Saturday Night Live

Sherman described Hernández as a genuine team player at SNL who includes others in his bits.

“it's really great at SNL because he is like kind of like a team player in like a real way”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Marcello Hernández (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 6:02

Sherman credits SNL with making her career and special possible.

“If I didn't have SNL, I would be a random crazy person”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Sarah Sherman (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 1:02:19

Sherman recounts that Lorne Michaels asked her to drop the stage name Squirm when she was hired, and she agreed immediately.

“we think squirm is a little distracting. And I go, say no more”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Sarah Sherman (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 58:50

Sherman says her greatest SNL anxiety is failing to find a collaborator on writing night, which she considers worse than bombing on live TV.

“Bombing trying to get someone to write a sketch with you is a fate worse than death”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Sarah Sherman (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 51:27

Poehler says Ferrell's bombed Gabe Kaplan sketch illustrates that every performer is always close to failing.

“Everyone is one thing away from bombing all the time. That's no matter who you are”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Will Ferrell (Jul 14, 2026) · Listen from 1:08:40

Poehler says Ferrell's patriotic office-worker sketch after 9/11 reassured audiences that comedy would survive.

“I remember the audience laughing and being like, oh, we're going to be okay. Okay, comedy is going to be okay”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Will Ferrell (Jul 14, 2026) · Listen from 40:14

Poehler says an innate confidence is what distinguishes successful SNL performers, and that Sherman has it.

“there is an innate confidence about you that, and I say that because I want you to know, to me, that's like the, what distinguishes people on SNL right away”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Sarah Sherman (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 29:06

Poehler argues that SNL has smartly returned to being a variety show with a wide range of voices and styles, rather than a homogenous one.

“the show has smartly remember that it is a variety show with a million different voices and different styles”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Sarah Sherman (Jun 16, 2026) · Listen from 20:56

Meyers says being head writer of SNL is the title he is proudest of.

“the thing I'm proudest of is the fact that I was the head writer on SNL”

SmartLess: "Seth Meyers" (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 46:29

Meyers praises Chris Parnell's dry, effortless delivery.

“But Chris Parnell was just a metronomic delivery system for information that he would do in a way”

SmartLess: "Seth Meyers" (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 33:40

Meyers recounts Mike Shoemaker advising him to write ensemble scenes rather than sketches built around himself.

“What you should do is you should try to think of group scenes where you can score, but it's not like a Seth sketch”

SmartLess: "Seth Meyers" (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 30:57

Meyers says Lorne Michaels should have hired him as a writer rather than as a cast member.

“Lorne made a mistake and should have hired me as a writer. He hired me. He hired me as a cast member”

SmartLess: "Seth Meyers" (Sep 28, 2026) · Listen from 29:56

Yang said his nervous system is still adjusting from the SNL schedule of working until done and then sleeping.

“my nervous system is still sort of like resetting from SNL where it just knows a work is done, then it's time to go to bed”

SmartLess: "Bowen Yang" (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 50:06

Yang said that after leaving SNL he is unlearning habits while also mourning his former life.

“I'm still unlearning so many things in a way that I am grateful for, and I also mourn how my life used to be”

SmartLess: "Bowen Yang" (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 47:44

Yang recalled having to memorize his Kim Jong-un lines in Korean because his costume glasses lacked his prescription.

“Learned the Korean, was off-book on a foreign language”

SmartLess: "Bowen Yang" (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 35:10

Yang recounted assuming SNL would never hire an effeminate Asian man, so he made his audition tape without worrying about it.

“And I was like, they'll never, ever fucking hire an effeminate, asian guy like on that show like why would they ever need that”

SmartLess: "Bowen Yang" (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 23:26

Armisen said SNL is the one show he is religious about watching live.

“The thing that I'm most religious about of like actually catching is SNL”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:25

Armisen said he refuses to name the best or worst hosts when asked in interviews.

“And people ask it like in interviews, like who's been the worst host of best? And I always keep it”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 44:35

Armisen said his connection to SNL as a viewer came largely through its musical guests, which felt like a message from Lorne Michaels.

“I really connected to the B-52s and Devo and Talking Heads”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 36:53

Armisen said that having toured in a band for years made his SNL salary feel enormous rather than low.

“Where some people would say, like, that's not a lot to get paid for your first year. I was like, are you kidding me? To me, it was so much money”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Fred Armisen (Apr 7, 2026) · Listen from 36:03

Hernández explained his blunt, teasing manner as a product of a family that never allowed him to be soft.

“My deal is that I was not given the opportunity to be soft”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Marcello Hernández (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 55:06

Hernández attributed his apparent ease on SNL to fear, saying he commits fully so that any failure happens at full intensity.

“You're just so scared of it going wrong that you're like, if it goes wrong, I'm going to go wrong swinging to the rafters”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Marcello Hernández (Oct 6, 2026) · Listen from 47:35

Padilla expresses deep admiration for Lorne Michaels.

“I just really, really admire him. I just think he's so smart”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 58:08

Padilla says she resisted online, front-facing comedy because it did not suit her, which slowed her career.

“I respect what people are doing online with the comedy. I'm not good at that”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 43:38

Jost described being SNL head writer as nightmarish because it added managing colleagues to his writing duties.

“I found it to be a really nightmarish job in a lot of ways because you're suddenly doing the same job you're doing, but you're also having to manage everyone”

SmartLess: "Colin Jost" (May 4, 2026) · Listen from 45:35

Jost said an episode he thought was a heart attack at SNL was caused by stress, lack of sleep and sugar.

“It was a combination of stress, not sleeping, and also having all this sugar”

SmartLess: "Colin Jost" (May 4, 2026) · Listen from 15:02

Anwar finds it validating that SNL stars like Spade and Sandler feared being fired, showing self-doubt is universal.

“That they were having self-doubt like that during what I thought was just the pinnacle and peak of comedy”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #656 - Fahim Anwar (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:06:40

Anwar says he chose stand-up over improv because it was the free, self-reliant route to SNL his parents wouldn't need to fund.

“So that's why I got into standup cause I wanted to get on SNL”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #656 - Fahim Anwar (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:45

McCartney said watching SNL with John Lennon during Lorne Michaels's reunion offer showed him why the show was an American institution.

“realized why everyone was massive fans of it and why it was such an American institution”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Paul McCartney (Oct 13, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:35

Garfield said the best SNL episodes are those in which the host supports the cast.

“But again, like service, I think the best episodes are when the host supports the cast”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Andrew Garfield (Sep 29, 2026) · Listen from 46:08

Ferrell says he intentionally reminded the SNL cast that the work was supposed to be fun.

“what was intentional was reminding everyone, and I'm referring to working on Saturday Night Live and that environment, reminding everyone that this is supposed to be fun”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Will Ferrell (Jul 14, 2026) · Listen from 13:13