Hammed Animashaun talks ‘Saturday Night Live UK’ launch: “What better sensei to have than Tina Fey?”
After months of chatter, Saturday Night Live UK proved many of its doubters wrong upon its debut on March 21st, while also refreshingly putting 12 new faces on screens across the country.
A worry when Saturday Night Live UK was first announced by Sky was that it was just going to be the same old comedians who occupy the seats on the dwindling number of television slots. Most people might think that the new talent simply isn’t there, but that has never been an issue with sketch comedy on these shores. However, getting a network brave enough to put that talent on the telly has been a major stumbling block.
The opening episode of Saturday Night Live UK showed that no expense had been spared on the production, with the cast also given licence to express themselves freely without being Yankified, as proved by the liberal use of the C-bomb.
Hammed Animashaun is one of the 12 stars of Saturday Night Live UK, and a showstealer during the inaugural episode, along with George Fouracres, Jack Shep, as well as ‘Weekend Update’ hosts Anna Magliano and Paddy Young.
Speaking to Far Out less than 36 hours after the episode aired, Animashaun is still on cloud nine, even if his mind is already looking ahead to this weekend’s episode on March 28th.
Animashaun, who comes from a theatrical rather than traditional comedy background, first heard whispers regarding Saturday Night Live UK almost a year ago, but after months of silence following his self-tape, he almost gave up hope that he’d be cast.
He explains over Zoom, “Being a jobbing actor, you get on with your life. You do your take, and you move on. Then I heard back around September time, and it went from like zero to 100 extremely quickly with different auditions and recalls. Then I found out towards the end of last year, and we started pretty much straight away.”
The first episode, hosted by Saturday Night Live legend Tina Fey, has already amassed millions of views online via clips, as well as comfortably beating Sky’s typical viewing figures during that timeslot, which bodes well for the future.
Animashaun is full of admiration for the US original, stating, “I’ve admired the model and the format from afar for a very long time, so to be a part of it now is a pinch me moment,” before reeling off his Mount Rushmore of SNL alumni as Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, and Kenan Thompson.
While Fey didn’t quite make his Mount Rushmore, the Black Ops actor has nothing but love and appreciation for the Saturday Night Live legend, who ensured the UK spin-off got off to a flying start. “Tina’s incredible. We’ve been so privileged and honoured to have her as part of the team. The stamp that she left on SNL and continues to leave on that institution is something that you can’t ignore,” he said.
Animashaun gushed, “What better teacher to have? What better sensei to have than Tina Fey?” He also shared that the cast “were all mind blown when we found out” about her involvement, but collectively feared, “How in the hell are we supposed to reach her level?”
Thankfully, Fey proved to be “so graceful and so helpful” rather than overbearing, with Animashaun adding, “I couldn’t ask for a better SNL host than Tina Fey, she’s the best.”
Fey could have spent her time on set in White City lecturing the Saturday Night Live UK cast with words of wisdom from her years of experience in New York. Instead, she “always just let us do our thing” and “allowed us to have our own experiences”.
Although Saturday Night Live UK is its own entity, it is still under the watchful eye of Lorne Michaels, who created the US version in 1975 and remains wholly committed to the comedic institution. Michaels, now 81, is an executive producer on the British sister show and is “very much involved”, according to Animashaun.
“This is his baby,” he adds of Michaels’ role. “He knows exactly how this thing is supposed to go. And he also understands that because this is SNL UK, it’s going to come with a different flavour. And he’s been completely open about that.”
The first episode did indeed come with a different flavour, with the ‘Cold Open’ setting the scene and temperature for the hour or so ahead. Fouracres did the impossible by making the most boring man in Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a comedy character, while Animashaun was his foil as the Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, and Jack Shep expertly played a hapless Gen-Z advisor.
The butt of the joke was Starmer being frightened to death by Donald Trump, which, surprisingly, earned a laugh out of the President of the United States. Trump shared the clip from Saturday Night Live UK with his millions of followers on Truth Social, which caused headlines across the globe.
Animashaun, who has been avoiding social media since the launch, claimed to be unaware of Trump giving his orange-tinted seal of approval to his skit, saying in response to my question on the matter, “Did he? Well, that’s crazy.”
Upon having a moment to process that Trump is, seemingly, a fan of his comedy, or at least when the punchline is in his favour, Animashaun added, “That’s mental.”
After I ask him if it’s strange to see a skit that he played a role in writing and performing be used as a political football by Trump to take the piss out of Starmer, he coyly responds in a media-trained manner, “That’s the thing about social media. I kind of view social media as an art. So you can interpret it however you want. So if that’s how you see it, then that’s amazing.”
If Trump wants to continue amplifying Saturday Night Live UK sketches and making noise about the show reverberate across continents, Animashaun has no problems with that, adding, “We put it out there for everyone. So, what can you do? What can you say?”
As long as people, whether it’s me, you or the US president, are laughing, Animashaun is content that they are doing their job correctly, saying of his ambition for the show, “I think people just need to laugh right now, now more than ever. Things are a bit bleak, and when you turn on the telly, there are so many dramas, which is great, and it’s so good to see great actors do great dramatic roles and stuff, but also, I think it’s time now for comedy to get its lift. And for the unsung heroes of comedy, the up-and-coming comedians, to have a chance at reaching the masses.”
While, as viewers of the first episode of Saturday Night Live UK now know, Animashaun has a comedic gift, he’s not a stand-up. But that may change in the future, with him revealing, “A long, long time ago, I said I would never do stand up. But now, after spending time with all these incredible people, I’m now thinking, ‘Hmm, maybe, there is a space for me in there’.”
For now, though, Animashaun’s focus is solely on Saturday Night Live UK, and pleads with anyone who is still on the fence about the programme to watch a full episode before shooting it down, “If you’ve got a spare Saturday night, tune in. If you’re in the club, then watch it the next morning when you’re hungover with your double cheeseburger, and you might have a laugh. It’s good stuff for everyone.”
Although there was a backlash following the admittedly weak Mary Poppins teaser with Fey last week, those dissenting voices have quietened following the first episode, and Animashaun proudly said it “felt like the whole of the UK was behind us on Saturday”.
It shouldn’t just be comedy fans rejoicing at the birth of Saturday Night Live UK, apart from specialist pre-recorded programme Later with Jools Holland, where else are you going to see bands like Wet Leg perform on Saturday night television? Animashaun sees this as “only a good thing” and an opportunity to platform Britain’s best musical talents.
He does have one wish for the series, however, which is for the “incredible” daytime television, Alison Hammond, to guest host, requesting, “If you’re reading this, just DM me, and we can sort it out.”
While it remains to be seen whether he gets his dream of Birmingham’s finest being in charge of one of the seven remaining episodes in the first series, no matter what, Animashaun will be doing his best to ensure the show continues to go from strength to strength.
Many cynical Brits will be praying that its ratings fall off a cliff and it doesn’t get beyond a second series. However, anyone who has culture’s best interests at heart should be hoping it’s a huge success. Not every sketch will have you in stitches (let’s pretend that baby scan skit never happened), but Saturday Night Live UK could be the catalyst for broadcasters to take risks on new talent again, rather than sending off another pair of 40-something comedians to Asia for a travel show, and to give Romesh Ranganathan a night off our screens, occasionally.
