Showtime taps ‘SNL’ alum Vanessa Bayer for series pilot

Vanessa Bayer, a veteran of Chicago’s improv scene and Emmy-nominated “Saturday Night Live” alum, will star in a comedy series pilot for Showtime.

The pay-cable channel on Monday announced the order for “Big Deal,” in which Bayer plays a QVC host. Like Bayer herself, the character will be a survivor of childhood leukemia.

She also will serve as an executive producer, along with her writing partner Jeremy Beiler, showrunner Jessi Klein (a former “Inside Amy Schumer” head writer) and director Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”).

“Vanessa Bayer is such a sharp and joyful comic talent, and in ‘Big Deal’ she mines the story of her own life to deliver hard comedy with deep resonance,” said Showtime Entertainment President Gary Levine.

Known for her cheery demeanor, Ohio native Bayer was seen on the Chicago stages of iO Theater, the Annoyance Theater and Second City. In her seven years at “SNL,” she broke out with an impression of Miley Cyrus and later performed several popular characters including Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy, child actress Laura Parsons and Jennifer Aniston’s “Friends” character Rachel Green. Her film roles include “Trainwreck” and Netflix’s “Ibiza.”

She joins a channel that’s about to spotlight another Chicago improv hero: Abby McEnany, star of the locally made series “Work in Progress,” debuting Dec. 8.