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NBC's iconic late-night show Saturday Night Live is losing a whole crop of talent ahead of the upcoming 51st season (which premieres next Saturday, October 4)—and New York is giving them the send-off they deserve. On Friday, October 3, Virgin Hotels New York City is hosting ‘So Long, Studio 8H…Hello, Open Bar,’ a late-night bash at the Riff Raff Club celebrating the 13 cast members and writers bidding adieu to SNL this year, including Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.
The party runs from 10pm to 2am, with panoramic 39th-floor views of the Empire State Building and the kind of chaotic energy you’d expect from a comedy institution’s extended family. Expect music, comedy and plenty of insider cameos, with industry friends and cultural tastemakers mingling alongside the performers who’ve been shaping sketch comedy live, in real time, for years.
The evening is hosted by SNL alum Punkie Johnson, who spent four seasons at Studio 8H before signing off in May 2024. Johnson brings her stand-up chops and no-nonsense timing to the night, along with Dragonfly Hospitality, which is helping turn the farewell into more than just a going-away party.
Tickets start at $75 in advance ($100 the week of), with premium tables on offer if you’d rather toast the comedy elite with bottle service. Your ticket also includes an open bar for the first hour—a fitting nod to the decades of on-screen Champagne pops and late-night toasts that have punctuated SNL’s history. After that, it’s a cash bar, but by then, the party should be in full swing.
If the prospect of saying goodbye to a whole swath of the SNL family feels bittersweet, think of this as the city’s chance to flip the cue cards one more time. The cast may be leaving Studio 8H behind, but for one night only, the lights and laughter move downtown to Virgin Hotels. Comedy goodbyes are rarely final in New York—especially when there’s an afterparty involved.