Celebrity impressions are a huge part of "Saturday Night Live." From Eddie Murphy's Gumby to Norm Macdonald's Burt Reynolds to Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton. It seems that Imitation has been the funniest form of flattery since "SNL" premiered in 1975.
But it's a celebrity impression that didn't air on "SNL" that's making the rounds on the Internet today. Nasim Pedrad, who left "SNL" at the end of last season after being on the show for five years, revealed that she always wanted to play the outlandish comedian Aziz Ansari on the show. She even got to try out her impression of the "small man," as she describes him on the Sept. 16 episode of "Conan."
Unfortunately, the sketch was cut from SNL, but we got to see the unaired footage on "Conan." Pedrad hilariously captured the wide-eyed, joyful stare, energy and passion for fashion that we've seen Ansari express.
A couple of Pedrad's impressions that have aired on the show were also spot-on, including a perfect mimic of Kim Kardashian's voice and lovely little turns of phrase as Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington. In addition to Pedrad, there have been plenty of so-close-it's-scary impressions by other "SNL" cast members in recent years. Since you're probably going to scour the Interwebs for as many "SNL" celebrity impressions as you can find anyway, here's five of the best from the past few years, to save you some trouble.
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin
Politics are so much more fun when the "SNL" cast pokes fun at them, right? Fey looked and sounded so much like the real Palin, it was almost like the former governor of Alaska quit politics and joined the "SNL" cast instead. The only bad part about Palin not winning the vice presidential ticket was that Fey wouldn't have a reason to do her impression on "SNL" anymore.
Kristen Wiig as Kathie Lee Gifford
There was basically nothing Wiig couldn't do when she was an "SNL" cast member, and that included celebrity impressions. Her best was portraying the millionth hour of "The TODAY Show" co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, capturing her zaniness to a T.
Kenan Thompson as Reba McEntire
Thompson's portrayal of this famous country singer and actress wasn't memorable for being accurate so much as it was for being really bizarre. But that's what made it so perfect for the "SNL" digital short "Two Worlds Collide."
Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber
In other gender-bending impressions, McKinnon has the brooding and forced swag of Bieber down pat. It helps, of course, when you happen to really look like Bieber.
Jay Pharoah as Kanye West
Pharoah's impression of West during the recurring "SNL" sketch "Waking Up With Kimye" is the only time West should ever have his own talk show. His impersonation of those weird noises West makes will get you every time.
