Sanz performed at various theaters in Chicago, including The Court Theater and
The Second City, where he was a member of their Chicago ETC theater. While in Chicago, Sanz was also one of the founding members of the
Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB)
sketch comedy and
improv troupe. Sanz can still be seen regularly performing with the sketch troupe at their long-running improv show "ASSSSCAT 3000", at both of the UCB's comedy theaters, located in
New York City and
Los Angeles.
Saturday Night Live Sanz joined the cast of
Saturday Night Live in September 1998 as the first Hispanic cast member. At the beginning of
SNLs
31st season, he was the temporary replacement for
Tina Fey as
Amy Poehler's
Weekend Update co-anchor while Fey was on
maternity leave until she resumed her duties on October 22, 2005. On September 20, 2006,
SNL announced that Sanz would not be returning due to budget cuts. Sanz returned to
SNL as a guest on February 3, 2007, appearing as
Elton John, and on November 3, as presidential candidate
Bill Richardson and again on the December 17, 2011, Christmas show as himself in a musical number ("
I Wish It Was Christmas Today") and as a member of Beethoven's orchestra ("Beethoven: Meet The Band").
Characters on SNL •
Aaron Neville as a courtroom judge on City Court, who sang and overused
cocoa butter • Gobi, the cannabis-loving co-host of
Jarret's Room •
Jasper Hahn, a cartoonist whose creations always start out as raunchy drawings of genitals • Rick, stepfather of Kaitlin (played by
Amy Poehler) • Jeffrey's Clothing Store customer • Carol, a cheerful and crass woman • Ferey Mühtar, host of "The Ferey Mühtar Talk Show" • Manuel Pantalones, bandleader on "Showbiz Grande Explosion" • Frankie Hilbert, from the
Boston Teens • Vasquez-Gomez-Vasquez • One of the Telemundo actors from "Besos Y Lagrimas" •
Gerardo •
Sammo Hung •
Matt LeBlanc as his character
Joey Tribbiani from the TV show
Friends •
Elton John •
Billy Joel •
Rosie O'Donnell •
Gene Shalit • Umberto Unity • Ozzy Osbourne
After SNL Sanz was part of the cast of the short-lived
ABC sitcom
In the Motherhood in 2009, playing the role of Horatio the "manny" (male
nanny). In 2010, Sanz and his former
SNL castmate
Chris Parnell starred together on
Big Lake, a
Comedy Central sitcom from executive producers
Will Ferrell and
Adam McKay. From 2010 to 2011, Sanz was a writer and producer on the
Comedy Central sketch series ''
Nick Swardson's Pretend Time''. In 2015, he started his own podcast called
The Hooray Show, which features comedy sketches and interviews with his friends in comedy. Sanz appeared as a guest on
The Big Alakens, the
Big Lake marathon fundraiser episode of
The George Lucas Talk Show. ==Personal life==