SNL adds five new featured players for 51st season

Less than a week after it was revealed that longtime cast member Heidi Gardner will leave Saturday Night Live, the show has announced five new featured players for the upcoming 51st season.

The iconic live television program has launched the career of countless comedians, and the featured players being added to the mix for Season 51 are representative of that tradition.

Three of the five new SNL featured players are known for their standup comedy skills. That includes one who has been in Studio 8H for several years as a writer.

SNL will welcome featured players Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska. Marshall has been a writer on SNL since Season 46. The others are new names for SNL fans.

Marshall is one-third of the Please Don’t Destroy comedy group that also includes John Higgins and Martin Herlihy. That trio has been on the SNL staff for four seasons, mostly crafting short film segments. Marshall will know pull double duty as a featured player with potential camera time.

Patterson is a 26-year old standup from Orlando, who is currently conducting a comedy tour across the country.

A Chicago-based comic previously, Brennan is now working out of New York and recently made his network television debut with a standup set on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. He was named a “New Face” in comedy at the world-renowned Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal earlier this year.

Of the newcomers, Culhane has the most polished sketch and improv chops: he is a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in southern California. He is from the Los Angeles area, and also has credits as a writer for sketch programs and movies.

The lone female in the new group of SNL featured players is Slowikowska, a Canadian actress and comedian. She performed previously with Toronto musical comedy troupe My Chemical Bromance, and followed that with several appearances in streaming shows and TV series, including Tires on Netflix. She resides in New York city.

SNL cast members from Season 50 who are still on the roster pending the debut of Season 51 on October 4, include: Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Ashley Padilla, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Jane Wickline, and Bowen Yang.