Dana Carvey breaks down ‘SNL’ Joe Biden impression
Dana Carvey made a surprise return to “Saturday Night Live” this past weekend to play President Joe Biden. In the season 50 premiere episode, he joined Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, Bowen Yang as JD Vance, and James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump in a cold open room in which he parodied meetings of the 2024 election candidates. .
‘It was top secret. “I hid it for weeks, but I was asked by Lorne Michaels to come on ‘Saturday Night Live’… to do Biden,” Carvey said on his and David Spade’s podcast, “Superfly,” recorded before the season premiere of “SNL.”
Carvey said he got the call from Michaels after “casually developing” the impression over time on the podcast.
“I didn’t see it enough there, a Biden impression,” Carvey said. “[There are] lots of brilliant Trumps – Shane [Gillis]James Austin Johnson. Biden is harder… to get that energetic part of him, and that didn’t come out until six months into his first term, when they asked him a question and he got a little angry.
Carvey added: “It sounds quite corny, but the real North Star is to try to make it funny and not necessarily make it a political message.”
On “SNL,” Carvey got a big laugh when his Biden stuttered while talking about his Build Back Better Plan, which led to him saying, “I can’t believe it’s not butter!”
“I didn’t write it down… that he would say, ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter!’ with declarative intent. I don’t know why,” Carvey told Spade. “It was ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’… and then you gave me one: ‘Bed, Bath and Beyond!’, which is also a good one.”
Carvey elaborated on his process in a conversation with Al Franken a few months ago, in which the comedian explained how his Biden impression has evolved.
“He was kind of like the kind grandpa… ‘My dad lost his job — no joke,’” Carvey said in a “soft Biden” voice. “That was just so funny, how he said something that wasn’t funny at all – no one would think it was a joke if someone lost their job – but he has to tell us, ‘I’m not a stand-up comedian here. . I’m not funny. Dad lost his job – no joke!’”
“He doesn’t do this anymore, but during the primaries it was the list,” Carvey added before suggesting, “Number one, the one part. Number two, what the man said. Number three, come on, you know the drill. Folks, let’s get real. I’m serious now!”
Carvey said his Biden was “whispering” and “soft-spoken” until the press started questioning his “strength,” at which point the president started getting loud.
“That was a new rhythm for me. I’ve never seen him go that loud,” Carvey said. “The last one, which my father always did, was this whispering, ‘Don’t you get it, people?'”
As Carvey began to seamlessly put together his four “rhythms” for Biden, he said, “That’s my ‘I’m not going to do it’ for Biden,” referring to his iconic impression of former President George HW Bush in the 1990s.
Carvey was a cast member of ‘Saturday Night Live’ from 1986 to 1993 and last appeared on the Studio 8H stage in a 2016 cameo. On the show, Biden was previously played by Jim Carrey and ‘SNL’ cast members Johnson, Alex Moffat and Mikey Day.
“SNL” returns Oct. 5 with host Nate Bargatze and musical guest Coldplay.
