There’s a special kind of jolt when a comedian walks on screen and you genuinely have no idea what’s about to happen — and that’s exactly what Sarah Sherman brings to every performance. Known to underground fans as Sarah Squirm, she’s the SNL cast member who turned grotesque makeup and body-horror gags into prime-time network comedy.

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Born: March 7, 1993, Long Island, New York ·
Also known as: Sarah Squirm ·
Occupation: Comedian, actress, screenwriter ·
Notable work: Saturday Night Live (since 2021) ·
Known for: Surreal and body horror comedy

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
  • Political party affiliation not publicly known
  • Religious beliefs not publicly confirmed
  • Whether she supports Israel is not publicly stated
3Timeline signal
  • 2021: Joins SNL as featured player (Wikipedia SNL tenure)
  • 2023: Promoted to repertory status (Wikipedia repertory promotion)
  • Dec 2025: HBO special released (Rotten Tomatoes filmography)
4What’s next
  • Continuing SNL work in current seasons
  • Potential touring for HBO special momentum
The upshot

Sherman’s path from underground body-horror clubs to network television represents one of the most unusual career arcs in modern comedy. For fans of surreal humor, she’s proof that the weirdest instincts can find a mainstream audience — but only after a decade of relentless live performance.

Seven biographical facts, one pattern: Sherman’s career divides cleanly into her pre-SNL underground years (2018-2021) and her network prime-time phase (2021-present).

Field Detail
Full name Sarah Sherman
Stage name Sarah Squirm
Birth date March 7, 1993
Birth place Long Island, New York
Occupation Comedian, actress, screenwriter
Years active 2018–present
SNL debut 2021

What is Sarah Sherman famous for?

SNL cast member since 2021

  • Sherman joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player at the start of season 47 in October 2021, according to Wikipedia’s cast listing.
  • She was promoted to repertory status in October 2023, per Wikipedia’s biography.
  • InStyle (celebrity news outlet) reports she bombed her first SNL audition at age 22 and was not cast until six years later.

Surreal and body horror comedy

Also known as Sarah Squirm

  • Sherman performs under the stage name Sarah Squirm, a moniker Apple TV (streaming platform) says was inspired by a high school nickname (confidence: medium).
  • She used this name throughout her underground comedy career before joining SNL, where she performs under her legal name.
The paradox

Sherman built an entire career on body-horror comedy that most network television would consider too extreme, yet she landed on the most-watched sketch comedy show in America. The implication: SNL under Lorne Michaels has increasingly made room for alt-comedy sensibilities that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.

Is Sarah Sherman in a relationship?

Current relationship status

  • As of 2025, Sarah Sherman has no confirmed public partner or known husband, according to Wikipedia’s personal life section and available biographical sources.
  • She is not married, and no credible reports indicate a spouse or long-term partner.

Past relationships known

  • No past relationships have been publicly confirmed or reported in reliable sources.
  • Sherman has no connection to Jimmy Kimmel’s relationship history, nor is she linked to Sarah Silverman’s personal life — the similarity in names often sparks confusion, but they are unrelated both romantically and familially.
Bottom line: Sarah Sherman is not publicly known to be in a relationship. Fans searching for a partner or husband will find no confirmed information. For readers: the available sources simply don’t document a romantic partner. For journalists: the absence of public relationship data does not confirm anything either way — it’s genuinely unknown.

What are Sarah Sherman’s pronouns?

Pronouns used publicly

  • Sarah Sherman uses she/her pronouns, as reflected in Wikipedia’s biography and all major profile coverage.
  • She is a cisgender woman.

Gender identity

  • Sherman is not the nonbinary cast member on SNL. That distinction belongs to Molly Kearney, who joined the show in 2022 and uses they/them pronouns, as Wikipedia’s Molly Kearney page confirms.
  • This is a common point of confusion among SNL viewers given the show’s increasingly diverse cast.

The pattern: Sherman’s public identity is straightforward on gender and pronouns, but the frequent mixing-up with other cast members online creates unnecessary confusion. The trade-off for fans is that a quick check of her Wikipedia page resolves it instantly.

Is Sarah Sherman a Democrat?

Political affiliation

  • Sarah Sherman has not publicly declared a political party affiliation, and no reliable source has confirmed her as a Democrat or Republican.
  • She has not made endorsements or political statements that would clearly affiliate her with a party, according to available biographical records.

Public political statements

  • No public statements on specific political issues or elections have been attributed to Sherman in credible media coverage.
  • Her comedy, while surreal and body-focused, does not prominently feature partisan political material the way some SNL cast members’ work does.

Why this matters: SNL cast members often face public scrutiny over their political leanings, especially given the show’s history of political satire. Sherman appears to keep her personal views separate from her public persona, meaning searches for her political affiliation will necessarily come up empty.

What movies and TV shows has Sarah Sherman been in?

SNL appearances

  • Main cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2021, appearing in sketches, Weekend Update segments, and pre-taped pieces, per Wikipedia.
  • Her sketches often feature grotesque makeup and body-horror elements that distinguish her segments from other cast members’ work, as TheWrap notes.

Three Busy Debras

Nimona

HBO special and other credits

  • Her HBO special Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh was released in December 2025, described by TheWrap as packed with “grotesque makeup, stop-motion visuals, and scatological humor.”
  • She made her television debut in 2018 in an Adult Swim infomercial titled Flayaway, per Rotten Tomatoes.
  • She opened for Eric Andre’s national tour in 2019, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
  • She wrote for the show Magic for Humans from 2019 to 2020, per Rotten Tomatoes.
What to watch

For someone who’s been on network TV since 2021, Sherman’s pre-SNL filmography is surprisingly sparse. The scarcity is the story: she made her name on stage in underground clubs, not through TV credits. Her HBO special is arguably the first full-length document of what she can do without network limits.

Career timeline

Bottom line: Sherman’s career timeline shows a slow, deliberate climb from underground comedy to network television. For aspiring comedians: the six-year gap between bombing that first SNL audition and getting the job is the most instructive detail. For SNL fans: her promotion to repertory status in 2023 signals that the show sees her as a long-term investment.
  • March 7, 1993: Born in Long Island, New York (Wikipedia)
  • 2014: Graduated from Northwestern University (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • 2018: Television debut in Adult Swim infomercial Flayaway (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • 2018–2020: Performed as Sarah Squirm in underground comedy clubs
  • 2019: Opened for Eric Andre’s national tour (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • 2019–2020: Writer for Magic for Humans (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • 2020: Appeared in Three Busy Debras (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • October 2021: Joined SNL as featured player (season 47) (Wikipedia)
  • 2023: Voice role in animated film Nimona (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • October 2023: Promoted to repertory status on SNL (Wikipedia)
  • December 2025: HBO special Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh released (TheWrap)

What we know — and what we don’t

Confirmed facts

  • Sarah Sherman is a comedian, actress, and screenwriter on SNL who uses she/her pronouns (Wikipedia)
  • She was born March 7, 1993, in Long Island, New York (Wikipedia)
  • She performs under the stage name Sarah Squirm (Wikipedia)
  • She is not related to photographer Cindy Sherman (Wikipedia disambiguation)
  • She is not married and has no public partner
  • She graduated from Northwestern University in 2014 (Rotten Tomatoes)
  • Her HBO special Live + in the Flesh released December 2025 (TheWrap)

Unclear

  • Political party affiliation — not publicly known
  • Religious beliefs — not publicly confirmed
  • Whether she supports Israel — not publicly stated
  • Whether the “Squirm” stage name origin story (high school nickname) is accurate — Apple TV reports it, but confidence is medium

In her own words and others’

“Horror and comedy are well matched because horror shows the inside stuff on the outside.”

— Sarah Sherman, as told to Blackbird Spyplane (culture newsletter)

“Sherman built a reputation at SNL through sketches with heavy effects and body-horror elements.”

— TheWrap (entertainment industry publication)

“Sherman bombed her first SNL audition at age 22 and was not cast until six years later.”

— InStyle (celebrity news outlet)

“Her comedy is surrealist; she had been performing for about 10 years by the time of the interview.”

— Nylon (youth culture magazine)

The catch across every profile: Sherman’s own explanations about her comedy are consistently more playful than revealing. She discusses her aesthetic with precision but guards her personal life carefully. For journalists covering her, the available material is rich on craft and sparse on biography.

The trade-off

For audiences drawn to Sherman through SNL, her HBO special offers the unfiltered version of her comedy — but at the cost of the network-friendly guardrails that made her accessible to a mass audience in the first place. Fans of the special may find the SNL version too tame, while network viewers may find the special too extreme.

Sarah Sherman has carved a path that few comedians would even attempt: bringing underground body-horror comedy to network television and making it work. Her career is still early — she’s only been on SNL since 2021 — but the arc so far suggests a performer who knows exactly what she wants to do and has steadily found bigger platforms to do it. For the viewer who discovers her through the HBO special and wonders how she got there, the answer is a decade of live shows, a bombed audition that didn’t stop her, and a willingness to be the weirdest person in any room.

Additional sources

allamericanspeakers.com, snl.fandom.com, blackbirdspyplane.com, instagram.com, instagram.com

For a deeper look into her rise from underground comedy to the SNL stage, check out this profile of SNL comedian Sarah Sherman.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Sarah Sherman’s net worth?

Sarah Sherman’s net worth is not publicly disclosed in any reliable source. As an SNL cast member since 2021, she earns a base salary typical of featured players, but exact figures are not confirmed.

Does Sarah Sherman have siblings?

No reliable public source has confirmed whether Sarah Sherman has siblings. Her family background is not detailed in available biographical profiles.

How tall is Sarah Sherman?

Sarah Sherman’s height is not listed in any official biographical source. No verified measurement has been published.

What is Sarah Sherman’s educational background?

Sherman graduated from Northwestern University in 2014, according to Rotten Tomatoes. During her college years in Chicago, she reportedly created a show called Hell Trap Nightmare, as Polyester Zine (independent culture magazine) notes (confidence: medium).

Is Sarah Sherman on social media?

Yes, Sarah Sherman is active on Instagram under the handle @sarahsquirm, where she posts about her SNL work, stand-up dates, and promotional material for her HBO special.

Did Sarah Sherman write for SNL?

Yes, she was hired as both a writer and featured player when she joined SNL in 2021, per Wikipedia. She has writing credits on numerous sketches during her tenure.

What inspired Sarah Sherman’s comedy style?

Sherman has cited horror films and surrealist art as key influences, telling Blackbird Spyplane that horror and comedy both involve revealing “the inside stuff on the outside.” Her Northwestern University theater background and Chicago alt-comedy scene also shaped her approach.