Best SNL cast member from each state

Brooks Whelan (Iowa)

Brooks Whelan was a man born and raised in the small state of Iowa. He showed a particular interest in mathematics and science growing up, eventually going to the University of Iowa to earn a biomedical engineering degree. But don’t let any of this fool you— Wheelan was just as interested in comedy, performing stand-up comedy in his home state while still a teenager.

Eventually, Wheelan would venture into surrounding states to spread his comedy, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue this passion full time. A few years later, he landed a job as a writer for Saturday Night Live in 2013, becoming a performer on the show as a last-minute addition one week before the season aired.

During that season, Wheelan would regularly be seen on the Weekend Update segments, usually with self-deprecating stand-up comedy bits which served as “public service announcements” for viewers to try to be less like him. Unfortunately, the next year he was let go from the show, but worked that into his subsequent comedy tour called the “Brooks Wheelan Falls Back on Standup Comedy (sorta) Tour”.

He’d later release his own comedy album, This is Cool, Right?, in 2015 to critical acclaim, suggesting perhaps SNL jumped the gun on his firing.

Next: Kentucky