Marley may have been dead to begin with, but Ebenezer Scrooge racks up quite a kill count in the final scene of A Christmas Carol when told by Saturday Night Live. Steven Martin and Martin Short co-hosted the December 10, 2022 show and holiday spirit was definitely in the air. The show cast Short as Scrooge and Martin as the Ghost of Christmas Present. In the Dickens’ classic, Scrooge tosses money to a passerby and asks him to claim the prize turkey to bring Bob Cratchit and his family. The scene has played out in many versions and reimaginings over the decades. But this time it gets bloody. Scrooge demonstrates the dangers of tossing coins from windows, as each one embeds in an orphan’s eye or otherwise causes bloody chaos in the London streets.
There are many variations on the Christmas Carol‘s main antagonist turned protagonist. Short’s version is well-meaning but has a tragic throwing arm, and it’s hilarious.
Unless physics worked wildly differently in the Dickens era of 19th century London, a tossed coin couldn’t actually cause this kind of damage. The myth remains long after it’s been busted, a falling nickel kills a character in Nope in a very similar way. But it’s an amusing twist on the usually heart-warming moment. In the end, the skit is a joke ad for Apple Pay with the slogan “Never use coins again.”
We heard about the sketch thanks to Deadline. Thankfully, this isn’t the last time we’ll see Short and Martin team up. Only Murders in the Building will be back for season three in 2023. Selena Gomez joined the pair for another sketch that takes a beloved tale and messes it up. The parody Father of the Bride 8 movie also brought Kieran Culkin to SNL‘s stage.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.