Lorne Michaels had some advice for Sarah Sherman.
The Saturday Night Live cast member revealed that the show’s creator and executive producer told Sherman her to stop making a particular facial expression—one of disgust—when other cast members are performing something she deems bizarre.
On an episode of the Stavvy’s World podcast, Sherman opened up about her comedic career, high-school experiences, how she writes sketches, and her new HBO comedy special, Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh. And she explained her infamous “face”: one in which her eyebrows scrunch up and her mouth is agape.
“Lorne always says—because I’m always going like [makes the face], because someone’s doing something weird, and I’m [makes the face]—and he’s like, ‘You’re going to catch flies in that mouth,’" Sherman explained, saying the face pops up when she’s reacting to certain sketches.
“I’m like I’m legitimately disturbed,” she continued. “Nikki Glaser and Tommy Brennan are doing a sketch where they’re siblings...”
“And they have a lot of sexual chemistry,” said host Stavros Halkias.
“And so I’m [reacting that way],” Sherman concluded. The comedian referred to the infamous sketch where she plays Tommy Brennan’s girlfriend meeting his family for the first time. The catch: Brennan and his on-stage sister, Nikki Glaser, are a little too close for comfort.
“That’s how anyone would react in real life,” Halkias agreed.
“Like they’re siblings! This is crazy,” Sherman joked.
Sherman first joined SNL as a featured player in 2021, for the show’s 47th season. She was promoted to repertory status in October 2023.
The comedian is known for her body-horror comedy, use of surrealism, and outlandish costumes—for instance, when she played the parasitic worm in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s brain in a 2024 sketch.
In her HBO special, filmed at Brooklyn-based performance venue Bell House, Sherman taps into her signature “gross-out” humor.
