In 2022, Saturday Night Live co-stars Pete Davidson and Colin Jost dropped $280K on a decommissioned Staten Island ferry, and over four years later they’ve made some use of it.
The ferry, which has been the butt of countless jokes since they purchased it, served as the venue for a free comedy night presented by Snapple on Thursday (Sept. 17).
“Turning the ferry into a floating comedy club with Snapple makes more sense than anything else we considered, and it still doesn't make much sense,” Davidson admitted when the show was announced. “Either way, we’re giving people a chance to take a break, have a laugh, and do something completely ridiculous with us.”
As reported by ABC7, the duo hosted the show with a lineup of upcoming comedians, turning the ferry into a comedy club for one night only. The ferry is currently docked at Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan, and a video shared by Entertainment Weekly on social media showed them opening up the show and welcoming guests. The lineup remained a secret until the night of the event, but guests were treated to sets from Ronny Chieng, Jay Jurden, and Sal Vulcano, among others.
As recently as last year, Davidson used the ferry as an excuse for his controversial decision to partake in the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. In an appearance on Saturday Night Live last year—he departed the show as a full-time cast member in 2022—he admitted that they were losing a lot of money on the ferry.
“So yeah, in case you’re wondering why I had to do a show in Saudi Arabia, we’re losing millions on this ferry,” Davidson joked, addressing a New York Times article that described their purchase as a “money bleed.” “I assume that’s what the article says. I can’t spend five dollars on a paywall when I got a kid on the way.”
