Watch: Comedian Dana Carvey Nails Perfect Biden Impression

By Garion Frankel April 4, 2021 at 12:17am

Dana Carvey is one of the few comedians I still enjoy watching.

While I was not yet alive when he first became legendary for his impressions of former President George H.W. Bush on Saturday Night Live — and the genuine friendship between the two men that followed — he still serves as an inspiration for me.

Carvey is living proof that it is possible to satirize politics and politicians without being unnecessarily mean. You can see one of his early Bush impressions here. It’s truly incredible stuff:

Now, Carvey has struck again — this time with a brilliant impression of President Joe Biden while a guest on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Carvey described his impression of Biden as being a representation of the president during a town hall, when he is “a gentle father to the country.” But, according to Carvey, he also looks like “the alien that came off the spaceship in Close Encounters.”

Then, Carvey launched into his impression, which was beautiful. From the mannerisms to the tone of voice, to the rambling about everything including Obama, Biden’s father losing his job in Scranton and requesting that Biden’s mother pass the cookies, it was just absolutely perfect.

Carvey (as Biden) capped it off by proclaiming that “he [cared]” and that “people are suffering.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EufXiqAXNG4

Across the Twitterverse, academics, media figures and even Carvey’s alma mater came together to recognize how awesome Carvey’s impression was:

It’s Dana Carvey! First one to absolutely crush the Joe Biden impersonation.

— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) March 25, 2021

SNL should make Dana Carvey its new Joe Biden https://t.co/ueRj0F1hgQ

— Deenie (@deenie7940) March 24, 2021

Ive had to mimic the written & spoken “voice” of pols before: Dana Carvey does the best @JoeBiden impersonation Ive seen so far. He’s got key phrases & vocal inflections down. Just needs to drop the pitch of his voice a little bit & do it in less of a whisper to make it perfect. https://t.co/LCtEfY5hiS

— Sergio Grant (@sgrant525) March 24, 2021

Let’s start the week with a laugh. Alumnus Dana Carvey nails President Joe Biden impression. https://t.co/ZYIaRvkQXM pic.twitter.com/2PRFmlpcBm

— SF State (@SFSU) March 29, 2021

Dana Carvey nails Joe Biden: So good… https://t.co/jh3BDLTJt3

— David DeCosse, Director of Religious Ethics (@DavidDeCosse) March 24, 2021

I hope Saturday Night Live was watching. They would be foolish to not bring back Carvey as their Joe Biden, though such foolishness wouldn’t surprise me these days.

Carvey is a callback to a time when politics was a little less toxic, and I think all of us can learn a few lessons from his example.

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