Sarah Sherman’s wild comedy special and the tough lessons of SNL

Sarah Sherman’s first comedy special feels like a messy art project that somehow turned into a must-watch. Instead of playing it safe with jokes about politics or pop culture, she went all-in on her weirdest ideas. The people helping make the show told her to dump the obvious targets, saying things like “skip the RFK Jr. jokes, man, and definitely lose the airplane ones. ” But Sherman stuck to her guns, creating a one-hour show that looks and feels like nothing else out there. Sherman calls herself a “maximalist, ” and her comedy special proves why. She’s been obsessed with the human body’s gross side for years, mixing cartoons, underground art, and crazy visuals into one big weird collage. Think of it like if a John Waters movie and a Ren & Stimpy episode had a baby, covered it in slime, and put it on stage. The result is something messy, touchy-feely, and hard to look away from—even when it makes you squirm.As a comedian, Sherman likes to mess with people. She acts like a little troublemaker, pushing buttons just to see what happens. Sometimes it works, and sometimes she bombs hard, especially with crowds who don’t know her outside of SNL. She admits she’s still figuring out the balance between shocking people and winning them back over. Sherman has spent five seasons on SNL, but only now feels like she’s starting to get it. She jokes about feeling like “roadkill” after Season 51, saying it took until recently to finally land a sketch that felt right. Being new at 30 Rock was tough, and she talks about the awkwardness of fitting in while trying to stand out. She also opens up about her nerves before taping the special. Eric André gave her a pep talk, and now she’s glad she did it. But she still feels like she doesn’t belong in today’s comedy world, where everything moves fast and AI-generated jokes flood the internet. For Sherman, the key is staying weird—even if it’s not always easy.