A few weeks ago, I reported that Jay Pharoah and Taran Killam are set to leave the show for what was eventually revealed to be respective Showtime pilots for the two of them, in addition to a movie-directing gig for Killam. In the article, I raised the question of what would happen to their fictitious version of President Barack Obama. After all, despite there being only two months until the election begins, he is still a prominent figure in the news. As such, the show currently has a void that needs to be filled, satirically-speaking. As of this article's posting, no news has been reported on who would be playing the role, but speculation has been rampant.
On Monday, three new cast members were officially announced on SNL's Twitter account: Mikey Day, Melissa Villaseñor, and Alex Moffat. Mikey Day is an alumnus of The Groundlings and ImprovOlympic, two notable sketch comedy groups. In addition to appearing in several improv comedy-based unscripted programs and a few scripted live-action appearances, he has also worked for Robot Chicken and been a writer for SNL since 2013. This is not the first time that former writers have graduated to become cast members—Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Leslie Jones, and Jason Sudeikis were all writers before receiving a promotion. Day was also a co-head writer and a cast member for NBC's summer variety show Maya And Marty, featuring Maya Rudolph and Martin Short.
Here is a sample of his impressions work. Perhaps he’ll appear as Orlando Bloom in the upcoming season.
Melissa Villaseñor's story is actually quite interesting. Lorne Michaels, the pioneer of Saturday Night Live, has an entertainment company known as Broadway Video. The company has recently begun traversing into the digital comedy realm, starting with the YouTube channel Above Average Productions. In the beginning of this year, the company created a new digital comedy hub known as Más Mejor. It is unique in that it specifically makes comedy by Latino and Latina comedians. Among other videos both on Más Mejor and her personal YouTube channel, Melissa has a stunning series on the network where she shows off her fantastic range of impressions. It's called "Daily Itineraries" and it features her as a notable person, writing down a list of what they typically do. The impressions range from such people as Gwen Stefani to Sarah Silverman and Owen Wilson to even Hillary Clinton. My personal favorite episode, however, is the one on Kristen Wiig, embedded below. Even though this will likely mean the end of the "Daily Itineraries" series on Más Mejor, I can't wait to see what she does on SNL. I wish her well as well as congratulations for being the first Latina cast member!
Alex Moffat has previously worked at ImprovOlympic and The Annoyance Theatre. One of his most notable performances from the latter would be Ripper: The Musical. He appeared in the Holmesian play as Dr. Watson. He has also collaborated with Second City and even starred in an independent film called Uncle John.
I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what all these new talents can bring to the comedy table. Here's to a long and fruitful career for everyone! The forty-second season of Saturday Night Live will premiere at 11:30 pm on October 1st. More information on the upcoming season will be posted as the season develops.
Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or the Harry Potter books.
