Saturday Night Live recently lost a few key cast members, with vets Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah (and newcomer Jon Rudnitsky) all abruptly departing Studio 8H. But with Season 42 of the long-running sketch show fast approaching, Decider is reporting that two new comedians with pre-existing SNL affiliations are entering the show’s always hungry maw.
First up is Chris Redd, a Chicago-based stand-up who had a small but notable part as Hunter The Hungry in the Lonely Island movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Redd’s been up-and-coming for a while now, appearing on shows like Empire (and serving as an opening act for Pharoah, to boot.) In terms of sketch work, meanwhile, he recently released a teaser for an upcoming project, The Adventures Of Black Chaplin, which is set for release through the online comedy collective JASH.
Mikey Day, meanwhile, has been writing for SNL since 2013, and is being bumped up to featured player status when the show returns on October 1. An occasional on-camera talent—including a short stint on NBC’s Molly Shannon vehicle Kath & Kim—Day’s most recent gig was serving as a head writer on NBC’s variety series Maya & Marty, on which he also appeared. A veteran of The Groundlings, it’ll be interesting to see whether Day can break free of the “Generic White Guy” curse that’s doomed so many promising SNL careers.