Saturday Night Live is officially expanding its roster for Season 51 with the addition of five new featured players. The hires, announced today, mark the latest move in what executive producer Lorne Michaels has described as a reinvention year for the long-running NBC comedy series.
Joining the cast are Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.
Ben Marshall is a familiar face to SNL audiences: the Savannah, Georgia native joined the show’s writing staff in 2021 and has already appeared on screen as one-third of the show’s in-house comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy. As LateNighter first reported last week, of his two PDD compatriots, one is expected to say on the show’s writing team, while the other is expected to depart. (No official word on that justyet.)
Tommy Brennan, a stand-up from Saint Paul, Minnesota, joins after being named a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2023. Brennan performed stand-up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this past June.
Jeremy Culhane, from Altadena, California, is best known for his viral TikTok sketches and online comedy videos, along with his regular appearances on Dropout TV. He is also a performer with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.
Kam Patterson may be the season’s most controversial hire, mostly due to the company he keeps. The 24 year-old comic rose to fame just six months into his standup career on the “Kill Tony” podcast (where he’s now a regular) and counts its host Tony Hinchcliffe, Shane Gillis, and Joe Rogan among his biggest champions. This summer Patterson shot a part in Kevin Hart’s upcoming Netflix film 72 Hours, which happens to co-star SNL’s Marcello Hernandez. He also has a role in the upcoming David Spade and Theo Von buddy comedy Busboys. Word first leaked that Patterson was being considered for SNL late last week.
Rounding out the new additions is Veronika Slowikowska, the Canadian comic from Barrie, Ontario, whose viral sketch content on Instagram and TikTok has made her a rising star. She’s already appeared on television in Tires and What We Do in the Shadows, and now makes the leap to the SNL stage.
Last week brought the news of four cast departures ahead of Season 51 (Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, and Heidi Garder). Assuming no other exits are revealed, the addition of these five featured players will bring the show’s Season 51 cast total to 18.
Get stories like this in your inbox: Sign up for LateNighter’s free daily newsletter.
