Kathy’s back—and her coworkers still haven’t figured out how to get rid of her.
Ashley Padilla reprised one of her most memorable Saturday Night Live characters this weekend, bringing back the relentlessly irritating office worker she first introduced opposite Jack Black last April. This time, it was host John Mulaney‘s turn to deal with her.
While the original “Kathy” sketch took place in an office break room, Saturday night’s sequel moved the action to a pub, where Kathy’s coworkers had gathered for after-work drinks. Their evening quickly took a turn when Kathy showed up uninvited, announcing her presence with a familiar question: “We talking’ dranks?”
Mulaney played Dave, a coworker who proved even less patient with Kathy than Black’s character had been. As Kathy repeatedly interrupted conversations about music and Thanksgiving travel plans with questions like “We talking’ tunes?” and “We talking’ transpo?,” Dave grew increasingly exasperated, eventually convincing the group to ignore her altogether.
When that didn’t work, the coworkers briefly considered taking more drastic measures: fighting Kathy. But even that proved easier said than done.
The original sketch aired April 4, 2026, during Black’s fifth hosting stint. It featured Black, Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, and Sarah Sherman as coworkers attempting to enjoy lunch without Padilla’s socially oblivious colleague, who repeatedly inserted herself into conversations to which she hadn’t been invited.
The character caught the attention of former SNL writer Robert Smigel, who praised Padilla in an April interview with LateNighter’s Bill Carter.
“Ashley Padilla is a miracle. You can’t look away,” Smigel wrote on X following the original sketch.
“She just adds seven percent to reality, and it makes all the difference,” he told Carter, comparing Padilla’s originality as a character performer to that of Kristen Wiig.
As it turns out, Kathy predates her SNL debut.
During a September appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, Padilla revealed that she’d developed an earlier version of the character during her time at the Groundlings.
“I did Kathy a bit. I did this woman Kathy for Jack Black, but she sort of changed,” Padilla recalled, explaining that adapting her characters for SNL required adjustments to their pacing and presentation.
Saturday’s return marks Kathy’s second appearance, just over seven months after her debut.
Watch the full sketch below:
We talkin’ LateNighter?