The triumph of Shane Gillis – spiked
It was all over, before he had taped a single episode. SNL briefly tried to ride out the controversy, before unceremoniously dropping Gillis. A statement described the language in his previous work as offensive, hurtful and unacceptable .
What happened next is a quintessential example of the Streisand Effect, when the attempt to suppress something only ends up pointing a giant spotlight on it. We might as well rechristen it the Gillis Effect.
Gillis refused to issue a grovelling apology, nor did he refashion himself as a conservative culture warrior. He just kept making comedy. He put out a brilliant special on YouTube, Live in Austin, which currently has 24million views. He put out viral sketches. He toured what you might call the Joe Rogan circuit, the hugely successful, decidedly un-PC podcasts orbiting the 56-year-old comic-turned-podfather. Meanwhile, Matt and Shane s Secret Podcast exploded in popularity. It is currently the biggest pod on Patreon, with tens of thousands of paid subscribers.
Following his 2023 blockbuster Netflix special, Beautiful Dogs, Gillis is now on the verge of arena-act status. You can see why SNL came calling.
Notoriety alone doesn t do this, of course. The now 36-year-old Gillis is also easily among the best stand-ups of his generation. His jokes unfold like sketches, his shit-talking, beer-swilling delivery belying immense polish and intelligence. It s a style reminiscent of the best of Dave Chappelle, another comedian who has had his run-ins with the new pearl-clutchers. (Chappelle is a big fan of Gillis.)
Yup. Gillis is good.