Martin Herlihy is leaving โSaturday Night Liveโ after five years on the NBC sketch comedy show.
The comedian, a writer for the program whoโs also appeared in dozens of sketches, is not returning for the next season, he has confirmed.
Herlihy debuted on โSNLโ in 2021 as part of comedy trio Please Donโt Destroy with fellow comedians Ben Marshall and John Higgins. The group, who produced pre-recorded digital shorts for the show, drew a significant following for their absurdist humor. Their most memorable sketches include one in which former cast member Pete Davidson features them in a music video about โThree Sad Virgins,โ featuring Taylor Swift.
In another, the crew, along with actor Brendan Gleeson, play a couple of juniors who are looking forward to their final year of high school. Things go awry when Gleeson reveals that he is, in fact, a 67-year-old Irishman.
The trioโs time together on the comedy program came to an end in 2025, following Season 50. Herlihy, who has also appeared in his own solo digital shorts, remained a writer while Higgins left the show. Marshall was promoted to cast member. Please Donโt Destroy, however, has continued to perform together outside of the NBC show and is currently on tour.
Herlihy โ whose father is longtime Adam Sandler collaborator Tim Herlihy, who was also once a head writer on โSNLโ โ joins several other recent big-name departures from the sketch comedy program. Most recently, Chloe Fineman announced in July that she would not be returning for the 52nd season.
โItโs really hard to leave โSNLโ but it does feel like the right time,โ Fineman, who spent seven seasons on the series, wrote on Instagram. โIโm going to miss it a lot. But the people who work there are my family and that place is my home, and I know Iโll never be too far away.โ