SNL's OTHER Secret Audition for Women of Color Was in NYC

On Wednesday, the internet was atwitter over now-confirmed rumors that SNL, on the hunt for a black female cast member, held a “secret” audition in Los Angeles last week. But what you might not know is that, according to a tipster, there was one held here in NYC, too, the night before. We have the list of who was at that show — and who got callbacks.

Today, we got a tip from a self-proclaimed “comedy nerd” reader who said that she’s pretty darn sure that the show she attended at the P. I. T. on December 2nd was actually New York’s branch of the Search For SNL’s Next Black Female Cast Member. The show, called “It’s A Character Thing,” featured 10 female comedians — 8 black women, one Latina, and one Asian. Our tipster says that she and the rest of the audience had no idea that they were witnessing a “secret” SNL audition, but that she found it noteworthy that so many women of color were on the same show. She also saw Lorne Michaels heading into the theater, and it didn’t occur to her what was happening until she read reports of the audition in LA.

According to our tipster, the following performers were on the bill: Natasha Rothwell, Sasheer Zamata, Kerry Coddett, Jen Kwok, Tanisha Long, Brianna Baker, Veronica Osorio, Liza Dye, and Abbie Crutchfield (that’s 9; but that’s the list we were sent).

Our tipster says that, according to her friend who works in comedy and knows one of the women who auditioned that Rothwell, Zamata, and Coddett all got callbacks.

Verifiable? Sort of. One comedian on the list has a calendar on her website, and she was definitely scheduled to perform at the PIT on the 2nd. I reached out to a couple of others, and one responded with a gif of Homer Simpson slowly backing into a bush. But, then there’s this, from Kerry Coddett’s Twitter account:

The SNL brass will allegedly make their decision after Christmas, and the new black female cast member will make her SNL debut in January.