I love covering awesome comedians. I happen to have a soft spot for the lady ones since I have attempted to be a lady comedian myself. But you know what really gets my knickers in a twist? (And it’s certainly not reserved for just women.) Calling someone the next “someone else.” Today, the NY Post put up a very flattering piece about Saturday Night Live‘s newest female cast member, Kate McKinnon. And this is great! I love that she’s getting positive press, and I’m not knocking the Post for giving the girl the props she deserves. But why do we have to call her “the next Kristen Wiig” when “Kate McKinnon” is awesome in her own right? We already have a Kristen Wiig, and she’s great. But she makes movies now, so let’s move on and let McKinnon be McKinnon.
Don’t get me wrong, I know everyone means well in their comparison. Wiig was an amazing character actress. So is McKinnon, who performed her delightfully weird brand of character work on New York City stages as well as on Logo’s The Big Gay Sketch Show before she was cast on SNL. But despite both being ladies who are good at turning themselves into a variety of crazy characters, I just don’t think it’s necessary to compare them. It’s great to acknowledge that Wiig’s departure will not be leaving a huge void in the cast; this was never a problem even with Abby Elliott leaving, considering that Nasim Pedrad and Vanessa Bayer are also sticking around, and they’re also wonderful. And yes, Wiig will be missed, as was Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, and Tina Fey. But now, we have Kate McKinnon, and that’s a very excellent thing.
It’s a big universe, kids. There is plenty of room for more than one star.