- 5/24/2025
From nervous auditions to iconic performances! Join us as we explore the memorable characters that helped comedians land their dream job at Studio 8H. These unforgettable personalities were so good, they made the journey from audition tape to live television, becoming some of the most beloved recurring characters in SNL history.
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00:00I'm always searching for the most perfect moisturizer.
00:03I chose L'Oreal Vemma Venesis with Proselyn and Havagama Pase.
00:09Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most iconic SNL characters
00:14that started out as audition pieces and were so impressive they had to make it onto the show.
00:19The cartridge is out of ink. Repatriation!
00:25Number 10, Mandy, Heidi Gardner.
00:27It's always fascinating to watch a character evolve from a rough concept in an audition
00:32to a fully realized personality on stage.
00:35In August 2017, Heidi Gardner auditioned with a character known simply as
00:39Your Cousin That You Haven't Seen In 25 Years.
00:42I mean, I'm not crying, but I'm definitely in shock. I'm devastated.
00:48Oh shit, I gotta go. Yeah, he died.
00:51This was one of her well-honed creations from her time at the Groundlings,
00:55and as we know, it helped her land a spot on SNL.
00:59Just a few months later, Gardner brought the character to the screen,
01:02this time with the name Mandy.
01:04Or Pretty Mandy, for those in the know.
01:06So, do you still go swimming?
01:11Yeah, I still swim sometimes.
01:13Yeah? And do you still eat candy?
01:18Yeah, I eat candy.
01:20Yeah, good for you, man.
01:21In the December 2017 episode hosted by James Franco, Mandy made her debut,
01:27subtly belittling her cousin's Hollywood success,
01:29while touting her own incredible achievements like hitting a bullseye.
01:33What about you? How you been?
01:35Me? Really good, man.
01:37In October, I hit the bullseye.
01:40A bullseye? Like in darts?
01:42Yeah, man. I was the only person at Quickie's to hit a bullseye that day.
01:49Number 9. Choking Victim Poster Model
01:51Bowen Yang
01:52In his relatively short time on SNL,
01:55Bowen Yang has established himself as one of the show's most distinctive talents,
01:59known for turning the ordinary into the absurd.
02:02One of his most surreal inventions remains the man from the choking hazard posters,
02:06displayed in restaurants all over the world,
02:08a character that first appeared during his audition.
02:11Yeah? Oh, um, I was thinking it was like a piece of bread or like a dry cracker.
02:17After joining the cast in 2019, Yang fleshed him out with even more quirks,
02:21giving him a cult following among restaurant staff and pairing him with a female counterpart,
02:26played by host Scarlett Johansson.
02:28He's choking on his gum!
02:29Do something!
02:30I don't know how, I'm just a model!
02:32I got this, I got this!
02:34Come on, don't go to sleep on mom and dad!
02:37Oh my god, you saved him!
02:39His audition also included a hyper-intense SoulCycle instructor,
02:44another gem that made its way to the show after he was hired.
02:47Abraham Lincoln died. It didn't have to happen.
02:51Poor guy. If I would have been there, I would have stopped it.
02:55But I wasn't. Will you be? Let's ride!
02:59Number 8. Althea McManaman
03:01Sherry Oteri
03:02Sherry Oteri's audition for SNL was as strong as it gets.
03:07The Pennsylvania-born comedian arrived fully prepared,
03:09with three well-developed characters she had already written detailed and hilarious jokes for.
03:14Captain James? My teacher, Mrs Fitzgibbons, her husband's a pilot and he came to our school to tell us about his job.
03:21And then we had a test and I got an A, so Mrs Fitzgibbons said that I had the right stuff!
03:26So it's no surprise that one of them, Althea McManaman, eventually became a recurring favourite.
03:31Althea is a hyperactive child with a knack for annoying pilots and bus drivers,
03:37and occasionally blurting out inappropriate comments.
03:39The character first appeared on a show during Oteri's first season,
03:43in a sketch with Cherry Chase, who played a pilot gradually losing his cool.
03:47My teacher, Mrs Fitzgibbons, her husband's a pilot and he came to our school to tell us about his job.
03:53And then we had a test and I got an A, so Mrs Fitzgibbons said that I had the right stuff!
03:57If you need proof of just how airtight Oteri's audition was,
04:01look no further than this sketch, as much of it was lifted almost word for word from the routine.
04:06Say hello to Baywatch Barbie!
04:12Hello Baywatch Barbie.
04:14She's not a bimbo, she's a lifeguard!
04:18Number 7, Mr Peepers, Chris Katarn.
04:21Before joining SNL, Chris Katarn honed his sketch comedy skills and several improv troupes,
04:26including The Groundlings.
04:27It was there that he created Mr Peepers, a manic half-human, half-monkey creature,
04:31who is typically unveiled by a scientist before proceeding to demolish apples at lightning speed.
04:36Peepers! Peepers!
04:37What is the colour of a stop sign?
04:39Bah! Bah!
04:39Red! Excellent!
04:41Yes.
04:42Recently my research team visited the Amazon and uncovered something truly remarkable
04:47that I'd like to share with you right now.
04:50Bah! Bah! Bah! Bah!
04:51The character first saw the walls of the SNL stage before Katarn even landed the job.
04:55For his audition, the actor showed up in full costume, down to the prosthetic ears,
05:00and was already spitting out apple chunks like a machine gun.
05:03Now, notice how protective Papa Peepers is of the sign!
05:09Bah! Bah! Bah! Bah! Bah!
05:10No! No, Papa Peepers! No!
05:11By the time he officially joined the cast, the character was practically a ready-made hit.
05:16Over Katarn's seven-year tenure, Mr Peepers became one of his signature characters,
05:21popping up about a dozen times.
05:23Bah! Bah! Nah! Bah! Bah! Hab!
05:27Baut! Bah! Bah! Quixote! Bah! Quixote! Bah!
05:32Number 6, Raz Trent, Andy Samberg.
05:37In the SNL 50 Beyond Saturday Night documentary special, former cast member Bill Hader recalled
05:43arriving for his audition and meeting another comedian there with a bag full of props.
05:47That comedian was Andy Samberg, and one of those props was a white mop-like wig he later used during his audition.
05:54Oh my god, that wig is atroche. Looks like Milli Vanilli.
05:58The white guy with dreads.
06:01Excuse-I!
06:03Blessings! Blessings, everyone, and welcome to this super iry board meeting.
06:08Inspired by someone Samberg encountered while growing up in Berkeley, California,
06:12the character was a white man with dreads who appropriated Rastafari culture.
06:16After Samberg was hired and began managing the digital short's arm,
06:20he refined the character, naming him Raz Trent, and making him the star of a Lonely Island song.
06:36The short, which satirizes Trent's misguided attempts to embrace Rastafarianism, aired during the show's 34th season.
06:46Ragabuffin' in culture.
06:48Me night!
06:48Nurse never want to plant the corn.
06:51Skiddly, whoa!
06:53Diddly!
06:54Skiddly, biddly, biddly, biddly, biddly, biddly, biddly, biddly!
06:56Number 5. Penelope Cruz, Kate McKinnon.
06:59Kate McKinnon joined SNL near the end of season 37,
07:03and immediately made it clear that she was a force to be reckoned with.
07:06In her very first episode, she played a version of Penelope Cruz,
07:09alongside host, Sofia Vergara, in a Pantene commercial parody.
07:14These are the shampoos right there,
07:16and then you're just going to need to read your lines right off that teleprompter right there, okay?
07:20Should be nice and easy.
07:22Alright, here we go.
07:23While Vergara effortlessly breezed through her list of simple words,
07:27McKinnon was stuck struggling to pronounce tongue-twisting chemical compounds.
07:31But this was not McKinnon's first rodeo with this character.
07:34Like ammonium-rolesulfate, alkyl-benzine-photonate, selenium-sulfide, and tea-dijundi.
07:44She had performed it multiple times before, including during her SNL audition just one month earlier.
07:49Although the producers are known to retain stone-faced during auditions,
07:53McKinnon's performance was so funny that you could clearly hear laughter in the background.
07:57It's not already molly and herper-belling-a-fell in a tough-skinned layer,
08:02leaving skin-filling total with a duilio.
08:05L'Oreal, pick up your birthday.
08:08Number 4. Ferrecito, Fred Armisen
08:11There's no shortage of bizarre characters in Fred Armisen's SNL repertoire,
08:15but Ferrecito was one of the first to truly cement his place on the show.
08:19A Venezuelan nightclub comedian, Ferrecito was inspired by Armisen's experience
08:24watching Puerto Rican musician Tito Puente perform live.
08:27I must have spent an hour on the toilet!
08:30Ferrecito, there is no toilet in our dressing room.
08:34Ay, Dios mio!
08:37Ay, papi!
08:40The character accounted for nearly all of Armisen's audition,
08:43and it left SNL producers in stitches.
08:46Not only did they realise they had to hire Armisen,
08:48they knew Ferrecito would be a hit.
08:50People think that Latin music is all about things like Shakira and Enrique Iglesias,
08:56but we have a lot more to offer, like Menudo.
09:00Ay, Dios mio!
09:02As a result, during Armisen's first episode,
09:04he debuted the character on Weekend Update,
09:07reusing the same routine that had won over the producers.
09:10Ferrecito quickly became a fan favourite
09:12and was expanded from a Weekend Update guest
09:14to headlining his own recurring sketch,
09:17Showbiz Grande Explosion.
09:19Look, hear me, excuse me.
09:22Doing comedy is like making love to your wife, okay?
09:25You sweat a lot, you make funny faces,
09:28and if you're bad, the audience demands their money back!
09:32Ay, Dios mio!
09:34Number three, Margaret Jo McCullen,
09:37Anna Gasteyer.
09:38The NPR radio show parody Delicious Dish starred Anna Gasteyer
09:42and Molly Shannon as co-hosts Margaret Jo McCullen
09:46and Terry Rialto, exploring mundane and painfully dull culinary topics.
09:50I'm asking Kris Kringle for a wooden bowl,
09:54some oversized index cards,
09:56and a funnel.
09:58Ooh, a funnel.
10:00That'll be great for funneling.
10:02I know.
10:02I feel like a glutton.
10:06While it might seem like the sketch was designed for both characters from the start,
10:09it actually began as Gasteyer's brainchild.
10:12She first introduced the concept during her audition,
10:15already having the character name and radio show format mapped out.
10:18Hello, I'm Margaret Jo McCullough,
10:20and you're listening to Delicious Dish.
10:23Margaret Jo McCullen made her debut on the first edition of Delicious Dish in season 22,
10:28the same season Gasteyer joined the cast.
10:32The character went on to become a staple on the show,
10:34appearing over a dozen times,
10:36most notably in the episodes hosted by Alec Baldwin and Betty White.
10:39I have to say, your balls are so tender.
10:43Well, there's no beating my balls.
10:47They're made from a secret, sweaty family recipe.
10:51No one can resist my sweaty balls.
10:59Auditioning for a show as legendary as Saturday Night Live
11:01must be a nerve-wracking process for any comedian.
11:04But watching Kristen Wiig do it,
11:06you could tell that she was right at home.
11:08Wiig came prepared with a lineup of fully-fleshed characters,
11:12including the now-iconic Target Lady.
11:14I'm sorry that I smelled your candle.
11:17Right now we're having a sale on all of our holiday candles.
11:21God, I hope someone walks up soon so I can say welcome to Target.
11:23I just want to say welcome to Target to somebody.
11:25Welcome to Target!
11:27This overbearing and overly enthusiastic employee,
11:30with a penchant for irritating everyone in her line of sight,
11:33had already been part of Wiig's repertoire since her days at the Groundlings.
11:36The other day I zipped down so darn quickly,
11:39I flew into my neighbour's yard and threw her legs
11:41and ended up next to her Acura!
11:43Okay, I'm sorry, my girlfriend's waiting in the car, so...
11:48You're what?
11:51The character impressed the show's producers enough
11:53that they added Wiig to season 31,
11:56even after it had already premiered.
11:58According to one producer,
11:59many of Wiig's audition pieces also made it onto the show,
12:02including Aunt Linda,
12:03the perpetually unimpressed film critic.
12:06Here's a novel idea.
12:08Hey, chef!
12:09Stop doing so many sit-ups in your Calvin Clingers
12:12and hire more people!
12:15They're understaffed!
12:17And I didn't learn how to cook one thing!
12:19Rachel Ray would be rolling in her grave.
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12:38Number 1.
12:39Frank Henderson
12:40Will Ferrell
12:41In his very first sketch on Saturday Night Live,
12:44Will Ferrell played Frank Henderson,
12:46a dad at a neighbourhood barbecue
12:47who periodically breaks from his calm demeanour
12:50to yell at his sons.
12:51You've been showing off for the Taylors, is that it?
12:55I'm going to put out a little show of my own!
12:58The sketch was an instant hit with the audience,
13:00and it was a clear sign that Ferrell was destined for greatness on the show.
13:03But before Henderson won over the audience,
13:05he already impressed the producers
13:06who saw a version of the character during Ferrell's audition.
13:10I'll tell you,
13:10I lost four balls off that first tee.
13:12Yeah, no, no,
13:13I took a 12,
13:15and I was fine after that,
13:16but boy, you're right,
13:17that hole's a...
13:18If you don't get off the shed
13:20in two seconds,
13:22I'm going to shove this spatula
13:24into orifices you didn't know you had.
13:27Now get off the shed!
13:29But, uh, yeah,
13:30anybody want a burger?
13:31While the live sketch was enhanced
13:33by the shocked reactions of Henderson's neighbours,
13:35Ferrell made it just as compelling during his audition,
13:38despite being alone on an empty stage.
13:40There was no way SNL was letting that guy walk out the door.
13:44It's hard,
13:45it's expensive,
13:45and yet we keep playing it.
13:47Huh?
13:47What's up with that?
13:48It's kind of funny.
13:49Get off the goddamn shed!
13:51Off the shed!
13:53Get off the shed!
13:55Get off the goddamn shed!
14:00What other SNL characters
14:02do you think were born
14:03before the cast members even joined the show?
14:06Let us know in the comments below.
14:07Do you agree with our picks?
14:16Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
14:18and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
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