, they had a little guest book where all the clowns can write their clown abortion story for the next clown to read it so she wouldn’t feel so alone!” she said before whipping out a pair of goofy eyeglasses and shouting “A-ooga!”
Strong then returned to the prevalence of abortion: “Years later, you’ll be at a dinner with a big group of clowns and one clown will go out on a limb and say she’s had an abortion. And then like eight other clowns at the table say they’ve had an abortion too because that’s how common it is!” she said.
“And then everyone is excited and relieved to be talking about it, but it’s like, ‘Wow! We kept this secret for so long despite being so grateful it happened!'” Strong added.
Jost, 39, interrupted with, “Are clowns really women?” to which Strong responded jokingly, “Wow! Okay, Colin Jost thinks women are clowns!”
“It’s going to happen, so it ought to be safe, legal and accessible,” she added in a high-pitched voice before inhaling more helium from the balloon.
“We will not go back to the alley,” she concluded. “I mean, who wants a bunch of dead clowns in a dark alley?”
source: people.com
