A hometown start
Grace Reiter’s path to Saturday Night Live began, in part, with comedy sketches she made on social media while growing up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Now, the Chippewa Falls High School graduate is headed to one of television’s best-known comedy stages.
Reiter graduated from Chippewa Falls High School in 2019, according to WEAU. The station reported that she now lives in New York City, where she will work as a cast member on SNL.
The news became official on September 16, when NBCUniversal announced Reiter and comedian Saidah Belo-Osagie as new featured players for the show’s upcoming 52nd season. The announcement places Reiter among a cast that includes returning performers such as Kenan Thompson, Michael Che, Colin Jost and Sarah Sherman.
Her work already spans several formats. NBCUniversal lists The Chair Company and the online parody “The Hunger Games (but Better)” among her credits. WEAU reports that her online work has drawn an audience of 3.9 million TikTok followers and more than 700,000 YouTube subscribers.
Those audience figures were reported by WEAU on September 18 and are a snapshot from that coverage, not a promise that platform counts will stay fixed. The same report describes Reiter as a comedian and content creator and notes that her YouTube work includes the Hunger Games parody. NBCUniversal independently lists that online parody among her credits. The two accounts line up on the project while offering different views of her career: the official announcement gives the season casting and selected credits; WEAU adds hometown reporting and reactions from people in the Chippewa Valley.
A familiar face on a national stage
That online following is one way Reiter’s work reached people back home. Sergio Sigala, a fan and North High graduate interviewed by WEAU, said TikTok was where he first noticed her comedy. He described being surprised when he heard she had joined the SNL cast.
For Joe Neise, director of the Chippewa Falls Public Library, Reiter’s casting connects a local story with a show he has followed for years. Neise told WEAU that he was excited to see someone from the area in the national spotlight, and said the news reflected well on Chippewa Falls and the Chippewa Valley.
Neise also pointed to a burgeoning comedy scene in the region. His comment links Reiter’s achievement to a broader local creative community, while stopping short of suggesting that one person’s success tells the whole story of the area’s arts scene.
Kathy Wright, director of the Pablo Center, told WEAU that the recognition can help bring attention to local arts. She said the center had followed Reiter’s career because she was from the area, and called it incredible to see how far she had come.
Taken together, the interviews offer three distinct perspectives: a fan who first encountered Reiter’s work on TikTok, a library director who has long followed SNL, and an arts-center director who said her organization had followed Reiter’s career. These are the views of the people WEAU interviewed, not a formal poll of Chippewa Falls. They help explain why the casting news resonated locally without suggesting every resident shares one reaction.
Wright’s perspective is rooted in the work of an arts organization that serves the region. Her point was not simply that a local performer is appearing on television, but that a national platform can also make people curious about the creative work happening closer to home.
The next chapter
Reiter is also attached to Minimum Wage, an upcoming Netflix series. NBCUniversal says she wrote and directed the series; WEAU reports that she co-wrote, directed and stars in it. Because it is upcoming, the project is a future credit, not a released series.
NBCUniversal lists September 26 as the planned date for the season 52 premiere, with basketball player Jalen Brunson hosting and KATSEYE as musical guest. That schedule identifies the host and musical guest for premiere night; the announcement of Reiter’s casting is for the upcoming season and does not say that she will appear in that premiere episode. The season had not premiered as of this article’s date.
For Chippewa Falls, the news offers a reason to tune in with a local connection in mind. Neise told WEAU he plans to watch Reiter’s debut and is eager to see what comes next. The milestone belongs to Reiter, whose comedy developed through online sketches and projects, while the response from library and arts leaders shows how a hometown can share in the excitement without claiming credit for her work.
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