“Saturday Night Live” alum Ego Nwodim is busy setting the stage to host Christmas for the first time—live from New York—at her Brooklyn apartment.
The 37-year-old comedienne, who spent seven seasons on the iconic NBC sketch comedy series, has lived in the same apartment unit for about six years, though she revealed to Realtor.com® she’s never taken up hosting duties for such a highly anticipated holiday—until now.
“I’ll be hosting Christmas this year in New York myself, actually, and so that’s really exciting,” she shared. “It’ll be my first time hosting on Christmas Day, so I’m super excited about that and that’s top of mind for me right now.”
With just a few weeks left in December before Christmas, preparing the day’s menu currently tops the Scotch Brand partner’s to-do list.
“Just coming up with some ideas of what I can cook for everyone,” says Nwodim. “Getting dietary restrictions, like, polling my friends who’ll be spending the holidays with me, trying to understand what everyone likes and how I can please the crowd.”
If anyone knows what it takes to earn applause, it’s Nwodim. Her lineup of memorable comedic impressions and original characters introduced on “SNL” often went viral online. Nevertheless, she’s always preferred leaving the glare of the spotlight at the studio so she could head home to a minimalist-style, “sun-filled” apartment that is free of most work reminders.
“I’m so grateful for my time at SNL, [but] I’m not particularly a mementos girly,” admits Nwodim. “And because of that whole minimalist approach, I just try to keep my space as cozy as possible. Cozy is the No. 1 thing.”
If coziness is Nwodim’s top priority for her home, light and warmth rank a close second.
“Sun is huge for me and so that’s always an important thing for me when I’m trying to find a space,” she adds. “I like to say I’m like a plant in that way—which, I also have a lot of plants—because I need sunlight.”
During the winter months when there is less sunlight to enjoy during the day, Nwodim leans on a curated selection of holiday decorations to add some sparkle to her domain.
“Really simple for me is what I prefer,” she states. “I like to take a minimalist approach. I think the classic tree with some stockings and then get the scents in the home feeling really holiday-oriented. And then some lights in appropriate places, but that’ll probably be the extent of it for me.”
Nwodim notes she’s a purist when it comes to her holiday decorating timeline. She only puts out Christmas decor once the calendar officially flips to December.
“I think we need justice for Thanksgiving,” jokes Nwodim. “I love Thanksgiving. It may or may not be my favorite holiday and so, let’s let Thanksgiving have some room to breathe and be.
“I don’t start decorating for the [Christmas] holiday until December 1 at [the] earliest because I love Thanksgiving so much as a foodie specifically, and also, a person who does gratitude lists every morning.
“I’m like, ‘Let’s let Thanksgiving have its moment before we get into Christmas and get carried away.’”
Of course, a huge part of getting carried away with Christmas preparations is wrapping presents, and Nwodim points to her living room as her favorite place to take on that task.
“In the living room on the floor,” she further details. “I’ve got a nice, super plush rug that I like to sit on. I sometimes prefer sitting on the rug more than I like sitting on the couch.
“The couch is also very cozy, but they’re both—everything about my place, I think, is pretty cozy. That’s, like, the name of the game for me when it comes to home.”
In addition to making guests feel comfortable in her cozy abode, Nwodim is also hoping to impress them with her present-packing skills.
As part of her partnership with Scotch Brand, Nwodim stars in a tongue-in-cheek public service announcement cautioning gift-givers about the dreaded “Resting Gift Face” reaction: A disappointed facial expression that occurs when a recipient fails to mask their displeasure in what they’ve just unwrapped.
Nwodim admits she’s been given gifts before that require her to put on a “forced smile,” and warns regifts are often the biggest offenders.
“Anything that feels like you just wanted to get this out of your house and you did not have me in mind, you were just like, ‘I can give this to her because I don’t want it anymore,’” recounts Nwodim.
“I think any time I can tell something is a regift, I’m just a little like, ‘OK, so you didn’t want it in your house, but you wanted it to be in mine? Interesting.
“But you put on a smile, resting gift face. There’s, like, so many options there in terms of what qualifies as resting gift face, but one of them is a sort of forced smile.”
On the flipside, an item Nwodim is always happy to accept also happens to be an accessory that adds to the light and warmth in her home.
“I love a good candle with a good throw,” she says. “That’s my jam. I will never give ‘RGF’ for that ever.”
The candle connoisseur has acquired quite the collection, and even has a dedicated storage space for it inside her apartment.
“I have too many candles,” Nwodim shares. “I have, like, a little cabinet full of unused candles that I plan to use. Like, I’ve bought some of my favorite candles in bulk, and so I have a little cabinet there.
“Boy Smells De Nimes is my favorite candle, I will say,” she adds. “That’s the one I have in bulk, which, they discontinued it I’m pretty sure, so I had to stock up.”
Beyond candles in her signature scent, Nwodim has also given her seal of approval to the treasures she’s been gifted by costars from the upcoming Netflix film, ‘Little Brother.’
“I’ve received gifts on ‘Little Brother,’” Nwodim reports. “Most memorable, most recently, is Sherry Cola gave me [the] cutest little ornament that sits on top of my toaster oven in my kitchen, and Eric Andre gave me a stick of butter candle—pretty cool—so that also sits up there.
“They nailed it,” she says. “It’s a very cute reminder of them, reminders of them in my kitchen.”
When Nwodim is away from her Brooklyn apartment for work, there are a few measures she takes to recreate her home’s cozy environment.
“When I’m on set, the thing that makes it feel like home for me is making sure I have water and snacks readily accessible—that’s, like, comfy, cozy,” she describes.
“Sometimes I’ll bring my laptop, which might seem counterintuitive, but it’s reminding me of being [on] my couch. In my trailer, there often is a couch of some size.
“Kicking back in there and having comfy shoes, some type of shoe I can slide my foot into ‘cause I’m often wearing heels on set. I love a good heel, but when I’m hanging, I love to be in a good flat, so we have a good, cozy shoe usually.
“And getting the temperature just right, depending on what time of year it is.”
However, furnishings Nwodim insists she’ll never allow in any of her personal spaces are “sofas with no arms.” For her, they’re a decorative faux pas that would immediately warrant a form of resting gift face if she was ever forced to rest on one.
“Where are you going to prop your head up to take a nap on the sofa?” a puzzled Nwodim asks.
“My interior designer, we were having a conversation about things I don’t love, and I was like, ‘I need arms on my sofa,’” she shares.
Nwodim also has zero tolerance for “really uncomfortable dining chairs that are aesthetically pleasing, but you don’t want to sit in them for long.”
“Ugh, I would love for function to take precedent over form,” she argues.
Thankfully, Nwodim seems to have already mastered the craft of interior design and hosting, and has made sure her home for the holidays will be a scene worthy of rave reviews from her private audience.