Here's The Hollywood Reporter's hour-long comedy roundtable, featuring Kristen Schaal, Anthony Jeselnik, Nick Kroll, Rob Delaney, and Cecily Strong. From Kroll's story about bombing in front of Bill Murray when he was new at stand-up to Schaal discussing a particular network's reluctance to air shows with female leads, it's an interesting and fun chat all around.
Cecily Strong will join the cast of SNL this season and instantly become the cast member with the coolest name. Cecily, like Aidy Bryant and Tim Robinson – whose casting leaked Friday and confirmed today, is a veteran of the Chicago comedy scene, boasting training at iO, Annoyance Theatre, and Second City. These castings are undeniably big for the Chicago comedy community, which maybe gets overshadowed by New York and Los Angeles. Cecily will make her debut this Saturday night. Watch a few videos of her after the jump.
Jimmy Fallon just started a new web series called Worst I Ever Bombed, in which a comedian shares their worst-ever live performance experience. First up is freshman SNL castmember Cecily Strong, with a tale from her Second City days about an audience member named Slugger Bologna that she could also tell in a hypothetical Jimmy Fallon web series called "Worst Fake Name I've Ever Heard."
We're at a rest period in the middle of SNL's 38th season, and now seems like a good time to present all the Nate Silver-esque data I've been compiling over the past few months. Below are some stats from this season, including ratings, online views, cast member screen time, hosts, and top sketches, which will whet your appetite before the show returns on January 19.
Overall I've been pleased with this season. The departures of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg suggested the show might go through another rebuilding year, but the cast has filled in nicely, with new female cast members emerging as breakout stars, Jay Pharoah stepping up [...]
