[Music]
welcome i am a julian child
hey everyone i'm rebecca and welcome to
watch mojo today we're counting down our
picks for the top 10 best
saturday night live impressionists
citizens
you will elect me i will be your leader
stevie wonder stevie wonder you
are aptly named so i went outside and
engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a
four men
and a small dog for this list we're
looking at snl cast members who are
especially renowned for their
impersonations of celebrities or other
notable figures
which snl impersonation do you think is
most accurate be sure to let us know in
the comments
all right let's get into it number 10
jay pharaoh from his first impression of
iago from aladdin at the age of six
jay pharaoh has been known for his
impressive imitations of celebrities and
other notable figures
my wife beyonce and my little baby girl
blue ivy hover junior during his time at
saturday night live from 2010 to 2016
farrell was a reliable performer who
could pull off impressions of will smith
jay-z johnny depp and many more with
ease
i can always make time for you i'm will
smith
whoa he was so confident in his talents
that he even bravely took on impressions
of former snl cast members like eddie
murphy and chris rock
my go-to eddie murphy in prison
however farrell was best known for his
spot-on impression of president barack
obama
all right all right fine go ahead and
post it anything else
number nine anna gasteyer this
traditional american holiday
commemorates the autumn feast
when our pilgrim forefathers and the
nearby savages
put an end to their vicious fighting
beginning her career as a member of the
groundling sketch comedy group
gasteyer gained comedy experience that
would land her a role at snl
in 1996. in addition to her memorable
original characters
gasteyer was also well known for her
impressions of relevant figures like
martha stewart
celine dion and hillary clinton this
week i
officially announced my candidacy to
represent your state in the u.s
senate priscilline dion impression was
so popular it was noticed by the singer
herself
who invited gasteyer to perform with her
at one of her concerts in 1998.
i am celine dion and i am the best
singer in the
world until she left the show in 2002
gasteyer was one of snl's strongest
female impressionists
it not only tints beer this rich emerald
color
it also lends a refreshing aroma to the
inevitable post-parade curbside barf
number 8. will ferrell although he's
very well known for his success in film
and television
will ferrell first started to gain
widespread attention in the public eye
for his impressions during his time on
saturday night live
from 1995 to 2002. let me make something
very clear
there was utterly no legal or military
justification for this strike
farrell delivered incredibly accurate
impressions of president george w
bush jeopardy host alex trebek and
inside the actors studio host james
lipton who himself had said he liked
farrell's impression
one name keeps coming up again
and again and again these impressions
along with his original characters
made farrell a very popular member of
the saturday night live cast
and helped improve the show's declining
ratings since his time at snl
farrell has also returned as a host five
times making him a member of the
exclusive
five-timers club i'd like to ask our
contestants once again
please refrain from using ethnic slurs
number seven dana carvey that is
dinner said tim hannity
he may be best known for his character
of garth in the wayne's world sketches
and movies but during his time at snl
carvey also proved his talents as a
gifted impressionist so i went outside
and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with
a four-man and a small dog
his most heavily featured impression was
that of president george
h.w bush who was a regular character in
snl's political sketches throughout his
election and presidency
look what he did to bradley in the
debates took him out to the political
woodshed and beat him within an inch of
that big old double chin
carvey even managed to take on two
impressions at once for one sketch
leading up to the 1992 u.s presidential
election
in which he played both his usual
president bush as well as independent
candidate
ross perot will you shut up hold it
there cracker boy i'm not finished
you see that right there you see that it
kind of makes you wonder whether these
men have the temperament to be president
number six dan aykroyd as one of the
original cast members dan aykroyd helped
establish snl's reputation for comedic
impressions
if you reset it at the three mark like
it says in the assembly instruction i
think you'll solve any clogging problems
in the machine oh thanks mr president
some of his well-known impressions
included jimmy carter
richard nixon and vincent price but his
most popular impression would likely be
his julia child
welcome i'm a julian child
and today we're going to make a holiday
feast or
lay fate in the sketch titled the french
chef
aykroyd gives an impression of the
famous chef that while not an exact
imitation
is so funny that even julia child
herself admitted she played the sketch
at her parties
from his impressions to his original
characters like the coneheads and the
blues brothers
dan aykroyd certainly contributed to
snl's enduring legacy
[Music]
number 5. maya rudolph did somebody say
my name
after joining the snl cast in 2000
rudolph's musical talents and
impressions
quickly made her one of the most
entertaining members of the cast
during her time on the show she had a
unique ability to alter her appearance
so she could easily play both male
and female characters from a variety of
ethnic backgrounds
allowing her to impersonate a wide range
of people mrs houston now who let you in
and uh what brings you by the update i
don't know i just wanted to stop by and
wish my old pals a very happy summer
time
okay some of her popular impressions
included whitney houston
beyonce oprah and maya angelou hello
chad i am the rock
i am the river i am the one who put a
pie
under the butt of morgan freeman rudolph
left the show in 2007
but frequently returns for guest
appearances including her recent
portrayal of vice presidential candidate
kamala harris throughout the 2020
election cycle thank you everybody
like joe i am humbled
and honored number four kate mckinnon so
rudy did you go on fox news last night
like 20 times yeah one of the most
entertaining aspects of an especially
stressful presidential election in 2016
was kate mckinnon's hillary clinton
impression
citizens you will elect me
i will be your leader the impression was
favored by clinton
who appeared in a sketch alongside
mckinnon's clinton hey bartender
keep them coming
but this is by no means the extent of
her impersonation abilities
as mckinnon has delivered spot-on
impressions of dozens of celebrities
including kellyanne conway justin bieber
and
ruth bader ginsburg mckinnon's
chameleon-like talents contributed to
her emmy wins for outstanding supporting
actress in a comedy series in 2016
and gonna step 2017.
now you can't get rid of me number three
phil hartman playing more than 70
characters over his eight seasons at
saturday night live from 1986 to 1994.
hartman established his reputation as a
gifted impressionist
issue number one censorship they got the
records with the labels now
people getting arrested what the hell's
going on hartman imitated celebrities
like frank sinatra and ed mcmahon but
his most celebrated impression was his
bill clinton which he reprised
many times throughout his time on the
show jim let me tell you something
there's going to be a whole bunch of
things we don't tell mrs clinton
snl creator lorne michaels thought
hartman was one of the most underrated
cast members
and his peers generally saw him as the
glue that held the show together
hartman is still remembered today for
his many entertaining impressions
and his impact on the comedy world well
all i can say is i didn't know
and well we're trying to find out what
happened because
none of us know number two daryl hammond
with 107 celebrity impressions under his
belt
hammond is undoubtedly one of the
greatest impressionists in snl's history
what yeah i just put my lip and did the
thumb thing how'd you
want his best known was like phil
hartman a bill clinton impression
but hammond was also known during his
time at snl for impersonating
al gore donald trump john travolta and
many more
cheese louise i'm hungry hey wait i'm a
slice of cheeseburger pizza from
diminio's like the game
eat me hammond was a frequent
participant in the regular celebrity
jeopardy sketches
which gave him the opportunity to
regularly test out new and unique
impressions
hammond left the show in 2009 after a
record-breaking 14-year tenure
but returned in 2014 as the show's
announcer
a role he still holds today hammond was
and remains an integral part of snl and
a massively talented comedian
[Music]
no well that's the sound your mother
made last night
daryl hammond's sean connery may not be
spot on it's actually
scott on but it is definitely hilarious
however as we've seen
he's not our number one so let's look
through some honorable mentions
and then we'll see if you can guess who
our number one snl impersonator is
keenan thompson snl's longest serving
cast member with an iconic steve harvey
impression
what 1925 novel features a character
named nick carrawick melissa visignore
an underrated impressionist with spot on
kristen wiig
and kathy griffin impressions okay so
here's the deal i just hang out with my
igloo i invite a few polar bears over
yes they're gay
chloe feynman a newer cast member making
a name for herself with her
funny and topical impressions
what's up masterclass instagram jojo
that's why it's me
jojo siwa here to teach you how to take
top
tina fey her sarah palin impression is
too perfect
and so impressive first off i just want
to say how excited i am to be in front
of both the liberal elite media as well
as the liberal regular media
eddie murphy delivered excellent
impressions of bill cosby
michael jackson and more not long ago i
wrote a song called billie jean and i'm
afraid it was misunderstood by everyone
a lot of people thought
i actually got a girl pregnant and then
walked out on her but believe me nothing
can be further from the truth
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number one bill hader hey how are you
james
i haven't found the bodies yet sir so
i'm doing just fine all right
for this lifelong impressionist saturday
night live was the perfect opportunity
to showcase his skills as a performer my
next impression is acclaimed english
actor james mason
i have told you before lolita no boys
a cast member from 2005 to 2013 hater
was known for his reliably
excellent impressions ranging from
vincent price to alan alda to stephen
king
it's an honor for me as well
part of his comedic inspiration came
from his admiration for phil hartman
and haider hoped to be able to fill a
similar role to hartman during his time
on the show as the
impressions guy that dinosaur comes out
and attacks me
oh my god you guys that is great while
many impressionists can give a good idea
of what character they're trying to
parody with their impersonations
bill hader has the ability to almost
entirely transform into the celebrities
and characters he's imitating
with his truly impressive talents that
still amaze us today
welcome to jurassic park for me
it's haters alan alda all the time he
sounds
exactly like him it's insane anyway be
sure to let us know in the comments who
your favorite snl impersonator is
or come tell me on twitter or instagram
rebecca brayton or
on my youtube channel see ya