Glengarry Glen Christmas: Elf Motivation

In this hilarious parody of the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin plays Winter's Breath, an intimidating elf sent from "the home office" to motivate underperforming elves at Santa's workshop. Baldwin recreates his famous "Always Be Closing" motivational speech from the film, adapting it perfectly for the Christmas setting with lines like "Always Be Cobbling." The sketch features oversized props including giant cocoa mugs, a massive gumdrop, and comically large tools. In a memorable blooper that made it to air, Baldwin accidentally says "Always Be Closing" instead of "Always Be Cobbling" - a mistake that draws genuine laughs from both the audience and his fellow cast members, as his original performance is clearly still ingrained in his memory after 13 years.

This sketch became a holiday classic and is regularly featured in SNL's Christmas specials. Baldwin famously catches himself mid-blooper and tries to correct it, making the moment even funnier. The sketch plays on the absurdity of applying high-pressure sales tactics to Santa's workshop. Many audience members appeared unfamiliar with the source material, based on subdued reactions to some of the more specific references. Duration: 4 minutes 39 seconds