Bowen Yang Reveals the Gift Lorne Michaels Gives the SNL Cast Each Year for the Holidays: 'Everyone's Thrilled' (Exclusive)

Bowen Yang shares some of the the sweetest holiday customs in Studio 8H.

Except for the actors’ so-called “garbage party” that takes place after the reading Saturday night live Every year in the Christmas episode, Yang, 34, tells PEOPLE that the cast looks forward to Lorne Michael’s sweet holiday gift.

He’ll give you jams and jams from his farm, and it’s the most delicious raspberry jam you’ve ever had, Wicked the star says o SNL creator’s annual gift. “I look forward to it every year. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It’s a wonderful group gift that he gives to everyone and everyone is delighted, truly. Everyone is really excited to get the jams every year.”

From left: Bowen Yang, Lorne Michaels and Kate McKinnon at the 2022 Emmy Awards.

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And according to Yang, Michaels’ generosity doesn’t stop during the holiday season, he also gives the cast birthday gifts.

“I think part of his love language is giving,” Yang explains.

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During a holiday chat with PEOPLE, Yang also shared more about how the trash party got started. As the story goes, he explains, the cast used to exchange gifts through Secret Santa, but because of the different caliber of gifts, “people’s feelings were hurt” so former cast members Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon came up with their own idea.

“It’s like a cookie instead of a gift,” he says. “It’s like people will buy 20 cheeseburgers from Shake Shack, or you bring Jello cups from home, or you bring 30 Funko Pops for people to take home. Everyone just collects their weird, random contributions basically.”

Matt Rogers (left) and Bowen Yang.

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“It’s trash fun because it’s a chaotic fight and it’s so much fun,” he adds. “[It’s] our great tradition that we keep going, and it’s all thanks to Kate and Aidy.”

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Yang started his own gift-giving tradition this year as he teamed up with Pinterest to curate the Las Culturistas gift guide, named after the podcast he hosts with best friend Matt Rogers.

“This is our way of bringing the podcast into your life through these gifts,” explains the guide, which includes a Mariah Carey memoir and a Chappell Roan vinyl record.

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“It was all really hand-picked by me and Matt,” he says. “We really went through the painstaking process of thinking, ‘Okay, we should have this much vinyl, this much celebrity memoir, this much stuff. But also, we should have an Easter egg or two for people who listen to the podcast to know what it means.’ And there are little winks everywhere.”

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Source: HIS Education