OCTOBER 7 • 2021 | 45

NEW JEWISH SNL CAST 
MEMBER; PLAYOFF 
HEBREWS; ‘JEWISH’ GHOST
The season premiere of 
Saturday Night Live was Oct. 
2. However, the three new 
SNL cast members were not 
announced until just a few 
days before the premiere 
show. So, as usual, I am 
doing a bit of catch-up in this 
column. Fortunately, it was 
surprisingly easy to quickly 
confirm that one of three, 
Sarah Sherman, is Jewish. 
Sherman, who is about 

27, grew up on Long Island. 
She went to Northwestern 
University in Chicago and 
graduated in December 
2015. Shortly thereaf-
ter, she began hosting 
a monthly variety show 
in Chicago put on by an 
ensemble company called 
Helltrap Nightmare. Helltrap 
Nightmare is a group of 
professional “edgy weirdo” 
comics who dress in outra-
geous costumes. 
Sherman was a core 
member of this ensemble 
and appeared in every 
show Helltrap put on from 
2016-2019. She was voted 
Chicago’s best comic (2016) 
in a “big-time” reader poll. In 

2018, the Helltrap ensemble 
moved to Los Angeles.
Sherman’s high school 
nickname was “Squirm” 
because, she said, she was 
“really skinny and gross and 
squirmy.” She embraced the 
nickname, and Sarah Squirm 
was Sherman’s Helltrap 
Nightmare stage name. She 
told Helltrap audiences to 
“embrace their inner squirm.”
In a 2019 profile/interview 
in Vice Magazine, the author 
began the piece by noting 
that “Helltrap Nightmare is 
billed as an ensemble. But 
it really is the Sarah Squirm 
Show.” 
Sherman mixed in so 
many Jewish references in 
her Vice interview answers 
that I can’t repeat them all 
here. Here’s most of the text 
of one memorable “Jewish” 
exchange. The interviewer 
(a Catholic) and Sherman 
ventured into Jewish versus 
Catholic guilt. 
Sherman said: “I wasn’t 
raised to be told I was bad, 
or that there were sins 
inside me I needed to exor-
cise. I think Jews post-Ho-
locaust are raised like, ‘We 
are the chosen people.’ I’ve 
always been taught that I’m 
gifted and a genius.” 
The interviewer replied: 
“Catholic guilt is like, ‘You’re 
never going to be truly pure’.”
Sherman responded: 
“Jewish guilt is more like my 
dad … He’s always calling 
me on the High Holidays: 
‘Did you go to shul?” I’m 
like, ‘No.’ And he always 
says, ‘Just remember, 6 mil-
lion in the oven, that’s all I’m 
gonna say.’ That’s Jewish 
guilt.”

POST-SEASON BASEBALL
The major league baseball 
playoffs began Oct. 5. As 
I write this, 12 teams have 
clinched or are still in the 
running for a playoff spot. 
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay 
have already won their divi-
sion title and will not have 
to appear in a one-game 
wild card playoff. It is likely 
that Houston will win its 
division and, also, avoid the 
wild card round. Atlanta, 
too, has a good chance 
of winning its division. 
San Francisco has already 
clinched a playoff spot and 
is the favorite to win its 
division. It’s possible that 
Toronto will play well, and 
get lucky, and snare a wild 
card spot.
 I mention Houston, 
Atlanta, San Francisco, and 
Toronto because they all 
have an on-field Jewish 
connection. Houston’s 
star third baseman is Alex 
Bregman, 27. He missed 
about half the games this 
season with a muscle injury 
but returned to the line-
up in September and has 
been hitting pretty well. 
Meanwhile, Atlanta starting 
pitcher Max Fried, 27, has 
had an odd season. He was 

rocked in early appearanc-
es but turned things around 
in the second half. He is 
now 13-7, with a low ERA. 
San Francisco, not seen 
as a contender last March, 
is now viewed by many as 
the best team in baseball. 
Virtually everyone gives 
great credit to Gabe Kapler, 
46, a former major leaguer 
who took over as the Giants’ 
manager last year. His 
training regimen and smart 
“platooning” helped dramat-
ically raise the Giants’ hitting 
stats. Finally, there’s Toronto, 
whose roster includes first 
baseman/designated hitter 
Rowdy Tellez, 26. If Toronto 
makes the playoffs, this 
power hitter may be a big 
asset.

NEW COMEDY
Ghosts is a CBS comedy 
series that premieres on 
Oct. 7 (9 p.m.). The prem-
ise is that a nice young 
married couple inherit a 
huge country estate and 
decide to turn it into a 
bed-and-breakfast. The 
estate house is inhabited 
by a close-knit group of 
“souls” who once lived in 
the house. One ghost lived 
in the 1700s, while others 
died recently. The house’s 
new female co-owner is 
a descendant of one of 
the ghosts, and she is the 
first living person to be 
able to see and talk to the 
ghosts. Asher Grodman, 
34, plays Trevor, one of the 
ghosts. This is the first big 
TV role for this very hand-
some fellow. His father is a 
prominent New Jersey 
physician. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

Gabe 
Kapler

IMDB

Sarah 
Sherman

