Meet Sarah Sherman, SNL's newest Jewish cast member

Sherman’s stage name is Sarah Squirm, a reference to her grotesque, R-rated live “Helltrap Nightmare” comedy shows in Chicago.

 Alec Baldwin accepts the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for "Saturday Night Live." (photo credit: REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI)
Alec Baldwin accepts the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for "Saturday Night Live."
(photo credit: REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI)

Saturday Night Live” announced that Jewish comedian Sarah Sherman will be joining its cast for its upcoming 47th season.

Sherman’s stage name is Sarah Squirm, a reference to her grotesque, R-rated live “Helltrap Nightmare” comedy shows in Chicago.

In a 2020 interview with Vice, Sherman opened up — in humorous fashion — about her Jewish background formed in “Jewish Long Island,” and called herself a “f***ing freaky Jewish woman.”

“My phone number says ‘Garden City,’ and that bothers me. I’m from really Jewish Long Island, and Garden City is really Catholic Long Island, so that’s where I draw the line,” Sherman said. “It’s like, can my area code really reflect that I sort of live in [the world of] ‘Uncut Gems’?”

“Uncut Gems,” the 2019 film starring Adam Sandler as an unhinged Jewish Diamond District businessman, follows Sandler’s Howard Ratner character to Long Island, where his estranged family lives.

“Jewish guilt is more like my dad, who’s very Howard Ratner… He’s always calling me up on a High Holiday: ‘Did you go to shul?’ I’m like, ‘No.’ And he always says, ‘Just remember, 6 million in the oven, that’s all I’m gonna say.’ That’s Jewish guilt,” Sherman said.

ANCHOR COLIN JOST (left) and anchor Michael Che during Weekend Update on ‘Saturday Night Live’ last year. (credit: WILL HEATH/NBC/TNS)
ANCHOR COLIN JOST (left) and anchor Michael Che during Weekend Update on ‘Saturday Night Live’ last year. (credit: WILL HEATH/NBC/TNS)

This season of “Saturday Night Live” premieres Saturday, October 2.