--- title: SNL: Chris Rock Monologue Jokes About Boston Marathon Bombing description: The episode also featured a historic jam session from Prince canonical: https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-02T15:41:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:01:57.113Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Chris Rock Joke About Boston Marathon and Gun Control on 'SNL' og:description: He hosted 'Saturday Night Live' with musical guest Prince og:url: https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc99c1b6da2ab063/698763d80b72e38f606db576/chris-rock-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 40 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Chris Rock Joke About Boston Marathon and Gun Control on 'SNL' twitter:description: He hosted 'Saturday Night Live' with musical guest Prince twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc99c1b6da2ab063/698763d80b72e38f606db576/chris-rock-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Chris Rock Joke About the Boston Marathon and Gun Control on _SNL_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Chris Rock And Prince Try To Shake Up ‘SNL’ [Watch (HLS stream): Chris Rock And Prince Try To Shake Up ‘SNL’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vjdasXxx.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-11-02. 'SNL’ alum Chris Rock made his first return to the show since 1996, but critics say it wasn’t so triumphant._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 2, 2014 3:41 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 2, 2014 3:41 PM UTC 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) 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: ## Transcript Critics of Saturday Night Live, who have called the show stale in the past, may have hoped for a shake up. With edgy acts like Chris Rock hosting, and Prince as the musical guest. And the monologue made that seem likely as well. Well that Boston marathon was scary. You've been training for a year you finally get to the finish line, and somebody screams, " Run ". Rock joked not only the Boston Marathon bombings, but also about the freedom tower and gun control. But despite those controversial topics a writer for the AV club says the show still managed to fall flat. Rock's hosting gig only showcased the fact that he's. He's really not suited for sketch comedy, as he blew a shocking number of lines, and never stepped enough out of himself to inhabit any of the characters he was given. The expectations may have been even higher, considering Rock is a former cast member. And this was his first time hosting the show since 1996. But the highly anticipated Prince did not disappoint, busting out an eight minute set in the middle of the show and. Instead of two individual songs. The ever enigmatic and famously parodied musician. Game. Blouses. Played three songs in a row to an enthusiastic crowd. He grabbed headlines like this from the New York Times. Prince hijacks eight minutes on SNL. Now the show will have to wait another two weeks before any attempt to bounce back with Woody Harrelson hosting and rapper Kendrick Lamar providing the music. ```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":"2026-10-01T09:01:57.113Z","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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Chris Rock And Prince Try To Shake Up ‘SNL’","description":"'SNL’ alum Chris Rock made his first return to the show since 1996, but critics say it wasn’t so triumphant.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vjdasXxx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-02T17:24:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vjdasXxx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3553254/chris-rock-saturday-night-live/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```