Saturday Night Live returns for its 44th season this weekend with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West. As with every season, the show will see some new cast members and writers.

Most notably, Luke Null left after serving as a featured player for one season. Additionally, co-head writer Bryan Tucker is stepping down to senior writer, while Colin Jost, Michael Che and Kent Sublette are staying on as head writers.

[Read more: SEE’s spring comedy show brings past and present SNL members to UMD]

To accommodate these changes, Ego Nwodim was added to the cast as a featured player, and Alison Gates, Alan Linic, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang were added to the writing staff. Don’t recognize these names just yet? You’re not alone. Find out who these newcomers are, what we can expect to see from them this season and what they did to be Lorne Michaels’s chosen ones.

Ego Nwodim

A Baltimore native, Nwodim graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s in biology. After a change of heart, Nwodim started to pursue a career in comedy by taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. In addition to being part of the Harold comedy troupe at UCB, she has her own one-woman show called Great Black Women…and Then There’s Me.

With their improv backgrounds and featured player statuses, Ego and Chris Redd could become a dynamic duo in the upcoming season. In fact, it looks like Redd is already an Ego fan. Perhaps this means we’ll get some more Black Jeopardy in our future? In the meantime, get acclimated to Nwodim with this hilarious Funny or Die clip.

Alison Gates

Alison Gates is immersed in the improv scene. She’s an alumna of The Second City Touring Company as well as iO’s all-female improv group, Virgin Daiquiri.

Gates will fit in nicely with fellow ‘Virgin Daiquiri’ alums Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong. Their bubbly, feminist personalities will be sure to churn out some more catchy songs and hilarious Weekend Update desk pieces.

Word on the street is Gates does a great impression of White House advisor Stephen Miller. Maybe Michaels can cancel one of the celebrities he has on standby and put her in?

Alan Linic

Linic is an author, improvisor, teacher, comedic writer and self-described video game geek. He was part of iO’s ensemble Lil’ Tooties while also performing in Second City’s Gaslight District. In addition to performing improv, Alan worked as a faculty member at The Second City Training Center where he taught writing and improv for actors, so we’ve got some high hopes for him! If this video is any indication, he’ll be creating some epic pre-tapes this season.

Eli Mandel

Mandel has worked as an understudy for The Second City Touring Company and The Second City Mainstage and performed with the iO team Trash Daddiez. The characters in Mandel’s iO showcase include an irritable politician and a redneck gentleman anxious to see his first movie. Mandel’s broad range and iO background makes him the perfect fit to write with iO alum Alex Moffat. Together they’re sure to create some sketches as obscure as they are hilarious.

Bowen Yang

Yang is based in Brooklyn, the black sheep of the three other Chicago-based writers. In addition to performing comedy shows around the New York City area, he has written for Broad City, High Maintenance, and The Outs. His exuberant nature and hilarious Twitter feed are comparable to that of SNL writer Julio Torres, so it will be exciting to see what far-fetched premises they can think up. Bonus points if they can make Moffat and Kenan Thompson — who usually play the straight-men — do something outrageous.

To see what these newbies bring to the table, tune into the season premiere of Saturday Night Live this Saturday at 11:30pm on NBC.