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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Saturday Night Live’ celebrates 50 years of comedy<\/p>\n
Live from New York, it’s the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/story-highlights> A “Saturday Night Live” star with ties to Northeast Ohio will soon have his own comedy special on Netflix<\/a>, and he made sure to acknowledge his beginnings in the Buckeye state in the announcement.<\/p>\n Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez, who joined the “SNL” cast ahead of its 2022 season, shared Dec. 8 on Instagram that his first Netflix special, titled “American Boy,” would hit the streaming giant Jan. 7.<\/p>\n “I started comedy at 18 in Cleveland, Ohio at dive bars, small clubs, and poetry slam rooms. 10 years later, stand up has given me everything,” the 27-year-old wrote. “If you\u2019ve ever been to a show, put me on a show, given me advice, or supported me in any way, THANK YOU.”<\/p>\n Before hitting it big at “SNL,” Hern\u00e1ndez, a native of Miami, Florida, played soccer for John Carroll University<\/a>\u00a0in University Heights, Ohio, graduating in 2019. While he was a student, he hosted shows on campus, performed at open mic nights across Cleveland and interned at Hilarities East 4th Street Theatre<\/a> where he had the chance to work behind the scenes and gain access to comics up close so he could see what life in the profession was really like.<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez even created a scholarship at his alma mater<\/a>, which was announced in May, where he will personally mentor one senior student a year who is interested in a career in comedy, entertainment or content creation.<\/p>\n When Hern\u00e1ndez joined the “SNL” cast three years ago, he was the first Gen Z<\/a> member to do so. He’d already seemed to connect with audiences, but it was a sketch dubbed “Domingo” that really became a hit.<\/p>\n It originally aired in October 2024 when Ariana Grande<\/a> was the celebrity guest host and musical guest.<\/p>\n Grande played a bridesmaid and gave a speech to the bride and groom played by Chloe Fineman and Andrew Dismukes, respectively. The bridesmaids sang an intentionally off-key rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s<\/a> hit song, “Espresso” detailing a steamy night between the bride and a stranger, Hern\u00e1ndez’s Domingo, at her bachelorette party. The skit took off online and was reimagined three more times on the show.<\/p>\n Charli XCX parodied Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” when she hosted in November 2024, but the setting changed to a baby shower. Then for the show’s special 50th anniversary episode, the bride and groom were renewing their wedding vows and bridesmaids sang “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me.” Carpenter herself was leading the pack when Domingo as well as his brothers Ronaldo and Santiago, played by Pedro Pascal and Bad Bunny respectively, joined in.<\/p>\n Lastly, the show reprised the role a third time when Carpenter pulled double duty as host and musical guest in October 2025. She led offkey renditions of Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” alongside Sarah Sherman, Ashley Padilla and Veronika Slowikowska who play Fineman’s friends.<\/p>\n The parody makes it clear that Fineman’s character had spent the night with Domingo.<\/p>\n USA TODAY and the Columbus Dispatch contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez’s time at John Carroll, start in comedy<\/h2>\n
Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez’s breakout at ‘Saturday Night Live’<\/h2>\n