Comedian Who Did Zillow Joke First: Please Venmo Me $1M

SNL made quite the splash on Saturday with its spoof of a Zillow ad. In this version, 30-somethings lust not for flesh but for fireplaces and first-floor masters by way of Zillow's online real estate listings. The sketch featured special guest Dan Levy and cast members getting hot and bothered by houses, and it has racked up nearly 4 million YouTube views in as many days. Comedian Ted Alexandro's hour-long CUT/UP comedy special has amassed just shy of 100,000 views in the last five months. What does one have to do with the other? Alexandro did a very similar bit first, in November 2019, and it's included in that special. And now he wants NBC to Venmo him $1 million (kind of). As Alexandro explains to Vice, he woke up on Sunday to a series of messages along the lines of "they took your joke."

He himself noticed the similarities, so much so that he tweeted a mash-up of the two with the caption, "Dear @nbcsnl, since you stole my Zillow joke last night please Venmo me the sum of 1 million dollars. My full special Cut/Up is on youtube if you need more ideas." In his mashup (which has passed 125,000 views), he talks about his "dirty talk" being Zillow listings shared with his partner. "$800,000? You are nasty!" he says. "Who likes a big backyard?" As for that million bucks, he definitely doesn't expect it, saying he just wanted to "call them out and make clear that I had done a bit on my special a year prior." And he says in some ways it's a good thing. "You almost have to hope that SNL steals your stuff, because that's the only way people are gonna find your special." (More joke stories.)