Minnesotan joins 'Saturday Night Live' for 51st Season
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Comedian Tommy Brennan has been announced as a new cast member on the long-running sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live.” Brennan will join the show's 51st season, along with four other new castmates. NBC announced the new cast on Tuesday, following several high-profile departures.
According to Brennan’s LinkedIn, he graduated from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St.Paul. He then attended the University of Notre Dame and has performed his stand-up on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and the Comedy Central series “Stand-Up Featuring.”
Brennan is also a co-host on the podcast “Roommates-In-Law” and was selected as a “New Face” at the international comedy festival “Just for Laughs” in 2023.
Brennan isn’t SNL’s first Minnesotan — former U.S. Sen. Al Franken did two separate stints with the show, and Tom Davis was an original writer on the program and was known for his collaborations with Franken.
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Joining Brennan among the newly announced cast members is Ben Marshall, already a writer for the show, who will step into a new role as a featured player.
Marshall is best known outside the writers’ room as a founding member of Please Don’t Destroy, the trio behind many of SNL’s viral digital sketches. Rounding out the newest featured players are Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.
The additions follow a string of cast departures in the past month as the storied program prepares for its 51st season. Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow confirmed last week on their social media accounts that they are leaving the show. Multiple news outlets reported that cast mainstay Heidi Gardner was also departing the show, but neither Gardner nor NBC has publicly confirmed.
“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels previously said he anticipated changes following the show’s historic 50th season. No cast members had announced their departure following the season’s conclusion.
In an interview with Puck that ran last month, Michaels answered “yes” when asked if he expected to “shake things up.”
The 51st season of SNL will premiere on Oct. 4.
