Please Don't Destroy is a New York-based comedy trio consisting of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy.
They have performed their hour of sketch comedy at the New York Comedy Festival, Moontower Comedy Festival, and Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles.
Members[]
John Higgins is the son of current SNL writer/producer Steve Higgins, and Martin Herlihy is the son of former SNL writer/frequent Adam Sandler collaborator Tim Herlihy. Marshall is the only one who doesn't have a famous father linked to SNL.
In 2021, the trio was hired to become writers on Saturday Night Live, following other sketch groups such as The Lonely Island and Good Neighbor.
During the October 9, 2021 episode, the first "Please Don't Destroy Video" aired, featuring the three members of the trio. They recorded the song "Three Sad Virgins" with Pete Davidson and Taylor Swift.
List of prerecorded sketches[]
Season 47 (2021–22)[]
Title | Original airdate | Description |
---|---|---|
Hard Seltzer | October 9, 2021 | Three SNL writers; Martin, Ben and John, discover a variety of hard seltzers. |
Rami Wants a Treat | October 16, 2021 | Host Rami Malek explains why he deserves to be rewarded for being on his best behavior at Saturday Night Live. Recorded for Malek's episode but cut for time. |
Calling Angie | November 6, 2021 | John tries to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend Angie (Sarah Sherman), but the call goes off the rails. |
Three Sad Virgins | November 13, 2021 | Longtime cast member Pete Davidson creates a music video about three sad virgins (Marshall, Higgins, Herlihy) and is joined by special guest Taylor Swift. |
Touch Up | November 20, 2021 | Martin, Ben, and John discuss the work they've had done, including Ben's Botox and John's longer fingers. Written for the Simu Liu episode but cut for time. |
Future Selves | December 11, 2021 | Martin, Ben, and John are visited by their future selves who warn them of disasters, but they become distracted by how disappointing their future lives are. Written for the Billie Eilish episode but was cut for time. |
New Personalities | January 22, 2022 | The three writers try out some new personalities such as 'Dude whose years of research got rocked' and 'The Subway Guy'. Written for the Will Forte episode but cut for time. |
Martin's Friend | January 29, 2022 | Martin introduces John and Ben to his new friend Connor, who is 10 years old. Initially John and Ben dislike Connor but the four end up becoming friends. Connor wants to pitch jokes to Colin Jost for Weekend Update, and Jost appears telling Connor he loves them. |
Good Variant | February 26, 2022 | A celebration breaks out after news of a new COVID variant that's actually good. Host John Mulaney plays a news anchor reporting on the new variant. Paul Rudd tests positive for the variant and passes it to Martin, Ben and John. Al Roker and Sarah Sherman also join the celebrations. |
We Got Her a Cat | March 12, 2022 | The three writers plan to surprise host Zoë Kravitz with a cat, but it doesn't go as expected. Paul Dano is found to be living in the writers' office as he is doing research for a movie about "three guys who suck". |
Three Normal Goths | April 2, 2022 | A group of goths with conventional tastes live completely normal lives. Host Jerrod Carmichael appears and is judged by the goths for his fashion choices. Filmed for Carmichael's episode but cut for time. |
Lizzo Has Writer's Block | April 16, 2022 | Lizzo needs help writing two new songs for her SNL performance. Andrew Dismukes appears as himself and threatens to kill Lizzo if her new songs aren't good enough. |
Season 48 (2022–23)[]
Title | Original airdate | Description |
---|---|---|
Tommy | October 8, 2022 | Martin, Ben, and John play high school versions of themselves, and find out that their best friend Tommy (played by host Brendan Gleeson) is a 67-year-old Irish man. This is the first PDD sketch to take place completely outside of their office. |
Wellness | October 15, 2022 | The boys talk about things that they do to stay healthy. |
Election Night | November 12, 2022 | New cast member Molly Kearney suddenly wins the election for Attorney General of Ohio, and the boys must help them come up with a speech soon. Steve Kornacki cameos as himself, giving the election results.[10] |
Chelsea | December 10, 2022 | Martin and Ben find themselves in a bad situation when John reunites with his ex-girlfriend (Sarah Sherman). Sherman's father, Mike Sherman, cameos in this film. Michael Che, Steve Martin, and Martin Short also appear in it. |
Plirts | December 17, 2022 | The boys create a shirt made of plastic, pitching the idea to host Austin Butler. New cast members Devon Walker and Marcello Hernandez join in on the fun, as does musical guest Lizzo. |
The Stakeout | February 25, 2023 | Ben holds a stakeout with host Woody Harrelson to find out what Martin and John are hiding from him. It turns out they have a secret family and are holding auditions to replace Ben. |
Self-Defense | March 4, 2023 | After being insulted by the interns, the boys go to a self-defense class lead by Kirk Lightning (played by host Travis Kelce). |
Road Trip | March 11, 2023 | The boys and host Jenna Ortega sing about going on a cross country road trip. |
Street Eats | April 1, 2023 | Three guys film a show called "Street Eats" where they go around New York to try exotic foods and interact with people of different races. |
Molly Shannon2k23 | April 8, 2023 | The boys show longtime former cast-member and host Molly Shannon a video game where they simulate her life. Eventually, she gets into the game as well. |
Hangxiety | April 15, 2023 | The boys and host Ana de Armas talk about having a hangover after the show's afterparty. |
Season 49 (2023-24)[]
Title | Original airdate | Description |
---|---|---|
The Original Princes of Comedy | October 14, 2023 | The guys reflect on their early comedy careers with host Pete Davidson. |
Bad Bunny is Shrek | October 21, 2023 | Bad Bunny (who was serving as the host and musical guest for this episode) writes his own version of Shrek, with each of the boys playing their own character (Ben as Puss in Boots, Martin as Donkey, and John as Michael Jackson). |
Dawg Food | October 28, 2023 | Martin and John eat "Dawg" Food, while Ben is clearly disgusted. |
Jumper | November 11, 2023 | Martin, Ben, and John find a guy (played by host Timothée Chalamet) about to jump off a building and try to talk him out of it. |
Ramen Order | November 18, 2023 | The boys attempt to order ramen as John finds out his girlfriend is breaking up with him. |
Al | December 2, 2023 | Martin tries to confess his love for host Emma Stone, but due to a hard drive malfunction, the producers use Al technology in some shots to replace her with stunt double and cast member Punkie Johnson, with Ben and John also being replaced by Al. |
Pimp My Ride | January 20, 2024 | The boys attempt to fix a janitor's (played by host Jacob Elordi) car. Filmed for Elordi's episode but cut for time. Also features Mikey Day and Xzibit. |
Roast | January 27, 2024 | The boys and host Dakota Johnson trade insults towards each other. |
Gone Too Soon | March 2, 2024 | The boys tell host Sydney Sweeney about a friend of theirs who just died. Features Steve Higgins, and James Ciccone as Chef Boyardee. |
We Got Too High | March 30, 2024 | Whilst at a club with host Ramy Youssef and musical guest Travis Scott, the boys sing a song about getting too high on weed. |
Explore Page | May 11, 2024 | The boys try to hide their Instagram explore pages from their girlfriends (played by Sarah Sherman, Ego Nwodim, and Chloe Fineman). It's revealed that their pages are full of videos from Uneesa Confidence (played by host and former longtime cast member Maya Rudolph). |
Season 50 (2024-25)[]
Title | Original airdate | Description |
---|---|---|
Skydiving | October 19, 2024 | John and Martin have second thoughts about skydiving after meeting their instructors (Ben and Michael Keaton). |
Mean Cute | November 16, 2024 | Charli XCX (the host and musical guest for this episode) bumps into the boys in meet-cute fashion but ends up trading insults with them. Filmed for Charli XCX's episode but cut for time. |
Paul Mescal Is Daddy | December 7, 2024 | Host Paul Mescal expresses his love for the boys and wants to starta life with them. |
Filmography[]
Title | Original airdate | Description |
---|---|---|
The Treasure of Foggy Mountain | November 17, 2023 | Three childhood friends who live and work together do not like where their lives are headed, and set off to find gold treasure rumored to be buried on a nearby mountain. Exclusive to Peacock. |