Who Is Andrew Dismukes? Watch The 'SNL's New Featured Player's Stand-Up

- Saturday Night Live -
Who Is Andrew Dismukes? Watch The 'SNL's New Featured Player's Stand-Up

There's a foreboding chill in the air, so we know what that means: The start of our first pandemic autumn is nigh, as is the 2020 presidential election. Good thing we've got Saturday Night Live to help us laugh through the pain. And, oh, what laughter we'll need!

Luckily, the series is up for the challenge, based on some announcements made by NBC Wednesday. Not only did the sketch series announce that Jim Carrey would portray Joe Biden throughout the entirety of the season, but it also filled us in on this year's featured players, one of whom has already written for Saturday Night Live for three years. But who is Andrew Dismukes? Here's a sneak peek at what you might expect from the writer-turned-cast member.

Though we have yet to see Dismukes on screen, he seems a natural for the long-running series, with a broad sensibility that seems to mimic one of Saturday Night Live's most successful writers, John Mulaney. (Of course, perhaps the fact that Dismukes looks like Mulaney — with a little Lukas Haas thrown in for good measure — makes the comparison that much more evident.) Just see this video of the comedian performing at 2016's Funniest Person in Austin finals, during which he talks about his Cajun background and the political environment, with a good Mossimo reference thrown in for extra laughs.

[video Embed]

(For what it's worth, Dismukes missed out on the win, which went to Lashonda Lester, who passed away in 2017.)

It's no wonder Dismukes seems such a natural — he's been honing his craft for some time. Talking with Comedy Wham, the comedian spoke about performing sketches to his troop as a Boy Scout long before his first open mic while at University of Texas Austin. He was seasoned as a stand-up before being asked to audition for Saturday Night Live, an experience he detailed to his alma mater. “I was asked to audition in New York City and it’s a different process depending on the person’s approach whether they do sketches or characters and my strength is standup," he said, before launching into a story familiar to anyone who has heard about the audition process from Saturday Night Live cast members past, present, and never were. “On the first audition, you go into the studio on the main stage and it’s empty except for three older guys in the seats including Lorne Michaels. It’s intimidating. You can hear the lack of laughter in your head.”

Once he was hired, Dismukes was responsible for memorable moments on the series, like this "Brothers" sketch:

[video Embed]

And though I only have Reddit confirmation that Dismukes is behind this "Bayou Benny" sketch, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine this was his brainchild, considering his Cajun material:

[video Embed]

As for more of Dismukes' original comedy? Though it's difficult to find any sketch comedy from the performer, an old YouTube page features an early sketch from 2013:

[video Embed]

And he snagged a notable appearance in Kristen Stewart's 2019 monologue as an audience member:

[video Embed]

That self-deprecating mentality seems to be at the heart of Dismukes' comedy, based on this 2016 interview about his stand-up work:

[video Embed]

Though we have to wait until October 3 to see Dismukes in action, you can catch up with him via his Twitter.

Join For Free
Sign up for a free account on our new, female-founded site to personalize your feed and get access to our community and conversations.

Discover More