If you’ve listened to the Hamilton cast recording, you probably learned a lot about Alexander Hamilton that you didn’t know before you encountered Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical masterpiece. For instance, I learned from the album that Hamilton was born and raised in the West Indies, married the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Schuyler, and worked as George Washington’s secretary before serving as a Revolutionary War commander (and those are just a few bits of trivia from Act 1).
But did you know that Hamilton also had a half-brother named Peter? Or that he helped Vermont become a state? SNL cast member Taran Killam recently stopped by #Ham4Ham, the informal sidewalk show Miranda and friends perform for Hamilton ticket lottery entrants, to share a few facts about Hamilton that didn’t make it into the 2½-hour musical. Killam, who calls the show “one of the most amazing and inspiring things I’ve ever seen,” sings the “12 Facts of Hamilton Not Covered in the Show” to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” but since he could only find five actual facts about Hamilton that didn’t make it into the show, the last seven are “best guesses.” The picture and sound quality of the above video—made by self-appointed #Ham4Ham documentarian Howard Sherman—are a little shaky, but Killam’s made-up Hamilton facts are funny enough that you’ll want to stick around till the end.
