Meet John Mulaney: the man who cursed Saturday Night Live. Just kidding. The 38-year-old comedian is returning to host SNL for its special Halloween episode on Oct. 31, after last taking over hosting duties in Feb. 2020. He just so happened to be the second-to-last star to guest host the weekly sketch show, so cast member Ego Nwodim jokingly put the blame on the comic for “curs[ing]” the show in the promo below.
Aside from that, though, John is a pretty cool guy — so much so, he is a world-renown comedian who’s also an Emmy Award-winner. Learn more about one of America’s funniest people below, and why his return to SNL is special:
1. John once wrote for Saturday Night Live. The comedian’s upcoming hosting gig on SNL is actually a homecoming! John was invited to audition for the show in 2008 (along with famous comics like Donald Glover and Ellie Kemper), which earned him a position on the writing team. During his four-year tenure on the team, John and his SNL co-writers were nominated for the “Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series” for four consecutive years between 2009-2012. He also helped create Bill Hader’s iconic “Stefan” character for the show. After leaving SNL in 2012, John returned to guest host in April of 2018, March of 2019, and Feb. 2020 (his Halloween 2020 show will mark his fourth time hosting).
2. He’s from Chicago. John was born in the Windy City on August 26, 1982 to Ellen, who worked as a professor at the prestigious Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and Chip Mulaney, Jr., a lawyer. After graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep, he attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. A proud 2004 grad, John has stayed connected with the school and even participated in a fundraiser for their improv society in 2019.
3. He’s an Emmy winner. While working on the Saturday Night Live writing team for many years, he earned several Emmy Awards! John took home a trophy for his work on Justin Timberlake‘s hilarious opening monologue in 2011, and has also been honored with a slew of nominations. John also took home an Emmy for his special John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City in 2018.
4. He’s a successful comic. In addition to being an Emmy nominated writer, he’s developed a following as a stand-up comedian! John has appeared in two specials for Comedy Central — where he once worked as an assistant — back in 2009 and 2012. He also made waves on Netflix with The Comeback Kid in 2015, which is largely regarded as one of his most successful projects. More recently, John hit the road with Pete Davidson — also a close friend of his — for a tour called “Sundays with Pete & John” in 2019.
5. He had his own show. In addition to his lengthy run on SNL and other projects, John was the brainchild behind his very own sitcom Mulaney. The series debuted on Fox back in 2014, and starred fellow comedians Martin Short, Nasim Pedrad and Fortune Feimster. Unfortunately, the series ran for just a season and was cancelled after 13 episodes — but John has no hard feelings about it. “I think it was a really funny show. And I think it had tons of funny jokes,” he said of Mulaney in a 2018 interview. “That’s not disagreeing with anyone who didn’t like it, but I think at the time I didn’t want to admit, ‘I thought it was good, guys. I wouldn’t have put it out there if I didn’t.”
