Comic actors, Edinburgh Fringe winners, Taskmaster alumni and familiar panel show performers are set to make up the first cast of Saturday Night Live UK.
Sky has confirmed the six part run will begin on 21 March, bringing the long running American sketch format to British television for the first time.
Eleven rising stars from the UK comedy circuit will appear each week, among them Emma Sidi, Ania Magliano, Larry Dean, Ayoade Bamgboye and Paddy Young. They will be joined by Celeste Dring, Annabel Marlow, George Fouracres, Hammed Animashaun, Al Nash and Jack Shep.
As with the US original, the British edition will feature a different celebrity host every episode, along with a live music performance.
In a statement announcing the series, Sky said the show would be “re imagined through a distinctly British lens”, adding that details of the writing team would be revealed 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.”
The programme will be the first UK version of NBC’s late night institution, which began in 1975 and was created by Lorne Michaels, who will act as executive producer on the spin off.
Episodes will follow the familiar rapid fire schedule of being written and rehearsed during the week before going out live in front of a studio audience. Viewers can expect an opening monologue, topical sketches, musical guests and a satirical news segment in the style of Weekend Update.
Sky said the launch would finally give British viewers a home grown take on the famous catchphrase, “Live from London, it’s Saturday Night!”
Below, the new cast explain what joining the show means to them.
Hammed Animashaun
The East London performer is known for BBC comedy Black Ops and for appearing on stage in the Bridge Theatre’s 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
Raised between Lagos and London, Bamgboye won the Edinburgh Fringe best newcomer award for Swings and Roundabouts and has appeared in 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.”
On joining the new series, she added: “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
The Glasgow born stand up has featured 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
From Wolverhampton, Dring is best known for BBC series Lazy Susan and This Country, where she played 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 said.
“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
Another Wolverhampton native, Fouracres recently appeared in Netflix drama film Steve and performed in Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe.
“I’ve been in love with Saturday Night Live since forever,” he said. “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
From Buckinghamshire, and a self confessed admirer of Ross from Friends, Magliano has appeared 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
Marlow, from Henley on Thames, has performed in Six the Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe and in a Leicester Curve 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,” she said. “SNL combines everything I love. I’m excited to create characters and hopefully write some music as well.”
Al Nash
The Buckinghamshire comic has appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and jokes that he is also known as 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,” he said. “I then started performing live myself in 2018, and have made online sketches since 2020.”
Jack Shep
Shep, from Bedfordshire, has featured in Channel 4’s Big Boys and at the comedy night Wanting To Be Cool, Having To Be Funny.
“I’d describe myself as a comic rather than a stand up comedian,” he said. “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
Born in the US and raised in Woking, Sidi is known for BBC series Starstruck and Alan Partridge Live: Stratagem.
“I’ve been doing sketch, character comedy and improv since university,” she said, referring to a recent tour in which she portrayed former civil servant Sue Gray.
“That show was a real manifesto of my taste,” she added, “a bit left field and very cheeky.”
Paddy Young
The Scarborough performer has appeared in Channel 4’s 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.”
