‘SNL’ Musician’s Reaction to Shane Gillis Monologue Goes Viral

A clip showing a Saturday Night Live musician stony-faced as Shane Gillis performed his monologue has gone viral on social media.

Gillis began his monologue by briefly acknowledging he was fired from the show in 2019, telling the audience not to search online for the reason why.

“Most of you probably have no idea who I am,” Gillis said. “I was fired from this show a while ago but… don’t look that up. Please. If you don’t know who I am, please don’t Google that. It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.”

Gillis was fired from the show just days after being announced as a cast member for making racist remarks, and the show’s decision to have him host Saturday night’s episode sparked criticism.

Gillis struggled to win over the audience in the studio during his monologue, where he made several jokes about his family. He joked about how he was his mother’s “gay best friend” until he began masturbating and about family members with Down syndrome. “I dodged it, but it nicked me,” he joked. He used the word “retarded” in another joke that drew a lukewarm response from the audience.

He noted at times when he expected a joke to get a bigger laugh, even saying at one point that he could see people not enjoying themselves.

“Look, I don’t have any material that can be on TV, alright?” Gillis said. “I’m trying my best. Also, this place is extremely well-lit. I can see everyone not enjoying it. This is, you know, just the most nervous I’ve ever been.”

Meanwhile, several members of the band behind Gillis could be seen remaining stony-faced during the monologue.

A clip showing one musician maintaining a straight face directly behind Gillis as he performed was posted on X, formerly Twitter, where it quickly amassed more than 300,000 views.

“Man, this woman in the SNL band is staring daggers at Shane Gillis throughout his entire monologue,” one person wrote. “Just completely and thoroughly displeased.”

Another said she “looks like she’s about to heckle him for not being ‘PC’ then remembers she’s at her job.”

Another said Gillis was “bombing horrendously,” adding that “you know it’s bad when the entire band behind him is absolutely stock-still.”

However, others said they found Gillis’ jokes funny.

Gillis “was uncomfortable but those jokes were still on point funny,” one person wrote.

Another said that the band behind Gillis “not laughing at all makes this hilarious opening monologue even funnier.”