Fresh from ‘SNL’ firing, Shane Gillis jokes about ‘funny’ Trump assassination, Asians at NYC gig

NEW YORK – Shane Gillis did not hold back at his first stand-up show since being fired from “Saturday Night Live.”

Last Thursday, the comedian was named one of three new cast members to join NBC’s sketch-comedy series this season, which kicks off Sept. 28 and will welcome Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang.

Hours after the announcement, a slew of recent racist and homophobic slurs Gillis made on his podcast “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” surfaced on Twitter. He was let go from “SNL” on Monday.

Performing a stand-up set at The Stand NYC comedy club Wednesday night, Gillis joked about the ordeal and the backlash he’s received online.

“It’s been weird,” Gillis told the crowd, many of whom cheered loudly throughout his roughly 10-minute set. “Twitter, obviously, has been nuts. You try to stay off it when the whole country hates you. That’s not a fun feeling.”

Saying he’s been doing “OK” since his firing, Gillis, 31, mockingly insisted that he understands why he was let go.

“Everybody’s like, ‘You can’t say (expletive) and not expect consequences,’ “ Gillis said. “I’m fine with the consequences – that’s it, I’m not arguing. But I do want everyone to know that I have been reading every one of my death threats in an Asian accent.”

He spoke about the support he’s received from “SNL” vets Rob Schneider and Norm Macdonald coming to his defense.

“As soon as they decide you’re a bad guy, you’re just alt-right now or something,” Gillis said.

“For real, though, I did not vote for Donald Trump,” he added, winking at the audience. “Look at me: I didn’t, but that was tough. His whole campaign was at me. ‘Are you a fat idiot?’ ‘Yeah, dude, what’re we doing?’

“Trump is funny,” Gillis continued. “He’s funnier than everyone I know. If Trump was the next comic, he’d bury me. He’d come out and be like, ‘Fat. Loser. Fired.’ “

Gillis then joked about a hypothetical assassination.

“I don’t want you to think I’m too pro-Trump,” Gillis said. “I will say this: Of all the presidents I’ve been alive for, Trump would definitely be the funniest one to see get shot. Like, without a doubt, that’d be funny. I’m not asking for that; I don’t want that to happen, but it would be funny to see. He’d be on stage talking (expletive), the shooter would be coming at him, and he’d be like, ‘Sit down.’ He’d definitely make a funny noise when he got hit. … It would be funny.”

Gillis closed his set by calling out “woke” culture, saying he is “white trash” from Pennsylvania and has friends and family on both sides of the political aisle.

“It’s funny to hear so many people these days say, ‘I’m not racist,’ “ Gillis said. ”It’s like, are you sure? Being racist isn’t like a yes or no thing. It’s not like you do or you don’t have it. Being racist is like being hungry: It’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re not right now, but a cheeseburger could cut you off in traffic and you could get hungry real quick. You didn’t even know you were hungry for that type of cheeseburger.’ The cheeseburger is not Asian in that joke.”

Read more at usatoday.com.

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