Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character created by the American comedian Don Novello….as Sarducci is a chain-smoking priest with tinted glasses….who works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano….which is sometimes mentioned as The Vatican Enquirer, a take-off of the National Enquirer tabloid.
Novello created the character in 1973, after he purchased the outfit….which consisted of a big floppy black hat, white clerical collar and a long, red-trimmed black coat with cape….for a mere $7.50 at a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store….as the character was featured in 1970’s cartoons by the underground cartoonists Dave Sheridan and Fred Schrier….plus Father Guido appeared in person in the early 1970’s on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In….and later in the 1975 Smothers Brothers TV show….while his most prominent appearances were on Saturday Night Live in the late 1970’s….during which time Novello was also a writer for the show.
In the late 1970’s, Father Guido Sarducci was featured on radio commercials for High Times magazine…. where he offered to perform blessings for a fee…..then on his first appearance on Saturday Night Live is when he was in a skit called “How to Pay for Your Sins” on a 1978 episode hosted by Richard Dreyfuss…. as most of his appearances on SNL have been on Weekend Update….including one where he reported that “The take at the shrines in Italy has gone down”…..which he suggested correcting by creating “Shrinemobiles”….and thus taking the shrines to where the people were…..and then there was the skit where he is sent to London to try to wake up Paul McCartney at 4:30 in the morning (11:30 in New York) by throwing coins….while obnoxiously singing The Beatles and Wings songs….as seen in this video herewith….and finally, throwing a rock at the window….when he says “works every time”.
