Brandon Wetherbee is the host of the You, Me, Them, Everybody talk show. He’ll be hosting 8×8 at Black Cat Backstage on Saturday, November 14 with performances from Jack on Fire, Alyssa Cowan, Jamel Johnson, Christine Ferrera, Natalie McGill, Jessy Morner-Ritt, Motherknuckle and more.
Larry David is one of the funniest people that has performed on a television screen.
If you had access to a television, Internet connected device, newspaper, radio or phone, you most likely heard that Larry David absolutely destroyed an impression of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. It was OK.
Larry David is one of the funniest writers that has penned some of the funniest sitcoms ever aired on television screens.
Kate McKinnon has been doing an impression of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for over a year. It’s a great impression because it’s not a note for note take on a woman most everyone in the world knows. It works because McKinnon exaggerates what the public thinks Clinton thinks.
Larry David is one of the funniest talk show guests. He does not care and is never not himself.
The best Obama impression comes from Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. It works for the same reason McKinnon’s Clinton works except it’s done by two people. Peele nails the imitation and Key embodies what we think Obama thinks but can not say.
Larry David seems like a funny person in real life.
Larry David did not do a good Bernie Sanders impression. Larry David altered some Larry David mannerisms into some Bernie Sanders characteristics. David gave the people what they wanted. The two men were born in the same New York City borough six years apart. Each man happens to be Jewish. It was inevitable David could do a good Sanders in terms of mannerisms, but that’s not an impression.
James Adomian does an excellent impression of Bernie Sanders. It’s more difficult to embody and embellish another person’s thoughts, feelings and ideals than looks and sound like someone else. It’s why McKinnon’s Clinton, Key and Peel’s Obama and Adomian’s Sanders are so great. Those four people don’t really look like the three people they’re taking on, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a bonus that Tina Fey kinda looks like Sara Palin and David kind of looks like Sanders, but how the performer interprets the subject is what makes a great impression. In fact, Alec Baldin’s Jim Webb impression was the best new impression on last Saturday’s SNL. Baldwin exaggerated what little we know about Webb. David did not add anything to Sanders other than David, which is great because Larry David is great, but it’s a disservice to Sanders and comedy. Adomian exaggerates what we know about Sanders and makes the entire election cycle worth following. It is hands down the best impression of the 2016 election cycle and this is an election cycle that has Donald Trump.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Larry David portraying Sanders. What’s wrong is the mounds of praise being heaped on the comedian. The impersonation is pretty good and the impression is bad. People like Larry David because Larry David is a very funny writer and performer. That’s all. Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm are hankering for new episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a great show with a great shelf life. You know what would fit really well on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm? An episode about email passwords. You know what Bernie Sanders would never think or say into a microphone? The absurdity of email passwords.
So why does any of this matter? Because it doesn’t make sense. The Sanders impression that trended for two days on Facebook, the Sanders impression your parents called about, the Sanders impression every Sunday morning political talk show ended their show with does not make sense. You know who hates things that don’t make sense? Larry David.
