Sarah Sherman is a talented American entertainer with an impressive resume as a surreal comedian, actress, and screenwriter. She is known for her unique style of comedy which may seem offensive to a few people but she has found a way to blend it into popular television shows like Saturday Night Live. She joined the NBC sketch comedy series in 2021 with Owen Wilson as host.
An unconventional comedian in every sense of the word, Sherman joined SNL when the show was in need of fresh content and her often weird performances worked the magic. More so, she didn’t have to water down her content to make it less offensive for television like others who came before her on the show. Instead, Sherman invents new ways to express her vibrant personality and talent. Read on for more interesting facts you didn’t know about Sarah Sherman.
6. Sarah Sherman Launched Her Career With The Stage Name Sarah Squirm
Considering her style of delivering her comics, it now makes sense why she chose to be addressed as Squirm. While she is largely known as Sarah Sherman now, the American comedian was named Sarah Nicole Sherman at birth but she is professionally known as Sarah Squirm. She chose Sarah Squirm as her stage name when she began her career as a comedian; in fact, the origin of the moniker can be traced back to high school where it was given to her as a nickname. As a newcomer, Sherman began booking gigs with noise musicians quite early as she had connections with a record label. This helped her grow her brand to perform on bigger stages, making her television debut in Flyaway – an infomercial on Adult Swim.
5. She Is A Northwestern University Alum
Though her career choice doesn’t exactly require a college degree, Sarah Sherman got one anyway. She earned her high school diploma from Great Neck South High School in New York before jetting off to college at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Sherman bagged a degree in theater from the university in 2014 and launched her career the same year. No doubt, earning a college degree helped Sherman to bring out the best in her but she is naturally endowed with the funny bone.
4. Sarah Sherman Has Jewish Roots
Sarah Sherman’s nationality is American but her origin is Jewish. She was born on March 7, 1993, to a Jewish family in Long Island, New York, in the United States which confirms her American nationality. Sarah Sherman’s parents are not in the spotlight but they have been mentioned in her jokes a few times, especially her Jewish father.
3. She Made Her Television Debut In 2018
Before her interest in stand-up comedy came to the fore, Sherman tried to join the improv team at Northwestern but she wasn’t succeesful. She later decided to pursue a career in comedy after college and moved to Chicago to start her journey. Sarah Squirm was her stage name at the time and she got several gigs as a comedian that performs with noise musicians. The budding stage of her career took a different turn when she debuted on television, appearing in an Adult Swim infomercial titled Flayaway. In 2019, she opened for fellow Jewish-American comedian, Eric Andre who is known for his The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim. An interesting fact about Sarah Sherman is that she has also written scripts for Andre’s show and many others.
2. Before Saturday Night Live Hired Her, Sherman Had A Hard Time Getting Gigs
A known fact about Sarah Sherman is that she is unapologetically raw with her comedy; however, this put off hiring managers at the early stage of her career. Her gross-out videos meant she had a difficult time convincing people to give her gigs but SNL has given her the platform to prove her mettle. Her journey with SNL goes back to when she tried some character-based work with the program. She equally did some showcases for SNL producers. However, she officially got the offer to join SNL when after her performance at the Just for Laughs festival, she was asked to audition for the NBC show. Subsequently, Sherman made the cast as a featured player for the 47th season of SNL. She joined the show with other newbies – James Austin Johnson and Aristotle Athari.
1. Sarah Sherman Is Known For Her Body Horror And Surreal Comedy Style
Sarah Sherman is not your conventional comedian. Her comedy style is a mix of body horror and surreal humor which she owns proudly despite the fact that the concept made it difficult for her to get employed in her budding stage. Speaking about her reason for choosing this path, Sarah said “My whole life I was taught that women are either sexualized or vulgarized, I’m talking about my own body politics, so I’m owning that shame, guilt, pain, and embarrassment by performing the act of torture on myself.”
Her style of comedy is not exactly suitable for a conventional television program like Saturday Night Live. Notwithstanding, Sherman brought it all when she joined the show’s 47th season and quickly stood out from the rest of the performers with her unconventional sense of humor. Sarah Sherman has been lauded for her success on the show despite her strange but hilarious ways.Adult Swim infomercialThe Eric Andre Show
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