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By Robert Isenberg
Special to MSN Entertainment
For millions of Americans, the closest they'll ever get to politics is watching impersonators on "Saturday Night Live." Maybe they'll vote for future presidents or senators, maybe they won't, but they'll gladly watch Chris Farley put on a pale suit and pretend to be Newt Gingrich.
That's because political impressions on "SNL" are a bona fide American tradition: Whether we've registered red, blue or indie, tuning in to "SNL" during election season is practically a civic duty -- if only to see how a bunch of Manhattan wisecrackers riff on the world's most serious concerns.
Impersonating politicians has become a serious hallmark of a comedian's career, and only a few are truly immortalized. Here's a smattering of favorites, from the dawn of "SNL" to the show's most current roasts:
Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford
The executive impersonations
began with a bang ... on the floor. Chevy Chase never bothered to dress or sound like
Gerald Ford -- he just constantly fell over, knocked things off tables,
tripped, stumbled and showed constant anxiousness about succumbing to gravity.
President Ford's reputation was forever marred by Chase's "Klutz in Chief"
characterization, and political aping became the birthright of "SNL." Ford
apparently took the ribbing well; and let's face it, anyone who's been struck in
the head by a chairlift needs to have a sense of humor. Ford even wrote a book
about it, "Humor and the Presidency," which, like most things Fordian, was
well-intentioned but didn't really sell.
Dan Aykroyd as Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter
Like many
of his vintage-"SNL" compatriots, Dan Aykroyd has had a light schedule lately. But
we can all remember, before "Ghostbusters" even, is when Aykroyd could impersonate not
one president, but two. And what presidents could be more opposite than gruff,
soulless Richard Nixon and soft-spoken, grandfatherly Jimmy Carter? Aykroyd's
impersonation of Carter was probably the gentlest of all: When a teenager calls
the White House (during the "Ask President Carter" sketch), describing how he's
just taken some "Orange Sunshine" LSD and "the ceiling is dripping," Carter
tactfully guides him through his hallucination. Like much of Aykroyd's humor,
his impressions of Carter and Nixon were harmless fun -- and vocally
dead-on.
Dana Carvey as George Bush and Ross Perot
The late '80s
and early '90s were a golden age for impressionists: Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and Tracey Ullman all became superstars around this period,
largely for their impressions. But Dana Carvey was the reigning champion, if only for
his George Herbert Walker Bush impersonation. Speaking in a slow croak and
gesturing wildly with his hands, Carvey made Bush look both jocular and clueless
(in one address, he put on a pair of night-vision goggles, claiming that these
would lead a "full-scale orgy of death" on Iraq). But few of Carvey's imitations
are more loveable than his Ross Perot. Fast, nasal and goofy-looking, Carvey's
Perot managed to sound not only off-the-mark but completely insane. The crème de
la crème: when Carvey played both Perot and Bush in a presidential debate with
Phil Hartman's Bill Clinton. Thanks to Carvey's distinctive vocals -- and a
little help from a split screen -- the 1992 debate is by far the most
memorable.
Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton
Early on, when Bill
Clinton was still played by Phil Hartman, the first-term president was tough to mock: He
"felt your pain," he loved his McDonald's (especially on jogs), but a breathy
Arkansas accent and flirtatious manner do not a great impersonation make. Darrell Hammond hit pay dirt, though, when the Lewinsky
scandal broke, and "SNL" was flooded with easy sex jokes (the scandal was open
territory; recall John Goodman playing Linda Tripp). Hammond didn't rely on
the usual gags, though; he mastered the Clintonian gaze, the bitten lip, the
subtle smile. And most recently, as he appeared on the show's Weekend Update,
his zero-commitment endorsement of Sen. Obama (or was it John McCain?) was a
reminder of Clinton's desire to appease, no matter what. Plus the mirth of his
final suggestion to the American public: "Watch 'Californication.'"
Will Ferrell as George W. Bush
The snarky laugh, the
mispronouncementations -- the only problem with Will Ferrell's impersonation was that our latest president
has been such an easy mark (and easily surpassed by Steve Bridges, who played
Bush opposite the real Bush at the bare-knuckled White House Correspondents'
Association Dinner). What distinguished Ferrell's take was his upbeat absurdity:
Condoleezza Rice throwing him a Frisbee, growing a soul patch during some
"R&R" on his Texas ranch, or telling Osama bin Laden that, if the terrorist
wanted to win something, they should've played a game of Scrabble or had a
"beard-off." But hats off to Ferrell, the consummate frat boy, for taking on a
controversial president in one of America's bleakest times.
Fred Armisen as Barack Obama
"Saturday Night Live" is a
fairly nonpartisan show -- especially for a youthful, late-night program filmed
in New York City -- but it can't be easy for Fred Armisen, a musician and more recent addition to the
"SNL" cast, to play such a delicate role as Barack Obama. Yet Armisen commits
fully, speaking in staggered, no-nonsense sentences and offering to solve
nuclear weapons proliferation in North Korea by "playing the race card." He's
not the most memorable of "SNL" impersonators (especially when playing opposite
Darrell Hammond's creepy McCain), but he demonstrates that "SNL" will find the
humor in every politician, even the ones who lead in the polls.
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary
Clinton
"And I can see Russia from my house!" Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have become icons of "SNL" teamwork, but their
recent reunion, sharing a podium as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, became an
instantaneous hit among "SNL" fans and YouTube junkies. Poehler doesn't look or
sound much like Hillary (in real life, she might very well be grateful), but Fey
is a dead-ringer for Palin, right down to the conspicuous "Tina Fey glasses"
(even the vice presidential hopeful was reportedly bemused by the sketch).
Pundits never tire of telling us how urgent the 2008 race is, even if the deluge
of sound bites and caustic campaign ads grew tedious about, say, six months ago.
But it's relieving, as all topical "SNL" sketches should be, that we can laugh
in a moment of electoral high-tension. And if history relates, we can expect
plenty more material for Fey and Poehler to draw from.
Which is your favorite political impression? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com and let us know.
Robert Isenberg is a writer and stage performer. He is still waiting for an open spot on the "SNL" roster.
