The first‑season alumni spill on sketch creation, late‑night cold‑open jitters and the British shows they think fans of the original SNL should binge‑watch.
Jeff Goldblum kicked off Saturday Night Live UK’s second season with a piano‑and‑tap routine that riffed on Ant and Dec, setting the tone for a series that’s still finding its footing beyond the Atlantic.
In a candid Collider interview, cast members Emma Sidi, Ayoade Bamgboye and Weekend Update anchor Paddy Young broke down the creative sprint that turns a blank page on Monday into a fully‑fledged Saturday night.
From Blank Page to Live Sketch
Head writer Jonno Johnson told them the cold‑open is written on Thursday, then rushed to rehearsal on Friday. "The Friday you find out you’re in it, you rehearse it, you do it the next day," Sidi recalled. The late notice feels "electric" to Bamgboye, who admits a pinch of FOMO when she isn’t in the opening sketch.
Both Sidi and Bamgboye stress that the secret sauce of a character lies in the hands. Bamgboye quipped, "This is my Jedi for characters from scratch," while Young added that "hand‑sy comedians" get the biggest laughs when they make themselves chuckle first.
Hand‑Based Humor Gets a Spotlight
Sidi’s most talked‑about persona is a QVC‑style jewellery seller whose left hand sprouts an absurdly long finger while the other decays. The sketch landed because the duo kept pulling faces, smirking at each other until the gag clicked. Bamgboye, meanwhile, prefers original creations over impersonations, noting the freedom of inventing a persona with no real‑world template.
British Shows That Shaped Their Sketches
When pressed for recommendations, the trio turned to the UK’s comedy vault. Bamgboye named the 1998 sketch show Big Train and Armando Iannucci’s razor‑sharp satire The Thick of It. Sidi championed Diane Morgan’s recent BBC hit Ann Droid, a quirky tale of an elderly‑care robot that, she says, "has a wacky premise perfect for a SNL sketch but with heart."
Both agree that the BBC’s Motherland is a must‑watch for anyone craving the kind of observational humor that SNL UK tries to capture.
The Week Ahead
Season two will roll out with Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg taking the host monologue in weeks two and three, respectively. The cast says the rapid‑fire schedule forces them to trust instinct, a gamble that’s paid off with the first season’s cult‑class characters – from a crab‑man George Fouracres to Jack Shep’s Princess Diana impersonation.
As the team gears up for the next cold open, they admit the pressure is real but the payoff – a live audience’s roar – makes every last‑minute scramble worth it.
Fans can catch the new episode on Saturday, September 28, when the show promises more "bonkers" Weekend Update moments and fresh characters that will keep the British‑American comedy bridge humming.
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.