Barrie comedian among five new cast members on 'Saturday Night Live'

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“Saturday Night Live” is adding five new cast members in Season 51, including Ben Marshall of the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy and Canadian comic Veronika Slowikowska, known for viral sketches on TikTok and Instagram.

The casting announcement Tuesday comes as SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels is looking to shake things up, with four of the 17 cast members and at least one writer from Season 50 leaving the show.

Here are the new crew members and what they have said about joining SNL.

Veronika Slowikowska

Veronika Slowikowska, originally from Barrie, Ont., has been previously seen in television comedies including vampire fantasy “What We Do In The Shadows” and high school sci-fi series “Davey & Jonesie’s Locker.” Her awkward and absurdist TikTok and Instagram skits — co-starring Kyle Chase — are an internet cult favourite and often receive millions of views. The pair also co-host a podcast.

Slowikowska posted on social media on Tuesday that the SNL job was a “dream come true.”

Ben Marshall

Ben Marshall will be familiar to SNL viewers. He’s appeared alongside his Please Don’t Destroy co-stars John Higgins and Martin Herlihy in numerous prerecorded segments since 2021 — including one notable video in which Taylor Swift describes Marshall as “like a sad Ron Weasley” from the “Harry Potter” films.

Other SNL videos featured the comedy trio attempting to solve a missing person case with actor Jon Hamm, and brainstorming ideas for the show with the rapper Bad Bunny, dressed as the animated movie character Shrek. The trio also released a movie, “Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain,” in 2023.

“This is a new chapter, but we’re not going to stop working together anytime soon,” Marshall wrote in a social media post.

“I can’t believe how lucky I was to be a part of this show. It was my dream and I got to live it,” Higgins, who is leaving SNL, wrote on Instagram. Herlihy will continue as a writer, Variety reported.

Kam Patterson

Kam Patterson, 26, is a regular guest on “Kill Tony,” a popular Monday night podcast hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe and Brian Redban that showcases up-and-coming stand-up comedians.

Hinchcliffe drew criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for his controversial performance at a Trump rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden during last year’s presidential campaign. Even the Trump campaign distanced itself from his jokes.

Patterson has credited Hinchcliffe with his rising profile. “Monday nights changed my life,” he said on social media. “Let’s see how I do on Saturdays.”

Patterson is also slated to star in an upcoming film, “72 Hours,” alongside Kevin Hart and fellow SNL cast members Marshall and Marcello Hernández.

Tommy Brennan

Tommy Brennan is a stand-up comedian who jokes with a liberal bent about politics, his Midwestern background and growing up as one of eight siblings. He has appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” hosted by Jimmy Fallon and opened for comedians Nikki Glaser, Taylor Tomlinson and the late Louie Anderson, and was recognized as one of the “New Faces of Comedy” in 2023 by Montreal’s prestigious Just For Laughs festival. He also co-created the “Roommates-in-Law” podcast with Tim Smith.

“This doesn’t feel real, but we’ll see you guys on Saturdays!” he wrote on social media following the SNL announcement Tuesday.

Jeremy Culhane

Jeremy Culhane is a comedic actor with dozens of credits, including on “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” “American Vandal” and “Heathers,” the 2018 television adaption of the ’80s film and on various programs on Dropout, a comedy streaming platform.

His TikTok videos, in which he plays an earnest, excitable character, have garnered millions of views.

Culhane is also a performer with the famed improvisational and sketch comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, which congratulated him on joining the cast of SNL in a social media post.

“I’m crying,” Culhane wrote on Instagram.