Horatio Sanz first started doing comedy to impress his older brothers. Now a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, Sanz is performing this week as part of Veishea’s “Dew the Rec” event. He took time out of his busy “SNL” rehearsal schedule to tell the Daily about his life as a comedian.

Sarah Kloewer: How did you decide to make a career out of comedy? What first got you interested?

Horatio Sanz: In my family, my brothers are 6 and 8 years older than me, so I was always trying to impress them by being funny. It was a way to get acceptances. Later I went and saw an improv show and decided I should do it. So I started taking classes at the place I saw the show, Improv Olympic in Chicago. After Improv Olympic, I got a job at Second City. You get a lot of visitors from out of town, and all those different crowds have different interests. When you go on tour, you really get good at making everyone laugh. It helped me prepare for “SNL” where you’re working in front of a national audience.

SK: How did you get on the cast of “SNL?”

HS: I was doing my show at Second City, and the producers invited me to audition. Me and Rachel [Dratch] were invited. She didn’t make it that year, but she did the next.

SK: What are your favorite aspects of “SNL?”

HS: I get to still perform for a live audience in the crowd. We rehearse a couple times a week, but we’re still doing it pretty much without a net. With other TV shows and movies, so much time is spent waiting around to get the right camera angles and stuff. Ours is the only show, other than news, that’s live. We didn’t tape it; we’re there. You can see it when sometimes things don’t go right, and we laugh at it. I love the immediacy of the show. We can joke around about stuff that happened that afternoon, that night even. Sometimes we gets notes while the show’s still on. That immediacy is tough to beat.

SK: What is your favorite type of comedy?

HS: At Second City, I got to the point where I was really trying to do just comedy out of tragic situations, scenes from plane crashes, boat wrecks, trying to wring funny out of horrible. I like the idea of wringing funny out of horror.

SK: What is the hardest type of comedy for you?

HS: Something you don’t write, something topical or for the house that I don’t find that funny or edgy, but that’s part of the job. I understand it’s funny, and I can be funny with it, but there are more dangerous areas I like to try, a little more crazier.

SK: Who are your biggest influences?

HS: The original cast — Belushi, Aykroyd. I’ve always been a big fan of the show. I’m very lucky to be here, but I’ve been working toward it. I was influenced by it, and I was familiar with the voice of the show. I’ve gotten to work with Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. I look up to those guys and then I got to work with them.