In case you’ve been living under a rock, Shane Gillis, the 36-year-old comedian who once did a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stint with Saturday Night Live, just dropped a bombshell.
Quick refresher: Shane was hired by SNL in September 2019, only to be fired four days later when some spicy skeletons fell out of his closet and stirred up controversy faster than you can say, “live from New York!” Despite that very brief tenure, he’s done pretty well in the world of comedy, so much so that he was brought back to host during SNL’s 49th season in February.
But wait, there’s more!
Shane recently hit up the Las Vegas comedy festival Skankfest, where things got hilariously weird. At the festival’s show Coke Magic (yep, that’s real), a little tidbit was dropped about his possible role in SNL’s upcoming 50th season—and it’s a jaw-dropper.
The Plot Twist We Didn’t See Coming
According to the podcast host Luis J. Gomez (the bearer of chaotic news), Shane was apparently offered a gig to play Donald Trump—yep, the hair, the tan, the whole shebang— for the entire 50th season of Saturday Night Live. You’d think this would be a career-defining role, right? I mean, who wouldn’t want to transform into the most meme-able U.S. president every Saturday night?
But Shane, our comedic hero, was like, “Nah, I’m good.”
Wait, what?
Luis spilled the beans on stage, saying, “No one thought Shane was even gonna show up to this festival.” And then he dropped the bomb: “He turned down SNL because he wanted to be here at Coke Magic instead.”
Priorities, People, Priorities
Shane confirmed this absolute mic-drop of a decision, saying, “I wouldn’t miss Coke Magic. They asked me, ‘Shane, are you seriously turning this down? You’d be Donald Trump!’ And I said, ‘Lorne, buddy, I gotta go to Coke Magic.’”
Yup, Shane Gillis turned down SNL’s 50th anniversary Trump gig to attend Coke Magic, a festival with a name that sounds like the beverage aisle collided with a wizard convention. Honestly, this man’s commitment to the joke is on a different level.
So, while you won’t see Shane doing his best Trump impression for an entire season, you can still catch him at Skankfest, proving once again that comedy makes no sense—and that’s what makes it amazing.
Roll the clip of Shane as Trump on SNL below. Trust me, it’s the best almost-career move you’ll never see!
