Don’t destroy the boy in “Saturday Night Live.”
Ben Marshall, who makes up a third of the comedy trio who has been in charge of several viral “SNL” digital shorts over the past four seasons, was one of five new additions to the featured cast announced Tuesday. Following news of his promotion, Variety learned that while Martin Helihee remains on the writing staff, John Higgins ended the series to pursue other projects as an actor.
Marshall, Higgins and Hellie are currently on tour together and will continue to work together on projects other than “SNL.”
“I love these boys… this is a new chapter, but I won’t be quitting working together any time soon,” Marshall writes on Instagram under a carousel of comedy trio photos. In his own post, Higgins said, “I can’t believe how lucky I was to be on this show. I’m excited to pursue acting opportunities that will be announced soon, but today I am grateful for everything we have to do.”
Saturday Night Live is unknown for its often self-deprecated digital shorts, following in the footsteps of a lonely island. They usually performed themselves in videos featuring A-list celebrities hosts such as Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet, Dakota Johnson and Rami Malek.
The trio was founded in 2017 after Marshall, Higgins and Helihee met and began working together as NYU students. In addition to regular live performances in New York, they gained popularity for sketches they posted on social media early in the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, they were hired to participate in the 47th season of “SNL” as writers.
Apart from “SNL” in 2023, they released Peacock’s film “Don’t Destult: Treasure of Foggy Mountain,” with Judd Apatow serving as executive producer. Herlihy recently appeared in “Happy Gilmore 2” with upcoming credits such as the films “Running Man,” “Roommates,” and “Bresewinner.”
Herlihy was the son of Tim Herlihy, a longtime co-worker of Adam Sandler’s, who wrote on Saturday Night Live for seven seasons from 1994 to 1999, and eventually became a headwriter. Higgins’ father, Steve Higgins, has been a “SNL” writer and producer since 1995.
