Sitcom actors, Taskmaster
contestants, Edinburgh Fringe Festival winners and familiar panel show faces
are among the stars who will appear on the British version of Saturday Night
Live.
The six-episode series, based on the long-running US
variety show, will launch on 21 March, broadcaster Sky has confirmed.
Eleven up-and-coming names from the UK comedy and
entertainment circuit will feature on the show, including Emma Sidi, Ania
Magliano, Larry Dean, Ayoade Bamgboye and Paddy Young.
Celeste Dring, Annabel Marlow, George Fouracres,
Hammed Animashaun, Al Nash and Jack Shep complete the regular weekly cast.
Like the US version, Saturday Night Live UK will feature a celebrity guest host every week, as well as a music star who will perform live.
In a press release, Sky said the show will be
"re-imagined through a distinctly British lens", adding that writers
for the series will be announced soon.
Lead producer James Longman said: "The UK is
absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast
represents the freshest voices we have, they're bold, exciting and of course,
incredibly funny.
"The chemistry between them is something special
and we can't wait to share this funny group of people with the world."
Saturday Night Live UK will be the first British
incarnation of NBC's late-night comedy showcase, which has been running since
1975. It was created by Lorne Michaels, who will serve as executive producer on
the UK spin-off.
In keeping with its US counterpart, Saturday Night
Live UK will be written and rehearsed in the week of each show, before being
performed live in front of a studio audience.
Episodes traditionally feature an opening monologue as
well as topical sketches, live music, and a satire of the week's news called
Weekend Update.
Sky said the show's arrival would end the long wait
for UK audiences to hear a new spin on the famous opening line - "Live
from London, it's Saturday Night!"
Here is the cast in
full, and what they've said about joining Saturday Night Live UK:
Hammed Animashaun
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Hammed Animashaun, from East London, is known for BBC
comedy series Black Ops, while his stage credits include the Bridge Theatre's
production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"I think of myself as an actor first and
foremost," he explained. "I've done a lot of theatre. That's my first
love so I feel very much at home on the stage and performing live. Transferring
that experience over to live comedy is something I'm really excited for."
Ayoade Bamgboye
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Hailing from Lagos and London, Bamgboye is known for
her Edinburgh Fringe show Swings and Roundabouts, for which she won the
festival's best newcomer prize, as well as Channel 4 comedy Rise and Shine with
Channel 9.
"I was in advertising, and I decided to quit my
job and try comedy for a year," she recalled. "My journey in comedy
since then has been such a series of blessings and serendipitous moments."
Referring to Saturday Night Live, she said:
"There's no better training ground. I'm maybe three, four years into
comedy, and it just feels like the perfect place to accelerate my
learning."
Larry Dean
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Born in Glasgow, Dean's stand-up credits include
appearances on Live at the Apollo and The Royal Variety Performance 2024.
"There have been so many people who have appeared
on Saturday Night Live, either as hosts or part of the cast that are my comedy
heroes like Jim Carrey, Richard Pryor, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey," he said.
"It's always been my dream to do acting and
stand-up, so this is exactly what I want to be doing."
Celeste Dring
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Wolverhampton-born Dring is best known for BBC
comedies Lazy Susan and This Country, in which she appeared as recurring
character Kayleigh Hudson.
"I'd done a lot of more serious plays at uni but
I was always a lover of comedy and decided to give it a crack after I
left," she recalled.
"Freya Parker and I started performing as a
double act, Lazy Susan, going to Edinburgh Fringe and doing shows there. And
from there we got our own radio show and eventually sketch comedy show on
TV."
George Fouracres
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Another cast member from Wolverhampton, Fouracres
appeared in the recent Netflix drama film Steve, and appeared in a production
of Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe.
"I've been in love with Saturday Night Live since
forever," he recalled. "Seeing clips of SNL in the US I always
thought, 'I wish we had that. Why don't we have something like that?' So the
fact that we do now, and I get to be part of it, blows my tiny mind."
Ania Magliano
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Hailing from Buckinghamshire and citing "Ross
from Friends" as her comedy hero, Magliano is best known for appearances
on Taskmaster and Live At The Apollo.
"I love performing stand-up, but the chance to
work collaboratively with other amazing comedians was a huge draw for me,"
she said. "And honestly, being part of SNL UK is just incredibly
cool."
Annabel Marlow
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Annabel Marlow, whose hometown is Henley- on-Thames,
has previously appeared in Six the Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe, and a
Leicester Curive production of Muriel's Wedding.
"I actually have an old fan account from 2016 I
used to run on social media that was dedicated to being obsessed with Saturday
Night Live," Marlow revealed. "SNL combines everything I love. I'm
excited to create characters and hopefully write some music as well."
Al Nash
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
He might have appeared on Michael McIntyre's Big Show,
but Buckinghamshire-born Nash jokes that he is also well known for simply being
an "Instagram heartthrob".
"I started the comedy society at the University
of Sussex, which birthed a sketch group that I wrote and directed multiple
Edinburgh Fringe shows for," Nash explained. "I then started
performing live myself in 2018, and have made online sketches since 2020."
Jack Shep
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Channel 4's Big Boys is among the screen credits for
Bedfordshire-born Shep, as well as appearances at comedy night Wanting To Be
Cool, Having To Be Funny.
"I'd describe myself as a comic rather than a
stand-up comedian," he reflected. "I do a bit of acting and writing
too but basically, I'm always doing stupid [stuff] which I think makes me
primed for SNL."
Emma Sidi
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Born in the US but raised in Woking, Sidi is well
known for the BBC's Starstruck, as well as Alan Partridge Live: Stratagem.
"I've been doing sketch, character comedy and
improv since university," said Sidi, who recently toured a show that saw
her play former civil servant Sue Gray.
"That show was a real manifesto of my
taste," she said, "a bit left-field and very cheeky."
Paddy Young
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UK
Young, from Scarborough, is known for appearances in
Channel 4 series Everyone Else Burns and Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping.
"Saturday Night Live UK feels like the most
exciting thing that's happened in comedy in this country for a long time, even
more than Reels," he joked, referring to Instagram's short-form videos.
"The scale of it is quackers: 11 in the cast, 18
writers, and the catering is world class."
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