Druski Hosts SNL Tonight, the First Online Creator to Do It. Netflix Already Signed Him
The viral comic is the first digital creator to host Saturday Night Live in 52 seasons, days after signing with Netflix. Television has stopped fighting the phone.
By the Heckle Desk · · 2 min readTonight, Druski hosts Saturday Night Live, with the Strokes as musical guest. NBC says he's the first digital content creator to host in the show's 52 seasons, which is a careful way of saying he got famous on a phone instead of on a stage, and that SNL waited until the phone had already won before letting it in.
It's been a big week for a man who, by his own account, spent years pitching Netflix, Amazon and FX and getting nowhere. On Monday, Netflix announced a multiyear deal with Druski and his company, 4LIFERS Entertainment. The first show, Collect & Praise, is a semi-scripted comedy built on his megachurch pastor character, co-starring Mike Epps, and it premieres Dec. 1. Netflix is also licensing some of his YouTube series. So the studios that wouldn't return his calls are now paying to rerun the videos he made because they wouldn't return his calls. Revenge, in show business, is mostly a licensing fee.
The promos are already doing their job. SNL's clip of Druski saying hosting beats his childhood dream had about 510,000 views by Thursday, and one where he does an impression of the Strokes, while standing near the Strokes, had about 315,000. That second one is the bravest thing anyone has done at 30 Rock since they let Elon Musk host.
There's a lot of hand-wringing about this sort of booking, mostly from people who believe that the right way to become a comedian is to spend 15 years in basements telling jokes to six drunks and a bartender. That is a fine way. It's how my generation did it. It's also why my generation is broke. Druski found a crowd of millions without waiting for anyone's permission, and now the gatekeepers are holding the gate open and calling it tradition.
Whether he can carry 90 minutes of live sketch is another matter, and nobody knows yet, including him. Live television has humbled bigger names than his. But he's already hosted the BET Awards, the youngest person ever to do it, so he knows how to stand in front of a crowd that isn't on a screen.
Old institutions always end up hiring the people who made them nervous. It's cheaper than being replaced by them.