After three seasons with Saturday Night Live, Texas-born comedian Devon Walker has announced his departure from the show, citing difficult working conditions. In an Instagram post, Walker wrote, “To me, jobs in this industry feel like a bunch of little marriages. Some of em last for a long time if we’re lucky, but most of them are fleeting. Permanent until they’re not. That’s the deal. You know what it is it when you sign up.”
Walker reflected on his time at Saturday Night Live by stating, “sometimes it was really cool” but “sometimes it was toxic as hell.” He added, “But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f–ked up lil family.”
While Walker did not specify the reasons for describing the environment as “toxic as hell,” he expressed gratitude to writers Alex English and Gary Richardson and mentioned plans to travel to Japan before pursuing future acting roles.
In a follow-up message posted to his Instagram story, Walker said, “Just to be clear, this is good news. It was just time for me to do something different. Please don’t be hitting me with the ‘I’m so sorry’ — we not on that at ALL (…) Sometimes mom and dad just don’t see things eye to eye.”
Walker was born in Washington State in 1991 but grew up in Pflugerville and Austin before graduating from Texas State University in 2014 and earning a master’s degree from St. Edwards University. Before moving into comedy full-time, he worked at H-E-B and served as a social worker while performing stand-up in Austin.
Speaking about his early experiences in Austin’s comedy scene, Walker told Texas State’s alumni magazine in 2022: “I think the perception is, because there’s more national attention on it, that now is the golden era of the Austin comedy scene, and now it’s coming into its own (…) But even when I was there in the Austin scene, I always felt like it was a special time to be there.”
Walker relocated to New York City in 2018 where he pursued further opportunities including appearances on Comedy Central and work as a writer for Netflix’s Big Mouth before joining Saturday Night Live in 2022. On the show he portrayed figures such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former NFL player Michael Strahan, and NBA player Draymond Green.
Several departures have been announced ahead of Saturday Night Live’s upcoming fifty-first season including Emil Wakim as well as writers Rosebud Baker and Celeste Yim.
Walker joins other Texans who have been part of Saturday Night Live’s cast such as Andrew Dismukes (Houston), Noël Wells (San Antonio), and Randy Quaid (Houston).
