Marcello Hernández’s Netflix special positions him as an ‘SNL’ breakout

In a New York Times review, critic Jason Zinoman says Marcello Hernández’s debut stand-up special, American Boy, on Netflix highlights the leading-man charisma and hunger that have made him the breakout of the current Saturday Night Live cast.

Zinoman writes that Hernández has been powered on S.N.L. by his lothario character Domingo and that the special leans into nostalgia and broad appeal—starting with the title, he says. The hour opens and closes with Hernández’s Cuban immigrant mother introducing and embracing him onstage; much of the material centers on family stories about a disciplinarian mother, coerced childhood dancing and the softening effect of those hugs.

The critic describes Hernández’s stage persona as physically exuberant and goofily sweet, with a deep voice and a Looney Tunes quality. Zinoman compares his charm to moments that helped earlier S.N.L. alumni rise, and notes echoes of contemporary comics such as Sebastian Maniscalco. He finds the material about Hernández’s sister and mother the strongest and funniest, while calling some jokes derivative and the political material about immigrants tentative—though it ends with the line, "We’ll be back."

Zinoman says Hernández’s career will be an interesting test case and that broader success would require luck in addition to talent and drive; he adds, "I could see it," and concludes on a firmer note: "He will be back."

Key Topics

Culture, Marcello Hernández, American Boy, Netflix, Saturday Night Live, Domingo