by Comedy doesn’t have a Human Resources department, so leave it to The Comic’s Comic to dole out honors and/or discipline accordingly. Our Employee of the Month for October 2022 is Sarah Sherman. Congrats Sarah!
NOTE: This is a feature I introduced on my Substack, Piffany, in 2021, and have transferred over to The Comic’s Comic, where it truly belongs. Past Employees of the Month have included: Kate Berlant (September 2022), Alyssa Limperis (August 2022), Janelle James (July 2022) Joel Kim Booster (June 2022), The Kids In The Hall (May 2022), Jerrod Carmichael (April 2022), Amy Schumer (March 2022), Volodymyr Zelenskyy (February 2022), W. Kamau Bell (January 2022), Nicole Byer (December 2021), Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin (November 2021), James Austin Johnson (October 2021), Phoebe Robinson (September 2021), Ms. Pat (August 2021), and Kevin Hart (July 2021).
I almost wanted to give October’s Comedy MVP award to Eric Andre, who ended the month by winning Halloween dressing like NBC’s Today show host Hoda Kotb and then also earning a series order from ABC for a new prank show (The Prank Panel), which he’ll co-host with Johnny Knoxville and Gabourey Sidibe. Andre also made news in October for filing a lawsuit (along with fellow comedian Clayton English) against the Clayton County Police Department for unfairly targeting Black passengers in Atlanta’s airport for drug searches.
Andre may well resurface in future MVP mentions.
But for almost singlehandedly keeping Season 48 of Saturday Night Live worth watching so far this season, the honors fall squarely on the shoulders and comedy mind of Sarah Sherman.
After several SNL cast members bid fond farewells in May, followed by more abrupt departures this September, it was fair to wonder how the long-running sketch comedy show would fare, while also raising anticipation and excitement to see what the still-sizable cast could do now that they no longer had to compete quite so vociferously for stage and screen time. Well, so far, Season 48 has felt like a dud. Except when Sherman is onscreen. She has a strong comedic point of view and has no problems delivering. Case in point: “Eyes,” a sketch in which she’s an employee wondering if her co-workers noticed she underwent surgery to replace her functioning eyeballs with googly eyes. It’s a masterful performance from Sherman, vocally and physically.
In other sketches that seem to be just going through the motions, Sherman’s appearance immediately livens things up.
Thank God for Sarah Sherman.
Congrats, Sarah!
