Appearing on the Stavvy’s World podcast, Sherman revealed that Lorne Michaels has repeatedly pointed out a face she makes during sketches without realizing it. The expression involves her staring with her mouth wide open whenever something strange is happening around her.
“Lorne always says, ‘You’re going to catch flies in that mouth,’” Sherman laughed, explaining that she often reacts that way when a sketch takes an unexpected or uncomfortable turn.
Sherman defended herself by saying the reactions are genuine. Lately, she’s been cast as more “normal” characters — often wearing blonde wigs — but she insists the situations she’s reacting to are anything but normal.
“I’m legitimately disturbed,” she said, recalling a sketch written by Nikki Glaser and Tommy Brennan in which the characters were siblings with strong sexual tension. “So I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I’m really present in the sketches.”
That commitment sometimes comes at a cost. Sherman admitted she has occasionally been so absorbed in watching the sketch unfold that she’s missed her cue. “Sometimes I’m fully like 10 seconds late on a line because I’m watching too much,” she said.
The comedian also shared a story about a sketch that never made it to air — a particularly gross one involving Mikey Day. The idea featured the two as animatronics that repeatedly vomited, complete with an elaborate “vomit rig” that pumped fake puke through a device hooked around the ear.
Despite the technical effort, the sketch bombed. “It didn’t get a single laugh,” Sherman admitted.
Podcast host Stavros Halkias joked that if Sherman leaves SNL without a vomit rig sketch making it to air, her time on the show would be wasted. Sherman replied that she’s tried — a lot.
“I write four sketches a week, and they’re exactly what you think,” she said. “They don’t make it past the finish line… but we’ll get there.”
Sherman appeared on the podcast to promote her new HBO Max comedy special, Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh, which leans heavily into the body-horror style that made her stand out.
Known for pushing boundaries, Sherman joined Saturday Night Live in Season 47 in October 2021 and was promoted to repertory player two years later. Even if her sketches don’t always make it to air, her commitment — open-mouthed reactions and all — clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed.
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