Please Don’t Destroy returned to “Saturday Night Live” this week with a new sketch, their first of the season. The show’s in-house comedy troupe — made up of writers Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy — showed up with Higgns and Herlihy as would-be skydivers, while Marshall served as their instructor… who was feeling deeply bad vibes.
Higgins and Herlihy played friends on a skydiving trip to celebrate a birthday. As they’re preparing to jump from the plane, it becomes apparent that the crew onboard is in no condition to facilitate the jump.
Instructor Marshall tells the pair that he’s feeling a little “weird” about leaping from the plane, which isn’t exactly the kind of pep talk you want to hear before making the same commitment. “I’m usually never nervous. Just woke up feeling off today. Like, luck is just not on my side,” Marshall explained.
At the same time, another instructor played by host Michael Keaton has taken a call from his lawyer, who is letting him know he’s lost custody of his children – so, um, not exactly a positive position to be in. To make matters worse, the pilot also tells Higgins and Herlihy that today is his first day on the job, while seeking to assure them that there’s nothing to be worried about.
General mayhem and anxiety follows as the pair weigh their options: to skydive or not to skydive?
The trio from Please Don’t Destroy began performing together in 2017 but amassed a sizeable social media following during the Covid pandemic in 2020. That popularity propelled them to their current jobs at “SNL” and their first nationwide tour in 2023. It should be noted that Herlihy and Higgins both have dads who worked as writers on “SNL,” which has prompted criticism of the group as the product of nepotism — the pair’s fathers are former head writer and producer Tim Herlihy and writer, announcer and producer Steve Higgins.
They’ve previously addressed the critique head on in a sketch with fellow scion of a publicly successful parent, Don Johnson’s daughter Dakota Johnson.
You can watch the full Please Don’t Destroy skydiving sketch from this week’s “SNL” in the video above.
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