Bowen Yang may have left SNL in the middle of Season 51, but that doesn’t mean he has any less respect for the work happening on the NBC mainstay. Recently, the comedian opened up about how difficult it truly was to be one of the cast members on Saturday Night Live. On top of that, Yang also got real about seeing all of his co-stars for the first time since he departed the long-running sketch comedy series.
The Season 51 SNL cast recently reunited for an FYC event where they were interviewed on a panel moderated by Variety. Despite Bowen Yang’s preemptive departure this past season, he was still in attendance. The former cast member got candid about how much he missed the show's cast since his exit, especially considering he hasn’t seen them in months. Yang also shared some particularly kind words about the effort that his colleagues put into crafting episodes of the show throughout a given season. He said (via Entertainment Weekly):
Everyone here is incredible at the things they are doing on the show. And I miss it so much. This is the first time that I’m seeing a lot of people, and I think they’re doing something incredibly difficult on a weekly basis with a cadence where they get to show all of you (and me now) how much they improve at the skill. And so I really hope everyone considers that.
On top of how difficult it is to perform sketch comedy live for an audience, the SNL work schedule is anecdotally grueling. The team has to put together six to eight fleshed out sketches with props and sets that sometimes aren’t fully completed until hours before the show. They're also expected to present even more sketches for consideration early in the week and, oftentimes, the writers and performers stay up all night writing to prepare for the table read. There’s additional pressure on these sketches going well, because often the amount of airtime you get correlates with if you get to stay on the show or not.
Needless to say, it's a lot and the fact that everything is able to come together -- and we as an audience get to watch the newest cast members improve week after week -- is in fact an accomplishment. Yang understands this intimately and, even though he is seeking a comedy career outside of SNL, he still clearly has a ton of respect for the performers who are continuing their journey on the show, or are just beginning.
Considering his words of reflection, Bowen Yang seemed to be quite affected by seeing his old castmates again after taking time away. It appears to have struck him with nostalgia, making him think about how his time at the show helped him grow as a performer. Based on Yang's non-SNL work, I'd also argue that his time on the sketch show was invaluable for his development. Now, I personally can’t wait to watch the current cast grow in a way that's similar to Yang's development when they one day explore other ventures.
You can grab a Peacock subscription revisit the most recent season of SNL now. Season 51 had some of the best hosts and musical guests ever, so make sure you check it out. Fans of Bowen Yang should also check out his hit podcast with Matt Rodgers, Las Culturistas, which is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
