Michael Che

Michael Che Campbell(/ˈtʃeɪ/; born May 19,1983)is an Americanstand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Che is best known for his work on theNBCsketch comedyseriesSaturday Night Live, where he has served as co-anchor onWeekend UpdatealongsideColin Jostsince 2014. Che and Jost were co-head writers at SNL from 2017 until 2022.Che and Jost co-hosted the70th Primetime Emmy Awardsin 2018.
Che was briefly a correspondent forThe Daily Show with Jon Stewartand has previously worked as a writer forSaturday Night Live. At the end of September 2014, he became aWeekend Updateco-anchor for the40th seasonofSaturday Night Livealongside Colin Jost, replacingCecily Strong.
Michael Che Campbell was born inManhattan,New York City,New York, the youngest of seven children of Rose and Nathaniel Campbell.He has four older brothers and two older sisters.One of his older brothers is a detective with theNew York Police Department, and another retired from law enforcement.His father named Michael after the revolutionaryChe Guevara.
Che was raised on theLower East Sideof Manhattan.He graduated from theFiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
Che worked in customer service for a Toyota car dealership for two years. He also created acrylic portraits of celebrities, printed the portraits on T-shirts, and sold them inSoHo.Tommy Hilfigernoticed his work and offered Che freelance work, but he did not turn in any designs.
Che started performing stand-up comedy in 2009, regularly working several sets per night.In 2012, Che appeared on theLate Show with David Letterman.In 2013,Varietycalled Che one of "10 Comics to Watch",whileRolling Stonenamed him one of "The 50 Funniest People".
Che joinedSaturday Night Liveas a writer in 2013, at first as a guest writer and soon after as staff writer.On April 28, 2014, it was announced that Che would joinThe Daily Showin June as a correspondent.Che made his onscreen debut as aDaily Showcorrespondent on June 4. Although he appeared in only nine segments during his brief tenure on the show, he was lauded byTV Guidefor his work. His signature piece for theDaily Showwas "Race/Off: Live From Somewhere", a satirical commentary on the 2014Ferguson protests. In this segment, Che "reported" from various locations (with frequent background changes accomplished viachroma key), looking for a place where a black man would not be harassed by police officers. The sketch ended with Che floating in outer space.
On September 11, 2014, it was announced that Che would take overCecily Strong's position as aWeekend Updateco-anchor for the40th seasonofSNL, co-anchoring the segment withColin Jost.Che is the first African-American co-anchor in the history ofWeekend Update.During his first two seasons, Che primarily hostedWeekend Updateand rarely appeared in any sketches. During histhird season, Che was promoted to the main cast. In December 2017, Che was named co-head writer ofSaturday Night Live.Vulture.com's Megh Wright complimented theWeekend Updatejoke-swapping segment where Che writes shockingly racist jokes for Jost to deliver.Che resigned as head writer ahead of the show's48th seasonin 2022.
At a stand-up show on March 26, 2022, Che announced that he was leaving the desk after the current season, although he didn't state when or why he was leaving.After initially denying in anInstagrampost he would leave, he later toldTony Dokoupilon the May 15, 2022 edition ofCBS News Sunday Morningthat he was uncertain about his future onSNL.
In 2014, Che appeared in the movieTop Five, appearing as one ofChris Rock's character's friends.
On September 17, 2018, Che co-hosted theEmmy Awardswith Colin Jost.Che and Jost also appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode ofWWE'sMonday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents forWrestleMania 35. The pair got involved in a storyline with wrestlerBraun Strowman, which eventually resulted in Che and Jost becoming participants in theAndré the Giant Memorial Battle Royalat WrestleMania.