Pat O'Neal Riley is an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1990 to 1994. The character was later featured in the film It's Pat. The central humorous aspect of sketches featuring Pat is the inability of others to determine the character's gender.
Background Sweeney has said, "I'd been an accountant for like five years, and there was one person I worked with in particular who had a lot of mannerisms like Pat. This person sort of drooled and had the kind of body language of Pat. I started trying to do him. I was testing it out on my friends and they were just like, 'Yeah, it's good, but it doesn't seem like a guy that much.' Then I discovered this girl (I think) that lived in my apartment complex, and also was chubby with very curly black hair and thick glasses, and seemed to always wear those western shirts with the snaps. I thought my original idea of the character being in drag couldn't quite pull off convincingly enough. So seeing the girl that was so similar inspired the ambiguous sexuality, and I thought, maybe that's the joke. I'll just have one joke in here about how we don't know if that's a man or a woman just to sort of cover up for my lack of ability to really play a guy convincingly."
Physical appearance Pat O'Neill Riley is fat, has short, curly black hair, and wears thick glasses. Pat typically wears a light-blue pearl-snap Western-style shirt with tan slacks.
In creating the character, actress Sweeney colored her lips beige, and colored in her eyebrows, to create the character's sex-ambiguous appearance.
The final look was inspired more by the girl in her apartment complex than the man she worked with, though many of the mannerisms were more inspired by the man she worked with. The identity of the man she worked has not been revealed, but the girl who inspired the look is said to be named Laura Joseph, a computer programmer for Hughes who lived in the same apartment complex.
Sketches The sketches always revolve around the gag of Pat's unrevealed gender: the name "Pat" can be short for "Patricia", a female name, or "Patrick", a male name. The celebrity guests on the show play everyday people who encounter Pat, and who then try to discern Pat's gender, without being so rude as to actually ask outright. Pat remains oblivious, and endlessly frustrates the questioners with answers that leave Pat's gender vague.
Pat often makes statements that seem to reveal a gender, only to then immediately confuse things again. A typical example might be, "Sorry if I'm a little grumpy, I have really bad cramps... I rode my bike over here, and my calf muscles are killing me!". Some jokes would be a bit more buried, such as Pat remarking "In high school I did well in drama, especially when I played the role of Peter Pan!" (Many theatrical productions of Peter Pan feature a woman in the title role.) In another sketch, Pat tells Kevin Nealon that the name is Pat Riley (like the coach of the Lakers), only to add, "but there's one big difference between me and him... I never coached a professional basketball team. That's my little joke!"
Other gags include Pat's attempts at humor, which serve to confuse everyone further: when asked what "Pat" is short for, the character replies, "Pat is short for P-a-a-a-a-a-t!"
Pat's first appearance: Pat at the Office (December 1990) "Pat" debuted on December 1, 1990 (Season 16, Episode 7), with John Goodman hosting. In the sketch, Bill (Kevin Nealon) is thanking a friend over the phone for his new job, then asks whether Bill's supervisor is a man or a woman. Before he gets an answer, he has to hang up when Pat enters. Bill asks, "Do you have a boyf... girl... Are you married?" Pat explains that Pat's planned marriage to Chris fell through, because Chris got involved with Terry. (This answers nothing since Chris is an androgynous name and, and Pat could be saying "Terry" or "Teri".) Next Bill says he's trying to decide what to watch tonight: either a Giants-49ers game, or Murphy Brown. Pat states an inability to help on that matter, having rented a film: Tootsie. Bill's last effort, when they agree to go to lunch together, is to learn whether Pat has a wallet or a purse; Pat wears a fanny pack.
It's Pat: Pat's Significant Other (February 1991) Aired February 16, 1991 (Season 16, Episode 13). Again at the office, Roseanne Barr played Sue, who meets co-worker Pat. Dana Carvey, dressed androgynously, plays Pat's love interest Chris, and Nealon reprised his role as Bill.
It's Pat: Pat at the Drugstore (April 1991) Aired April 13, 1991 (Season 16, Episode 17). Catherine O'Hara played a drugstore clerk, who tries to help when Pat asks for disposable razors. O'Hara asks whether they would prefer a pink or blue package, but Pat says they will take whichever is cheaper. Next, they need a lotion for after shaving. The clerk offers a "bracing tonic" (for a man) or a "soothing lotion" (for a woman). Pat asks for Vaseline Intensive Care. The clerk says, "Yes, everybody likes that." Next, Pat asks the increasingly nervous shop-woman for some antiperspirant. O'Hara, overwrought, asks, "Roll-on or spray?" Pat asks what is on sale. "Secret", O'Hara says with faux joviality. "Strong enough for a woman, but made for a man" (transposing the slogan, "Strong Enough for a Man, Made for a Woman"). Pat makes one last purchase, for condoms; yet before O'Hara can draw the conclusion that Pat must be male, they proclaim, "I think contraception is the responsibility of both partners. What can I say? I'm a very sexual being!" The sketch ends when the clerk swoons out of sight behind her counter.
Sweeney wrote on her website, "I lerve Catherine O'Hara!!!! I think I was as giddy to meet her as is possible for me. She was great fun on the show and in this sketch."
It's Pat: Pat Goes to the Barber (May 1991) Aired on May 18, 1991 (Season 16, Episode 20). When Pat goes to get a haircut, the hairdresser (George Wendt), has no idea whether to administer a male or female style. The stylist asks which magazine Pat would like to read, naming gender-specific titles (Sports Illustrated and Glamour). In response, they ask for People. When they say the haircut is to look good for a party, the barber asks what they'll be wearing, and they respond "Black". The barber attempts to find out Pat's sex by pointing to different prices for men and women displayed on the wall, but Pat simply gives him $20 and tells him to keep the change.
Julia Sweeney wrote, "Christine Zander and I wrote this sketch about Pat – personally I think this is the very best one of all the Pat sketches. Pat goes into a barbershop to get a haircut and the barber is confused – is it going to be a man's cut or a woman's?"
It's Pat: Birthday Party (October 1991) Aired on October 12, 1991 (Season 17, Episode 3). Co-workers Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Phil Hartman, and Kevin Nealon give Pat a surprise birthday party. As they chat, Nealon asks whether Pat has a biological clock; Siobhan says, "I think you'd make a really great moth... fath... role model," but Pat tells them about a dysfunctional family and unhappy childhood. Hartman makes the next attempt: "Pat, would you say that you are more like your mother or your father?", but they reply, "I'm a perfect combination of both!" One of their estranged parents (Kirstie Alley), also androgynous and named Francis or Frances, comes into the party; when Nealon asks about Pat's birth, again there are only ambiguous answers, as well as the parent saying "I had to be both mother and father to you ever since (Jean or Gene) ran off with...that thing". The co-workers start to sing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow, but have to change "he's" to "Pat's". Chris Rock had a minor role as a messenger.
It's Pat: Pat Goes to the Gym (or Physical Evaluation) (November 1991) Aired November 16, 1991 (Season 17, Episode 6). Linda Hamilton was the host in this episode, in which Pat decides to join a gym. Gym employee Andrea (Hamilton) cannot figure out their sex, so, filling in the application form, she asks for "age? ... height? ... sex?" and looks up hopefully. Pat says, "'Yes, please!' [stuttery laugh] That's my little joke." When they are asked for a middle name, the eager audience then finds out that the middle name is "O'Neill", again continuing the joke. (Pat never uses the middle name, as it is "embarrassing".) Andrea keeps trying: "Would you say that you're in good health? Do you have regular periods..." When Pat stares at her, Andrea hurriedly finishes, "... of activity?" Andrea tries again: "What kind of body are you going for? I mean, do you want a muscular V-shape?" (That would suggest Pat is male.) "Or something a little more curvy?" They reply, "Well, I just saw the movie Return to the Blue Lagoon. I'd sure like a body like that!" Andrea does not know whether they are referring to Milla Jovovich or Brian Krause. Andrea and fellow gym employee Ron (Tim Meadows) ask Pat which of them they would be more attracted to; Pat objects to the question; they suggest that Pat should go to the locker room. Just as the audience is about to see whether they enter either the men's or the women's, Kevin Nealon as a TV news anchor on Weekend Update interrupts with a Special Report alert. Upon returning to the Pat sketch, Andrea and Ron are laughing, with Andrea saying, "I guess our question is finally answered!", but only the studio audience might have seen which door Pat entered; the television viewer is still in the dark.
It's Pat: Rob Morrow (January 1992) Aired on January 11, 1992 (Season 17, Episode 10) with Sweeney playing alongside Kevin Nealon as Bill, host Rob Morrow as Frank, Victoria Jackson as Dina, Dana Carvey and Mike Myers as guests, and Phil Hartman as the Narrator.
It's Pat: Pat's Interrogation (April 1992) Aired April 11, 1992 (Season 17, Episode 17). In honor of having Sharon Stone as the host, Pat is brought in for a Basic Instinct interrogation process. The interrogators are played by Chris Farley, Dana Carvey, and Phil Hartman. The questions are sexual in nature: "Did you and Chris play any kind of games in bed?" Pat replies, "Role reversal! We felt it kept the relationship alive!" When asked, "Which one of you put on the condom?", Pat says, "We put it on together." Hartman asks, "if you were a baby, what color would your Pampers be, pink or blue?" Pat sounds surprised: "Diapers were all white back then!" Interrogator #2 (Carvey, who usually played Chris) begins to rant: "You're lying, Pat, you're lying! You're not telling the truth, and by God I'm gonna find out! You're not telling the truth, Pat, I'm gonna figure you out! I'm gonna figure you out!"
It's Pat: Pat Looks for a Roommate (Oct. 1992) Aired October 10, 1992 (Season 18, Episode 3). The SNL cast wrote a spoof of the 1992 film Single White Female, in which Melanie Hutsell as Hedra, using a wig to look androgynous, plays a new roommate who becomes obsessed with wanting to look like and be like Pat. Other characters are played by David Spade as a prospective tenant who flees, Joe Pesci as Graham Knox, and Dana Carvey as Pat's love interest Chris.
Graham tries to warn Pat about Hedra, but they cannot understand why anyone would obsess. "Well, maybe she's in love with you. Maybe she's gay. Or, or straight. Or bi." Hedra enters, wearing the same clothes, glasses, and short curly hair as Pat's. Graham says, "Just look at the two of you. You look like bro... sist... twins."
It's Pat: Christopher Walken (October 1992) Aired October 24, 1992 (Season 18, Episode 4). Pat is hired by a new firm. Carl (Walken), an account executive, has returned to work from needing a leave for psychiatric problems. As the co-workers gather in the office, he expresses his extreme perplexity and discomfort around Pat to Phil Hartman. At last he is driven insane by the enigma of Pat and dives out the window.