Celebrity
This “Bill Hader Dancing” Trend Is Going Viral On TikTok
The “Alan” Saturday Night Live sketch has been given new life.
If Bill Hader dancing in a glass box has taken over your newsfeeds, you’re not alone. A clip of the comedian dancing from a 2015 Saturday Night Live sketch has gone viral on TikTok, and it’s the feel-good meme of the summer. Curious fans who aren’t versed in Hader’s SNL canon may be wondering: Where did this come from?
In the sketch, titled “Alan,” Hader is delivered to unsuspecting castmates Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam in a glass box, a source of “casual entertainment.” He dances and makes a range of silly facial expressions while Bayer and Killam try to figure out exactly what he is. “I’m not against Alan, I just don’t know what it is,” Killam says, sighing, as Bayer lists the different modes to set Alan in. The Alan is eventually revealed to be a dancing cyborg in a dead man’s body, but the couple decides to keep Alan despite this.
The sketch was originally cut for time, but a dancing Hader has been given new life thanks to The Internet, with fans flocking to the original YouTube video’s comments in praise of the clip. “7 years into the future and Alan is casually entertaining people as a viral meme lol,” one person wrote. “Literally the future of entertainment,” another joked about the sketch’s now-meta quality.
Hader’s tenure at Saturday Night Live lasted from 2005 to 2013, and he most recently portrayed hitman Barry Berkman in the HBO series Barry. The Alan meme is a gleeful departure from Barry, filling the void for Hader fans.
The trend took off in June courtesy of a TikTok from user @lordtoasterstrudel. “When the depression starts to sound like some Starbie’s, hair dye, and Target is the answer,” they captioned the now-viral clip, which has more than 2 million likes and was edited to Hader dancing in Starbucks and Target to the song “Makeba” by French artist Jain.
The “Bill Hader Dancing Trend” features clips of him dancing through life’s many moments. From plans getting canceled and getting ready for Halloween to ordering takeout and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alan’s breezy dance moves and carefree attitude have you covered.
Hader has yet to respond to the new life TikTok gave the Alan.
