Importing an American cultural institution and expecting Brits to find it funny might sound Sisyphean. You are being set up for a fall and it is almost futile to try.

Why? Well, aside from Buzz Balls and the Scissor Sisters, we tend to consciously loathe cultural American imports.

Have you ever watched Brighton Belles? Obviously not, and for good reason. This attempt at the USA’s Golden Girls was a pale imitation of its American counterpart and a real waste of Dame Sheila Hancock’s talents.

SNL UK should not work and, in fact, many did not want it to work at all.

Before the cast had so much as sat for their first table read, many were already writing it off. Then any initial reviews of SNL UK were framed in negativity, with the Guardian’s Lucy Mangan reluctantly giving it three stars and remarking that “it could have been a lot worse.” The Times described it as ” funny … yet.” Hardly a ringing endorsement.

In addition, comedy in the UK has long been struggling. Aside from a few standout exceptions, such as Motherland (and its spin-offs), Last One Laughing and the odd one-off project, I have not found anything remotely funny in years this side of the Atlantic. Stand-up has not fared any better, with comedians either being pastiche at their best or sanctimonious at their worst. I do not watch TV or go to a comedy clubs to be lectured about how evil I am for wanting lower taxes — do you?

As a conservative, this is not an isolated experience. We have often complained, with some fair justification, that mainstream comedy has become painfully narrow and excessively ideological. The answer is not, however, to clutch at pearls, whine about being the object of satire and to then demand overtly right-wing comedy as some kind of compensation. After years of having to put up with Nish Kumar lecturing us, I can understand the thirst for comedic reparations — almost. But this is not what funny comedy needs.

SNL UK, then, with its political edges, young cast of new faces and all the baggage from its USA sister show should not work on paper. But, against all the odds, all the sneering, the naysayers and the subeditors who wrote the obituary of the show before its very first episode, it has been a success.

Firstly, the show gives our political culture the Family Guy treatment. By this I mean that SNL UK treats all politics, politicians and parties with equal opportunity irreverence. There is a sort of chaotic, fun, indiscriminate disrespect for all, whoever you are.

Family Guy embodies this tradition, poking fun at all stereotypes and all clichés, and often with jokes about Jewish people so close to the bone you would be minded to double check that award-winning talents like Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis and Seth Green are all definitely Jewish. Family Guy is happy to poke fun at everyone, including themselves.

It is in this tradition that SNL UK succeeds. This is most notable in its cold opens. This is basically a US comedy technique that plunges the audience straight into the action without any title card or context — before SNL’s traditional Brechtian segue “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” For the very first episode, George Fouracres became an instant hit with his depiction of a dithering Keir Starmer, quaking in his boots to call Donald Trump. The real life Trump would later share this sketch on his Truth Social and X profiles. The mockery does not stop there.

The two standout stars are Ania Magliano and Paddy Young, in the desk comedy skit ‘Weekend Update,’ and are two standout stars. It is a delight to watch them get through their lines, even break a few times, and poke fun at us all. No one is safe.

The Liberal Democrats are mocked for their dwindling importance. Reform’s recent sting into racist and misogynist councillors gets some airtime, as does Farage for his own hypocrisies. Ania even dedicated an entire segment to covering the Tory Party conference — with the exceedingly tall, good sport James McAlpine serving as a new vehicle for funny gags about the Tory’s Etonian roots. They even called Rachel Reeves a bitch for hiking our taxes — yes!

This is then not a show that is scared to be bold and topical with its satire. It punches a lot harder than its US counterpart and is building its own unique British satirical voice. Indeed, satire is healthier than it attacks pomposity, ego and our human quirks rather than trying to police our opinions. SNL UK does not wag its finger at us and tell us we are stupid, wrong or ignorant for who we are, but pulls us up on our idiosyncrasies and ridiculousness.

Beyond the comedic timing and audaciousness of Fouracres, Magliano and Young, character comedy drives significant success in this show.

Key talents in this field emerge in Emma Sidi and Ayoade Bamgboye. Sidi is an accomplished character comedienne, able to communicate quickly to the audience a new character and allowing a brief story arc within the constraints of a sketch to drive the sketch’s comedy. One sketch mocking the banality of shows like QVC has Emma selling rings on live TV. Watched on by Bamgboye and guest host Nicola Coughlan, Emma’s character work brings what is a simple but nonetheless hilarious physical joke to an even more hysterical level. Her character’s finger is extremely long, which is enough to make me laugh, but Sidi’s character work here drives a story that goes beyond the prosthetics. Even Coughlan nearly breaks on-stage. Remember, this show is live.

Bamgboye is also extremely versatile and fresh. It is easy to see why she won ‘Best Newcomer’ at the 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Her contributions across the show are so varied and unpredictable, it showcases the breadth of her talent and wit. I especially liked her piece to camera on why women were not having enough babies. Part character, part observational comedy — I was not sure if this was her opinions or a skit, but it just worked. And of course, I would like to see more of her Kemi Badenoch too if any of the writers are reading this.

We should want to see new talent emerge in this way. It takes real audiences and institutions to impart expertise for fresh actors to hone their craft. For British comedy, its ability to do this from a position of confidence is key.

This show, if a continued success, should aim to become a sharper version of SNL in content, but hopefully, like the US version, still provid a steady pipeline of break-out talent, pushing the comedic Overton window and creating a place for future household names to cut their teeth.

Yes, not every sketch works. But in fact, it is the areas that are the most American in flavour where it can fall flat — especially in the opening monologues with often achingly choreographed ‘audience participation.’

Coughlan’s monologue too featured some pretty clumsy bits with the audience, and a slightly overdone joke about Irish identity. But SNL UK have since remedied this with their recent ‘average person’ feature that laughed at just how tribalistic and zero-sum political culture has become, especially on topics like Palestine and Israel.

But to complain that not every sketch lands is to misunderstand the heritage of British comedy — of shows like the Fast Show, Not the Nine of Clock News, Dead Ringers or the Catherine Tate Show. The duds and flat pieces are part of the enjoyment, even more so in a live recording. A show like this, willing to take risks and fail, is one that will produce moments of genuine surprise and comedy gold. This show is erratic, and often rude, but it is properly British.

We have not simply imported a US cultural institution here and hoped for the best. SNL UK filled it with new British talent, borrowed from a wide pool of comedic traditions ranging from character through physical to observational; a show in which both lefties and Tories can laugh at their opponents’ expense. Creating a show that both Angela Rayner and Liz Truss should find funny? Sounds like a British triumph to me.

The original image is a photo of Paddy Young by Jennifer 8. Lee.