AceShowbiz - Being part of the "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) team is a dream for many comedians, but as Bowen Yang explains, the reality is more nuanced. During a recent episode of the "Las Culturistas" podcast, Yang delved into the psychological and emotional landscape of working for the iconic sketch show.

While discussing the upcoming presidential election with his co-host, comedian Matt Rogers, Yang explored the concept of dealing with "cringe" moments in their careers. Rogers noted, "You have to sometimes climb up a huge hill of cringe, and once you can scale that hill - which is, you know, it might be your judgment of yourself, it might be your judgment on what you're doing, it might be everyone saying what you're doing is cringe - on the other end, you slide down into happiness and nirvana."

Yang took this opportunity to share his personal experiences of working at SNL. "I know about working through cringe, climbing a cringe mountain. I work at 'Saturday f***ing Night Live,' the cringiest thing in show business on every level. Cringe mountain is SNL. Eternally grateful that I work there, [it] will be the defining thing of my life and career, and yet it is a cringe mountain," he candidly admitted.

Yang went further to explain the repetitive nature of receiving critical feedback about the show, which affects many cast members. "[They say] how bad it is, how it's not as good as it used to be. For your career, that has to do something to you psychologically where you emerge and go, 'I don't give a f**k,' " he noted. These experiences have "fully calloused" him emotionally, making him more resilient to such criticisms.

Rogers explained SNL might be perceived as "cringe" due to its high visibility and appeal to a wide audience. "And it's comedy and it's subjective," Yang chimed in, agreeing that the essence of comedy is inherently subjective.

Despite the emotionally grueling nature of climbing SNL's "cringe mountain," Yang continues to find fulfillment in making people laugh and bringing joy to audiences - a reminder to young aspiring comedians that even the highest peaks in show business come with their own set of challenges.