This is about to be a huge weekend for Saturday Night Live.
Who would’ve thought that in order to really get people fired up, the long-running sketch comedy show just needed to bring back someone that they hired and then fired in a matter of just one week?
For those that don’t know, comedian Shane Gillis was actually announced as an SNL cast member back in 2019. He was then fired (canceled) less than a week later after some “offensive” material was dug up in some of his past work. A standup had some “offensive” material… shocker.
Losing out on Saturday Night Live should have been devastating for Gillis’ career, but ironically, it actually had the exact opposite effect. His “cancellation” catapulted him into stand-up stardom, and Shane is now one of the premiere comedians in the business, especially with the younger demographic. And if you’ve watched his latest special, Beautiful Dogs, you know it’s well warranted.
So now that he’s coming back to host SNL, this meme pretty much covers the entire situation:
Saturday Night Live always pushes a lot of marketing material out the week of the show, and you can usually tell that the show itself is getting more attention that the promos with how the jokes in them usually land.
I’ll admit that I’m an SNL fan, and have been for quite some time. I might be out on an island when I say this, but I’ve always just assumed that the marketing stuff the week before won’t be all that great. After all, the writers are trying to churn out over an hour worth of content in a short period of time.
But call it the “Shane Gillis Effect” if you want to, because their first swing at a promo for his hosting gig this Saturday was funnier than any of the rest I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s weird, zany, awkward, and hilarious, so in other words… Shane Gillis had a lot to do with it.
Check out the clip of “Shane Gillis prepping his monologue” below:
Yeah, I’m counting down the days until Shane Gillis graces the stage of Studio 8H. It appears that his style of comedy is already bleeding through, so I’m excited to see how the rest of the show goes with him at the helm.
I’m particularly looking forward to his monologue, and whether or not he’ll address his 2019 hiring and firing.
Many SNL fans have been quick to point out that this whole situation with Gillis is somewhat similar to when the sketch show fired the late great Norm MacDonald, then brought him back to host the show a little over a year after they told him he wasn’t funny enough to be on the cast.
In classic Norm fashion, he did this with his SNL monologue:
