How long has Sarah Sherman worked with "SNL"? Comedian looks back on how her paychecks were sent to a wrong address

Comedian and actress Sarah Sherman, known for her work in Young Hearts and SNL, shared an anecdote about getting her paychecks misdelivered. On June 21, 2025, she sat down with Jesse David Fox on Vulture’s Good One podcast.

Sarah Sherman joined the show in its 47th season in 2021 and has been working for over four years. As the conversation rolled on, Sherman casually touched upon the negative comments she received from the audience and online commentators about her work in the show. She then mentioned:

“I got a giant envelope in the mail with like a handwritten letter that was like, ‘Hey, I'm Gilda Radner's brother. Weird thing happened where I've been receiving like all of your residuals checks for the past few months.’”

According to Entertainment Weekly, Gilda Radner worked on SNL from 1975 to 1980. Sherman said Radner’s brother praised her work in the show. She added:

“I started like hysterically sobbing obviously I'm like okay God's speaking to me right now. I was sobbing. I was like I texted Lorne. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I've been my checks have been sent to Gilder Radner's estate.’ Isn't this like a crazy coincidence. I feel like this is like a miracle or like I feel like this is like a spirit is talking.”

Lorne’s reply to Sarah Sherman was, “That’s sweet.” Fox asked her about the initial days of doing SNL. She said she was excited to have the job. Before joining the show, she had been broke and unemployed, unsure of what direction her life would take. Around that time, she had worked on a short film called Sarah Vaccine with her friends.

Who suggested that Sarah Sherman try her hand at SNL's Weekend Update?

Sarah Sherman said that during her first year at SNL, she was thrilled to be part of the show and didn’t put too much pressure on herself. Even when none of her sketches made it to air in the first few episodes, she didn’t mind because she still couldn’t believe she had made it to the table read.

Despite writing several sketches that didn’t make it, she didn’t feel discouraged because simply having the job felt like a huge achievement. Eventually, Colin Jost suggested she try doing the SNL Weekend Update. Reflecting on the audience’s reaction, Sarah Sherman said:

“I enjoy repulsion so if I hear Oos Aas Nos, I am in heaven but I get like suicidal during the live show because you just had the dress rehearsal it was so loose it was so fun and now you have now you have to do it for real and it has to be good.”

The comedian went on:

“I remember wheeling out. I opened my mouth and like I had been practicing the voice with the teeth on so much that like my jaw was sore and I felt like as soon as I opened my mouth I was like, ‘God f*cking damn it. I did not do it as funny. I'm not doing it as funny right now as I did it during the dress rehearsal.’”

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Sarah Sherman said she joined SNL alongside Aristotle Athari and James Austin Johnson. While they were good at getting their material featured, she said it took time for her to figure out the ways.

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