Friday, November 21, 2008
2008 Playing Obama
Posted by Eli Sanders on Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Say goodbye to Fred Armisen as Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live.
According to The Daily Beast, the search is on for a better, more Barack-like, Obama. The contenders: Jordan Carlos (Stepehen Colbert's "black friend"); Donald Glover (30 Rock, etc.); Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, etc.); and Jordan Peele (Chocolate News, etc.).
The trouble with finding a suitable Obama can be boiled down to this: Michaels needs to find a comedian that can not only portray our president but also play our first black president. The comic chosen has to manage a delicate balance: finding the funny in Obama’s mannerisms without alienating black viewers who might take offense. Right now, Armisen’s interpretation is acceptably mild, but doesn’t advance the conversation about Obama in the way that Fey’s Sarah Palin may have changed the race. Michaels needs to bring in fresh meat; someone to shake up water cooler talk.
Suggestions? Demands? Vetoes? The future of presidential mockery is at stake!
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5
Wyatt has more range than the others. I think he would get pretty unhappy if all he got to play is one character.
6
Chris Rock. It won't be funny if it's not alienating and is carefully balanced, etc. Chris Rock will be very funny.
8
They let Fred Armisen play more than one character, so I think that Lorne would let him play other characters as well.
He'd definitely have more opportunities on SNL than he does on The Daily Show.
He'd definitely have more opportunities on SNL than he does on The Daily Show.
9
JC beat me to it. I was going to suggest the guy from that video too. I love Wyatt Cenac, but I'm not sure if he'd be right for Obama.
13
I say keep Fred.
There's nothing more comical or American that having a man of Japanese/Venezuelan/German descent playing our African-American President. Just cause he doesn't exactly LOOK the part doesn't mean he can't play the part. He's certainly done a better job as Obama than Chase did with Ford or Aykroyd with Carter.
There's nothing more comical or American that having a man of Japanese/Venezuelan/German descent playing our African-American President. Just cause he doesn't exactly LOOK the part doesn't mean he can't play the part. He's certainly done a better job as Obama than Chase did with Ford or Aykroyd with Carter.
14
I feel like I would actually need to see their impression to make a decision here. I mean, I like Wyatt Cenac, but who knows whether he would do a good Obama or not?
16
Er, Armisen sucks as Obama. Not because of his race, but because his impression is terrible and just not very funny. He's way too clumsy with Obama's mannerisms; in the right hands, Obama's haughty, self-confident ways could be portrayed with scathing satirical accuracy. Think Dave Chappelle's white-guy voice. There you go.
17
It doesn't matter so much who does it, it's how you do it. Everybody does Obama's voice deeper and much slower than it really is. But really, the problem is that Obama's just not that funny. There's no obvious comedy hook -- if there was somebody would have found it already. How do you make sober and introspective funny? You can't just put him out there and laugh at him they way you can with Palin or Biden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1MGi12Rs…
I think the key to making him funny is to put him in funny situations. South Park's Barack Obama as Danny Ocean was on the right track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1MGi12Rs…
I think the key to making him funny is to put him in funny situations. South Park's Barack Obama as Danny Ocean was on the right track.
19
I agree with JC (Comment #1)
This guy really is the best fit for the job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt_TnQqkV…
This guy really is the best fit for the job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt_TnQqkV…
20
I vote for dropping political impressions from the show altogether. They want funny? There isn't any funny there. Better yet, take the whole show off the air.
21
I agree with Fnarf... SNL has been dead for years.
However, if they're gonna pick someone to play Obama, they should pick someone who looks, talks, and acts nothing like him, just to completely throw everyone off. Maybe Ice-Cube? Or Jackie Chan?
However, if they're gonna pick someone to play Obama, they should pick someone who looks, talks, and acts nothing like him, just to completely throw everyone off. Maybe Ice-Cube? Or Jackie Chan?
22
eh, Armisen was okay.
the one problem though was (at least early on) his impression seemed based on Obama's voice in the audiobook version of his two books. That voice is a little different than his speech and normal talking voice.
the one problem though was (at least early on) his impression seemed based on Obama's voice in the audiobook version of his two books. That voice is a little different than his speech and normal talking voice.
24
I think Fred Armisen is good. I'm just sad they're so white(ish) they can't find a black comedian who doesn't look like Kenan.
25
SNL is at it's funniest when it's doing political comedy. The rest of the show is funny about 5% of the time.
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