Martin Herlihy is leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons, but his exit arrives after a run that hardly felt ready to end. Since joining in 2021 alongside Ben Marshall and John Higgins, Herlihy has helped turn Please Don’t Destroy’s cramped 30 Rock office shorts into a reliable comedy machine. His awkward, deadpan performances alongside hosts like Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson made him especially hard to miss.

That is precisely why the news feels so fresh that fans are double checking it, as though someone accidentally ended the sketch too early.

Martin Herlihy is leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons, with no reason given for his departure, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The writer and performer joined the show in 2021 alongside Ben Marshall and John Higgins, turning Please Don’t Destroy into one of the series’ most recognizable comedy forces. His exit now closes an unusually eventful chapter.

Herlihy primarily worked behind the scenes as a writer, while still popping up onscreen in memorable bits such as ‘Blowing It and Green Flags. Ahead of Season 51, the trio’s onscreen partnership was reshuffled, with John Higgins leaving and Ben Marshall moving into the main cast. Herlihy subsequently stepped back from regular shorts and focused more heavily on writing.

The Hollywood Reporter reveal arrives following John Higgins is out of Studio 8H, although their departures arrive one year apart. The connection is particularly amusing because both comedians come from very familiar Saturday Night Live bloodlines, with Herlihy being the son of longtime show writer Tim Herlihy and John Higgins being the son of producer Steve Higgins. Ben Marshall remains the last man standing.

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With Martin Herlihy now leaving Saturday Night Live and Bowen Yang’s reasons for leaving still a topic of discussion, the bigger question is what Herlihy has planned next.

Nothing has been confirmed about what Martin Herlihy will do next, although acting looks like a particularly plausible possibility given his growing screen résumé. He has appeared in Happy Gilmore 2 and starred opposite Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man remake, with Roommates and The Breadwinners also adding to his film slate.

Meanwhile, Please Don’t Destroy is hardly packing away its comedy supplies, with the troupe remaining active independently of NBC and developing standalone projects and live comedy after its 2025 Please Don’t Destroy LIVE special. Between Herlihy’s expanding acting résumé and the trio’s plans beyond Saturday Night Live, the departures ultimately leave the next chapter looking rather more interesting than the last.

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Will you be missing Martin Herlihy in the coming Saturday Night Live sketches? Let us know in the comments!