SNL star Sarah Sherman brings wild laughter to Helium

Sarah Sherman’s brand of comedy is a breath of fresh, odd air.

Philadelphians can see for themselves when the Saturday Night Live star performs at Helium Comedy Club on Aug. 15, 16 and 17. And with the 50th anniversary of SNL set to premier in September, watching Sherman is like having a wild, surprise appetizer before the merry main meal.

That’s because everything that the performance artist and stand-up-turned-sketch comedian does on SNL for the last three seasons has been hilariously extreme and wildly out-of-the-ordinary.

When asked to describe her own brand of humor, she has answered interviewers, slyly, with words such as “annoying” and “freakish.”

Think of Sherman ‘SNL’ characters such as RFK’s brain worm, CJ Rossitano (Weekend Update host Colin Jost’s long-lost son), or a tennis pro whose head flies off of her shoulders when hit with balls, viewers are reminded of historic, goofy ‘SNL’ skits such as John Belushi’s Killer Bees, Eddie Murphy’s impersonation of Gumby or Will Ferrell’s cowbell routine.

“This was the first season where I really pushed myself to do different things,” Sherman told Gold Derby. “I’m always looking for the funniest options… It’s all done out of problem-solving trial-and-error. We write a lot of physical pieces where my head gets blown off or I fall out of the window…. When I have to do something crazy, I have no problem at all.”

Considering how 2024’s 49th season defined what it was Sherman did, so often off stage, all the sketch artist could say was that it was fun, but also a lot of hard work.

“It was the busiest season I’ve ever had,” Sherman told Gold Derby. “I finally got to do a season where it’s like, ‘You have to change your wig a million times an episode, and you have a bunch of quick changes.’ Why am I so much more tired at the end of this season than I have been at the end of every other season? It’s because, oh, I had to get an owl beak ripped off my face, got all the glue cleaned up and got turned into a human woman in like 30 seconds.”

When it comes to what Sherman will do as a stand-up comedian this week, Philly audiences will be reminded of her times performing under the name “Sarah Squirm” at Fringe Arts HQ on Delaware Avenue. There, wearing loudly colored outfits and sporting an 80s-worthy mullet, Sherman/”Squirm” leap through a handful of body horror comic jokes and silly non-sequiturs that kept everyone on their toes, trying to follow where she’d been, and where she was heading next.

“Even though stand-up feels like a solo sport, last time I went on tour with my friend Jack Bensinger, we were watching each other’s set every night and giving each other punch-ups on each other’s jokes,” said Sherman. “Comedy can still feel like a communal thing; it doesn’t have to feel like you’re all on your own.”

For more information and tickets, visit philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com