Michael Che

Che in 2013

Che started performing stand-up comedy in 2009, regularly working several sets per night.[14] In 2012, Che appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.[14][15] In 2013, Variety called Che one of "10 Comics to Watch",[16] while Rolling Stone named him one of "The 50 Funniest People".[11]

Che joined Saturday Night Live as a writer in 2013, at first as a guest writer and soon after as staff writer.[14] On April 28, 2014, it was announced that Che would join The Daily Show in June as a correspondent.[15][17] Che made his onscreen debut as a Daily Show correspondent on June 4. Although he appeared in only nine segments during his brief tenure on the show, he was lauded by TV Guide for his work. His signature piece for the Daily Show was "Race/Off: Live From Somewhere", a satirical commentary on the 2014 Ferguson protests. In this segment, Che "reported" from various locations (with frequent background changes accomplished via chroma 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.[18]

On September 11, 2014, it was announced that Che would take over Cecily Strong's position as a Weekend Update co-anchor for the 40th season of SNL, co-anchoring the segment with Colin Jost.[5] Che is the first African-American co-anchor in the history of Weekend Update.[19] During his first two seasons, Che primarily hosted Weekend Update and rarely appeared in any sketches. During his third season, Che was promoted to the main cast. In December 2017, Che was named co-head writer of Saturday Night Live.[20] Vulture.com's Megh Wright complimented the Weekend Update joke-swapping segment where Che writes shockingly racist jokes for Jost to deliver.[21] Che resigned as head writer ahead of the show's 48th season in 2022.[3]

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.[22] After initially denying in an Instagram post he would leave, he later told Tony Dokoupil on the May 15, 2022 edition of CBS News Sunday Morning that he was uncertain about his future on SNL.[23][24]

In 2014, Che appeared in the movie Top Five, appearing as one of Chris Rock's character's friends.[25]

On September 17, 2018, Che co-hosted the Emmy Awards with Colin Jost.[26] Che and Jost also appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents for WrestleMania 35. The pair got involved in a storyline with wrestler Braun Strowman, which eventually resulted in Che and Jost becoming participants in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.[27]

Che has also appeared as a special guest on several episodes of the podcast "The Roundtable of Gentlemen".[28]