Chicago Improv Vet Alex Moffat Joins Cast Of 'Saturday Night Live'

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 12, 2016 10:42PM

Alex Moffat in "Good Little Winnetka Boy" at Annoyance Theater

The comedy pipeline that ranges from Chicago improv training grounds to Saturday Night Live is a familiar one, stretching back to the days when a young Bill Murray graduated from The Second City to SNL. The tradition continued on Monday when the venerable sketch-comedy show announced that Chicago-based Alex Moffat will join the ranks of the Not Ready For Primetime Players when the new season premieres on Oct. 1.

Moffat, a Chicago native, is a Second City alum who also trained at The Annoyance Theater and iO. He’s best known locally for his 2010 solo show “Good Little Winnetka Boy” and “El Show,” a weekly talk/comedy show with comics, musicians and sketch performers that was filmed at iO and broadcast on the web. He also co-starred in the critically approved comedy-thriller hybrid Uncle John, which was also filmed partially in Chicago.

Moffat will join two other new featured players this season: Mikey Day, an SNL staff writer; and Melissa Villasenor, an LA-based impressions specialist who will be the show's first Latina cast member. The three will replace Jay Pharoah, Taran Killam and Jon Rudnitsky, who were unceremoniously dumped early last month. Hopefully our guy fares better!