Please Don't Destroy is an American comedy group in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

consisting of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, who began collaborating as students at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. The group was founded in 2017 and based on an act titled ''Please Don't Destroy My Farm''. The troupe performed monthly comedy shows, appeared at the

New York Comedy Festival The New York Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival founded by Caroline Hirsch and launched in November 2004. The week-long festival is produced by Carolines and held each year in November. It features more than 200 comedians performing in m ...

and produced sketch videos posted to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, they began creating shorter videos for

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. In 2021, the trio was hired as writers on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' (''SNL'') to produce prerecorded digital videos for the show's 47th season. ''Please Don't Destroy'' debuted on ''SNL'' on October 9, 2021. They recorded the song "Three Sad Virgins" with

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...

and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

. In 2023, they wrote and starred in '' Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain'', a comedy movie that follows three friends as they struggle through early adulthood and search for treasure.

Members

Ben Marshall

Ben Marshall (born May 1, 1995) grew up in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, where he attended the

Savannah Arts Academy Savannah Arts Academy (SAA) is the first dedicated performing and visual arts school in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. Savannah Arts Academy was granted charter school status and the fo ...

. He graduated from the NYU Tisch School of Arts in 2017. At NYU, he was involved in the Hammerkatz sketch comedy and Astor Place Riots stand-up comedy groups. Prior to ''SNL'', he worked as an after-school counselor at the 14th Street Y while pursuing comedy. In 2025, he guest-starred in an episode of season two of '' Poker Face''.

John Higgins

John Higgins (born November 14, 1995) grew up in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

. Born into an entertainment family, he is one of four children of

Steve Higgins Steve Earl Higgins (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, producer, announcer, actor, and comedian. He has served as the announcer and sidekick of ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' since 2014, and as a writer and producer of ''Sa ...

, a producer and writer for ''SNL'' most widely known as the announcer of ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

''. He is the nephew of actor

David Anthony Higgins David Anthony Higgins (born December 9, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Craig Feldspar on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', Joe on '' Ellen'', and Reginald Bitters on ''Big Time Rush''. He also had a recurring role as ...

, actor

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his surreal sense of humor. He was a regular performer on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' while working as a writer there (1983–1988), created ...

, and comedy writer Alan J. Higgins and the cousin of actress

Abby Elliott Abigail Elliott (born June 16, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2012, and has starred on the Bravo comedy ''Odd Mom Out'', the NBC sitcom '' Ind ...

. He attended

Montclair Kimberley Academy Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) is a co-educational private school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade located in Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

, and has cited

Simon Rich Simon Rich (born June 5, 1984) is an American humorist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has published two novels and six collections of humor pieces, several of which appeared in ''The New Yorker.'' His novels and short stories have been translat ...

as a major influence during this time. Higgins attended New York University where he was part of the Hammerkatz sketch comedy troupe and graduated with an English degree from the NYU College of Arts & Sciences in 2018. Outside of his work with Please Don't Destroy, he has appeared in the films ''

A Man Called Otto ''A Man Called Otto'' is a 2022 American comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by David Magee. It is a remake of the 2015 Swedish film '' A Man Called Ove'', which was based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Fredrik ...

'' (2022) and in the indie comedy ''The Country Club'' (2023). He is married to comedian Emily Wilson.

Martin Herlihy

Martin Herlihy (born September 13, 1998) grew up in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is an affluent New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and on the New York state border, Ridgefield had a population o ...

, the son of

Tim Herlihy Timothy Patrick Herlihy (born October 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and playwright. Films written or produced by Herlihy have grossed over $3 billion at the worldwide box office. He frequently collaborates with ...

, the longtime comedy partner of

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

and a writer/producer for ''SNL'' in the 1990s. Herlihy attended Ridgefield High School and graduated from NYU Tisch in 2019. At NYU, he was involved in Astor Place Riots stand-up comedy.

List of prerecorded sketches

Season 47 (2021–22)

Season 48 (2022–23)

Season 49 (2023–24)

Season 50 (2024–25)

Filmography

References

{{Authority control 2017 establishments in New York City American comedy troupes Comedy trios Performing groups established in 2017