Shane Gillis
Gillis in 2021
Born (1987-12-11) December 11, 1987[1]
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
MediumStand-up comedy, sketch comedy, radio, podcasting
EducationUnited States Military Academy, West Chester University, Elon University
Years active2012–present
GenresObservational comedy, black comedy, off-color humor, shock humor, insult comedy, sarcasm
Subject(s)Everyday life, current events, pop culture, history, human behavior, race relations, self-deprecation, drinking culture, sports
Websiteshanemgillis.com
John Mckeever and Shane Gillis
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2020–present
GenreComedy
Subscribers695 thousand[2]
Total views72.2 million[2]
100,000 subscribers
Last updated: January 16, 2024

Shane Michael Gillis (born December 11, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, sketch comedy writer, and podcaster. He is co-host, along with fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker, of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, the most subscribed to podcast on Patreon.[3][4] In 2019, Gillis was named one of Just for Laughs' "New Faces" at their yearly comedy festival in Montreal.

Gillis was announced as a new cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 2019, only to be fired from the show five days later, due to backlash from clips of a 2018 episode of a podcast featuring jokes that contained slurs.[5][6] In 2021, Gillis released his first comedy special, Shane Gillis: Live in Austin on YouTube.[7] Gillis is also known for his collaborations with filmmaker John McKeever, on their online sketch series Gilly & Keeves.

Early life

Shane Michael Gillis was born on December 11, 1987, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a town located just outside Harrisburg.[8][9] While attending Trinity High School in nearby Camp Hill, he was on its football team as an offensive tackle. He graduated in 2006.[10] He went to West Point but quit shortly into his first year. He subsequently attended and played a year of football at Elon University and eventually graduated from West Chester University.[11] After graduating, he spent six months teaching English in Spain.[12]

Career

Early career (2012–2019)

Gillis began performing comedy in 2012.[13] He regularly performed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania[10] and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[14] To further his career, he relocated to Philadelphia. In 2015, he placed third at Helium Comedy Club's annual "Philly's Phunniest" tournament,[15] and he won the tournament the next year.[16] Shane has named among his biggest stand-up influences Louis C.K., Norm Macdonald, Dave Chappelle, Patrice O'Neal, Bernie Mac, and Bill Burr.[17]

In 2016, Gillis began Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast with Matt McCusker. In 2017, Gillis became a frequent guest on The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Dan Soder, increasing his popularity. He also began a weekly show on Compound Media called A Fair One with Tommy Pope.

In 2019, Comedy Central named Gillis an "Up Next" comedian as he performed at Comedy Central's Clusterfest.[18] That same year, Gillis was recognized as a "New Face" at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.[19][20] During an interview for All Things Considered at that festival, Gillis was interrupted by stand-up comedian Robert Kelly, who said, "You're very funny, dude ... I mean, I wanted to hate it."[21] The interviewer, Andrew Limbong, described Gillis' set at the festival, writing: "Shane Gillis gives off post-jock energy—like someone who used to play a sport in school, then had the self-awareness to realize he wasn't cut out for it and stopped—but he isn't bitter about it at all. His friendly demeanor distracts you, while he sneaks in just a whiff of social insight within a barrage of self-deprecating sex jokes."[22]

Saturday Night Live (2019)

Gillis's addition to Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a featured cast member was announced on September 12, 2019, along with Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman.[23][24]

Later that day, however, several clips of a 2018 episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, which have since been removed from YouTube, resurfaced, in which Gillis made jokes that included the word "chink", an ethnic slur for Chinese people.[9][25][26] In other clips, Gillis and co-host Matt McCusker ranked comedians by race, gender, and sexual orientation, which included the use of gay slurs.[25] Later that night, Gillis posted a tweet saying that "I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries" and that "if you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you're going to find a lot of bad misses. I'm happy to apologize to anyone who's actually offended by anything I've said."[27] Four days later, a spokesperson for Lorne Michaels, a co-creator of the show, announced that Gillis had been removed from the cast.[6]

Afterwards, Gillis maintained that while the clips looked bad, they were taken out of context and he was misquoted in the majority of articles reporting the story. Gillis also stated that he immediately regretted using the "I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries" statement, blaming it on having "literally 5 minutes of being pressured to write anything", acknowledging the statement was "corny" and that he officially retracted the statement.[28][29]

Continuation of stand-up, sketch and comedy special (2020–present)

In January 2020, Gillis was named "2019's Stand-Up Comedian of the Year" in Theinterrobang's Sixth Annual Comedy Awards.[30]

In December 2020, Shane and comedian John McKeever launched the web series Gilly and Keeves, featuring comedy sketches starring Gillis and McKeever such as "ISIS Toyota", "Uncle Daycare", and "Trump Speed Dating".[31]

On September 7, 2021, Gillis released his first live comedy special, Shane Gillis: Live in Austin on YouTube. Comedy website The Laugh Button ranked Shane's special in second place in their top 20 comedy specials of 2021.[32]

Since 2021, Gillis along with comics Mark Normand and Ari Shaffir, have made a series of appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, known as the "Protect Our Parks" episodes.[33]

Gillis released his second live comedy special, Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs on September 5, 2023, on Netflix.[34]

In media

Gillis frequently appears on the Faction Talk show The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly (formerly Dan Soder) on Sirius XM, The Doug Stanhope Podcast, and the podcasts Legion of Skanks and The Real Ass Podcast on the GaS Digital Network. He has also appeared in the comedy talk show The Adam Friedland Show. He was profiled in The New Yorker on September 19, 2022.[3]

References

  1. ↑ The Bonfire [@TheBonfireSXM] (December 12, 2018). "Wishing @Shanemgillis a very Happy Birthday from #TheBonfire!! #CrackleCrackle" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 "About Gilly and Keeves". YouTube.
  3. 1 2 Sanneh, Kelefa (September 26, 2022). "The Joker: The Fall and Rise of Shane Gillis." Annals of Comedy. The New Yorker, vol. 98, no. 30, pp. 30–36. Audio online.
  4. ↑ Jason Zinoman (September 16, 2023). "How Shane Gillis Both Plays to and Mocks Red Staters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Wikidata Q122656232. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  5. ↑ Romo, Vanessa (September 16, 2019). "Comedian Shane Gillis Fired From 'Saturday Night Live' For Racist Remarks". NPR. Retrieved September 17, 2019. 'After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,' a spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of producer Lorne Michaels.
  6. 1 2 Drury, Shrahreh; Porter, Rick (September 16, 2019). "Shane Gillis Out at 'Saturday Night Live' Following Racial, Homophobic Slurs in Podcast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Shane Gillis Live in Austin Review: New Standup Special Is Dark, Funny and Free on YouTube". MovieWeb. September 5, 2021.
  8. ↑ Vadala, Nick (September 13, 2019). "New SNL cast member Shane Gillis, a Pennsylvania native, responds to outrage over past racist, homophobic comments". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Coleman, Nancy (September 12, 2019). "Shane Gillis, New 'S.N.L.' Cast Member, Used Racial Slur in Podcast". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Hatmaker, Julia (September 12, 2019). "'SNL' casts Mechanicsburg comedian, first Asian American performer". PennLive. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Saturday Night Live fires Shane Gillis: Father of central Pa. comedian reacts". PennLive. September 16, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  12. ↑ Sannek, Kelefa (September 19, 2022). "Shane Gillis's Fall and Rise". New Yorker. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  13. ↑ George, Means; Christopher, Linvill (June 11, 2018). "Comedy: Laughing Matters". Philadelphia Neighborhoods. Lew Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  14. ↑ The Chameleon Club [@Chameleon_Club] (January 4, 2015). "TONIGHT in the Lizard Lounge! Comedian Joe DeRosa returns with locals Brendan Krick, Shane Gillis, and Wes Williams! 7pm" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "Philadelphia Comics Are Killing It! Helium Picks Philly's Phunniest This Week". The Interrobang. Orange Pop Media. July 13, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  16. ↑ Vadala, Nick (September 13, 2019). "New SNL cast member Shane Gillis, a Pennsylvania native, responds to outrage over past racist, homophobic comments". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  17. ↑ "From Decorated Veteran to Saturday Night Live with Shane Gillis | OOPS Full Episode 52" – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ "Comedy Central Selects 18 Comics as the Most Promising Emerging Talent". The Interrobang. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Orange Pop Media. May 31, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  19. ↑ Porter, Rick (September 12, 2019). "'Saturday Night Live' Adds Trio to Season 45 Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  20. ↑ Wright, Megh (July 22, 2019). "Just for Laughs Announces Its 2019 New Faces". Vulture. New York City: Vox Media. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  21. ↑ Limbong, Andrew (July 27, 2019). "New Faces At This Year's 'Just For Laughs' Comedy Festival". All Things Considered. Washington, D.C.: NPR. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  22. ↑ Limbong, Andrew (July 30, 2019). "New Faces Emerge At The World's Biggest Comedy Festival". NPR. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  23. ↑ Stevens, Matt (September 17, 2019). "Andrew Yang Knows You May Disagree With Him About Shane Gillis". The New York Times. p. C1. Retrieved September 18, 2019. Then, about an hour after the announcement, Mr. Yang tweeted again, suggesting that Mr. Gillis had taken him up on his offer to talk things out. 'Shane Gillis reached out,' Mr. Yang said. 'Looks like we will be sitting down together soon.'
  24. ↑ Otterson, Joe (September 12, 2019). "'Saturday Night Live' Adds Three New Cast Members for Season 45". Variety. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  25. 1 2 Wright, Megh (September 12, 2019). "New SNL Hire Shane Gillis Has a History of Racist and Homophobic Remarks". Vulture. New York City: Vox Media. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  26. ↑ Husband, Andrew (September 13, 2019). "'SNL' Wanted Shane Gillis And They Probably Don't Mind All The (Bad) Press". Forbes. New York City. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  27. ↑ Bradley, Laura (September 13, 2019). "SNL Hire Shane Gillis Doesn't Quite Apologize for Racist, Homophobic Remarks". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  28. ↑ "#173 – Shane Gillis | The Tim Dillon Show" – via YouTube.
  29. ↑ "Cancelled feat. Shane Gillis – Full Episode" – via YouTube.
  30. ↑ "2019 Comedy Awards! Here Are Your Winners (As Voted For By You!) For the Sixth Annual Comedy Awards". January 7, 2020.
  31. ↑ Ellis, Francis (December 15, 2020). "Shane Gillis, Comedian Cancelled Off SNL, Is Making Phenomenal Sketches".
  32. ↑ "The 20 Best Comedy Albums and Specials of 2021".
  33. ↑ "'Super flexible' Joe Rogan says he can perform fellatio on himself". November 12, 2021.
  34. ↑ Rice, Lynette (August 22, 2023). "Shane Gillis To Make Netflix Comedy Debut In September".
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