‘Saturday Night Live’ Adds New Cast Member Ego Nwodim As Featured Player, Plus Four New Writers

“Saturday Night Live” has added Los Angeles-based comedian Ego Nwodim as a featured player for its 44th season, NBC announced Friday. “SNL” also added Alan Linic, Alison Gates, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang to its roster of writers. Nwodim will make her “SNL” debut when the famed sketch comedy series premieres its 44th season, September 29 with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West.

Nwodim is a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Los Angeles, was named a New Face at the Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival in 2016, and participated in the CBS Diversity Showcase that same year. She has previously appeared onscreen in “Adam Ruins Everything,” “2 Broke Girls,” and “Singularity.”

The new writers all have improv backgrounds; Linic and Gates trained at Chicago’s “Second City,” Mandel at Chicago’s iO Theater, and Yang at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade. Yang is the co-host of the popular “Las Culturistas” podcast, with Matt Rogers. The duo also writes recaps of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” for Vulture.

Michael Che, Colin Jost, and Kent Sublette will continue as co-head writers, and Bryan Tucker was named senior writer.