American High Shorts: Funny videos shot in Central NY reach millions as Gen Z ‘SNL’

Move over, Studio 8H: Central New York is the new home for popular sketch comedy videos.

Liverpool-based film studio American High has expanded beyond movies to digital content led by American High Shorts. The funny, “Saturday Night Live”-like videos poke fun at high school and social experiences, from bathroom passes and gym class to “Alpha Dads” and “If Disney characters went to public school.”

@AmericanHighShorts is now reaching huge audiences with hundreds of millions of views on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts. The TikTok account surpassed 1 million followers and 80 million “likes” in November, and their 25 most popular YouTube Shorts have a combined 300 million views.

By comparison, this year’s popular YouTube clip from “Saturday Night Live” is a fake “Mario Kart” trailer starring Pedro Pascal with 14 million views. This season’s most-watched episode was hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze, drawing 4.9 million viewers on Oct. 28.

American High Shorts might not be in the pop culture zeitgeist like NBC’s long-running sketch comedy series — not yet at least — but it is creating the next generation of stars. American High Shorts cast members include Grace Reiter, Julia DiCesare, Luke Burke, Paige Morrissey, Ryan Micho and Aidan Micho, who all have strong social media followings on their own and through the brand.

Reiter said she didn’t get recognized very often when she was growing up on Wisconsin, but she has become one of the most popular performers among American High Shorts due to her fearlessness to get the laugh. She’ll get frequently stopped by Gen Z fans at Destiny USA or on the Syracuse University campus, where they film many of their videos.

“We go to the university a lot to film. That’s like our demographic and so they’re constantly stopping us and they’re like, ‘Oh you’re the American High group,’” Reiter said. “You’re Grace! You’re Julia! It’s crazy, because they all see our videos.”