By Victoria Gladstone and Alena Bitonti
Former Editor-in-Chief and Arts & Entertainment Editor
Marcello Hernandez, best known for his role on “Saturday Night Live,” came to campus on Feb. 4 to deliver a witty comedy show to a sold-out audience in Kendall Hall.
Hernandez’s headliner performance began with jokes about the College, stating he heard everyone was under the effect of the many steam pipes around campus and he was served food from Eickhoff Dining Hall that made him “not feel so good.” His routine also included personal anecdotes about growing up in a Latino household, the chaos of air travel and his “I don’t care” attitude toward current political debates.
New York City-based actor and comedian Tait Winston opened the show and put on display his talent for speaking in accents.
The College Union Board Live Event Coordinator Nicole O’Sullivan played a large role in planning the show, starting back in November, and was happy with how the event played out.
“I could not be happier with how the event turned out,” said O’Sullivan, a senior marketing major. “Everyone was laughing and smiling, which was all I could ask for after putting so much hard work into this event with the rest of my LIVE board.”
Tickets for the event went on sale for the campus community on Jan. 28, but seating was on a first-come, first-served basis. Students began to line up outside of Kendall Hall as early as 3:00 p.m. for the 8:30 p.m. show. Upon arrival into the theater, all audience members were required to put their phones and electronic devices into a sealed pouch with Yondr, a phone-free experience company Hernandez’s management team requested to be used.
“I honestly think the crowd was more engaged and Marcello performed in a more carefree way because there were no phones,” said O’Sullivan. “Marcello ended up performing for way longer than he was contractually supposed to, which goes to show that he was having a great time too.”
CUB, who hosted the comedy show, held a ticket giveaway to promote the event. Members of the CUB Live board announced on Instagram livestream that they were at a secret spot on campus and gave front row tickets to the first ten people who found them.
Hernandez, 27, has been a cast member of NBC’s comedy series “SNL” since 2022. One of his most famous sketches, performed alongside featured host Ariana Grande, was a parody of the Sabrina Carpenter song “Espresso,” sung by a group of bridesmaids to the bride, Chloe Fineman. He played ‘Domingo,’ a man the bride had an affair with on her bachelorette trip.
“I am probably Marcello’s biggest fan,” said Ben Bisignaro, a sophomore communication studies major who was one of the first students to wait in line. “I grew up watching ‘SNL’…and [Hernandez’s Weekend Update Skit] really made me fall back in love with ‘SNL.’”
Bisignaro later was called up on stage by Hernandez during a short questionnaire portion to sing a few lyrics of Chris Stapleton’s country song, “Tennessee Whiskey.”
To find more CUB events like this one, visit their Instagram page @tcnjcub.
