--- description: The episode also featured a historic jam session from Prince title: Watch Chris Rock Joke About Boston Marathon and Gun Control on 'SNL' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc99c1b6da2ab063/698763d80b72e38f606db576/chris-rock-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Chris Rock Joke About the Boston Marathon and Gun Control on _SNL_  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 2, 2014 3:41 PM CUT  Chris Rock and Kenan Thompson on Oct. 30, 2014 on 'SNL' Chris Rock and Kenan Thompson on Oct. 30, 2014 on 'SNL'NBC—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 2, 2014 3:41 PM CUT Chris Rock hosted _Saturday Night Live_ the night after Halloween, but the veteran comedian and _SNL_ alumnus used an event happening the next day — the New York City Marathon — as an opportunity to crack a few jokes about the Boston Marathon bombing, which he called “the most frightening, sadistic terrorist attack.” (Because after 26 miles, “You get to the finish line and somebody screams, ‘Run!'”) His opening monologue, which also poked fun at the Freedom tower, the commercialization of Christmas and gun control, is above. Below, catch musical guest Prince’s [historic](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/prince-on-saturday-night-live-is-eclectic-and-on-point/?%5Fr=0 "undefined") eight-minute set — the first time in the show’s history a musical guest has departed from the format of two, shorter songs performed separately: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/"},"headline":"Watch Chris Rock Joke About the Boston Marathon and Gun Control on SNL","datePublished":"2014-11-02T15:41:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:10:09.459Z","description":"The episode also featured a historic jam session from Prince","url":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/","keywords":["Television","SNL","Saturday Night Live","Prince","Chris Rock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc99c1b6da2ab063/698763d80b72e38f606db576/chris-rock-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc99c1b6da2ab063/698763d80b72e38f606db576/chris-rock-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 40","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 40","creditText":"NBC—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/","name":"Watch Chris Rock Joke About the Boston Marathon and Gun Control on SNL"}}]}] ```