Darrell Hammond, legendary Saturday Night Live cast member, is coming to Comedy Works South in the Landmark at Greenwood Village this weekend. He joins Ryan to discuss his upcoming performances and reflect upon his remarkable career as an impressionist in sketch comedy.
Darrell Hammond | Live in Denver | Comedy Works
Darrell Hammond holds the title for being the longest running cast member on Saturday Night Live. The actor and comedian has brought to life a cavalcade of politicians, media figures, celebrities and newsmakers on television through his impressions. Amongst the great number of people he has mimicked include Bill Clinton, Sean Connery, Regis Philbin, John Travolta, Jay Leno and Donald Trump. Darrell is known for being one of the most prolific comedians of his time.
In addition to his SNL appearances, Hammond has been seen in a number of feature films and television shows. As a truly versatile actor Darrell has displayed his talents in both dramatic and comedic roles. He has appeared in the TBS comedy series Are We There Yet?, on the acclaimed F/X series Damages, and on the Law and Order franchise. Some of his feature films include Screen Gems feature Weiners, Warner Bros’ New York Minute, as well as Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 6. In addition, Darrell is the author of his critically acclaimed memoir, “God If You’re Not Up There, I’m F***ed,” which was released to rave reviews.
Darrell continues to move audiences with his comedy, performing comedy clubs and theaters nationwide. He gave Comedy Central it’s biggest ratings to date for a half-hour comedy special performing in his own Comedy Central Presents: Darrell Hammond. Darrell has also made frequent appearances on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. As an actor he continually looks for new challenging roles to expand his talents in film and television.
Darrell Hammond | Live in Denver | Comedy Works
Darrell Hammond holds the title for being the longest running cast member on Saturday Night Live. The actor and comedian has brought to life a cavalcade of politicians, media figures, celebrities and newsmakers on television through his impressions. Amongst the great number of people he has mimicked include Bill Clinton, Sean Connery, Regis Philbin, John Travolta, Jay Leno and Donald Trump. Darrell is known for being one of the most prolific comedians of his time.
In addition to his SNL appearances, Hammond has been seen in a number of feature films and television shows. As a truly versatile actor Darrell has displayed his talents in both dramatic and comedic roles. He has appeared in the TBS comedy series Are We There Yet?, on the acclaimed F/X series Damages, and on the Law and Order franchise. Some of his feature films include Screen Gems feature Weiners, Warner Bros’ New York Minute, as well as Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 6. In addition, Darrell is the author of his critically acclaimed memoir, “God If You’re Not Up There, I’m F***ed,” which was released to rave reviews.
Darrell continues to move audiences with his comedy, performing comedy clubs and theaters nationwide. He gave Comedy Central it’s biggest ratings to date for a half-hour comedy special performing in his own Comedy Central Presents: Darrell Hammond. Darrell has also made frequent appearances on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman, NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. As an actor he continually looks for new challenging roles to expand his talents in film and television.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we begin the double jeopardy round, I'd like to
ask our contestants once again, please refrain from using ethnic slurs.
That said, let's take a look at the scores. Sean
Connery has set a new Jeopardy record with negative two
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. I think you're pretty smart,
(00:24):
don't you trap back? What with your daggo marshtache on
your greasy hat? Look what did I just say about
ethnic slurs? Let's just go to animal sounds for six hundred.
This is the sound a doggy mate, mister Connery move.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
No, well, that'sh the shan your mother made last night.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Okay, that's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I happen to agree with Governor Bauch on that, and
I commend him for it.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
But let me add something.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Let me add something. In my plan, the lock box
would also be camouflaged now to all outward appearances.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
It would be a leather bound edition at the Count
of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
But it wouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It would be the lock Box norm.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Director Rowland Emeric's film Independence Day tells The story.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Tells the story of a.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Young, idealistic compassionate president who's facing a crisis, frustrated in
his personal life and unable to realize his vision for
the country due to a hostile Congress. But suddenly everything
turns around and he's able to achieve true greatness when
aliens invade Earth and a helicopter crash.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Kills his I love this movie. Okay, you've crossed the line.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
I've killed peop fulss looks like you killed a squirrel
to me and put it right on top of your head.
You're one to talk. Your hair looks exactly like mine. Yeah,
except my hair is supposed to look like this.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I'm a janitor, one of the all time greats on
Saturday Night Live, joining us now, and he's coming to
Comedy Work South Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can find
out more at comedyworks dot com. Joining us. Darryl Hammond
on Ryan Schuling Live. Darryl, thank you so much for
taking the time.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Oh man, thank you so much, and thank you for
putting those clips together. It's been a while. It was
a while before I could actually enjoy listening to anything
I ever did, And then, you know, lately, I've been
hearing some stuff and wasn't half bad.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Wasn't well? Daryl, I want to talk to you about that,
because when I was putting that together, the thing that
stood out to me were the quiet moments, meaning you
weren't delivering a punchline. It was just your manner, like
when you had that pause with Al Gore for it,
and then also with Bill Clinton, just a look on
your face or just a word in passing, and the
(03:20):
audience reacted to that. Did you notice that in the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, I mean there was a time when we realized
there were certain things that you could do with each character.
What we could you know, you call them a hook,
and so, you know, once we had it out there
a couple of times and it went well. A couple
of times, we had a couple of hooks, and so
we never never stopped doing them, you know, Daryl, you
(03:45):
mentioned the facial thing with Clinton was something I developed
at the Comedy Seller in New York City, and I
guess I did about three hundred sets. Same with Al Gore.
You know, Gore was I couldn't get people to laugh
at Gore until that first two thousand debate, and then
suddenly we had a hook, you know, Oberbarian school teacher,
(04:08):
and we had a way to play it.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You know, something that stood out to me about what
you just said prior to that, Daryl, was that you
don't go back and watch your old stuff, or you
haven't been able to, or you didn't want to. Why
is that? Are your your own worst credit? Something like that.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
It's something along those lines. But when I watch I
remember very well stuff that I was trying to do
that I didn't do. Now, granted, it looks like the
sketches goes pretty well, but there were some things that
I you know, I mean, as Lauren says, the show
(04:45):
goes on because it's eleven thirty now, because it's ready.
So I always look at that in retrospect and say, yeae,
I wish I had a little bit more time with
that one, but you know, that's part of the game.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Legendary SNL cast member only Keenan Thompson has served longer
than Darrel Hammond, and yes, that means he was on
the program longer than Tim Meadows. That was a running
punchline for a time as well. Darryl Hammond coming to
Comedy Work South Friday at seven pm. Two shows Saturday
six and eight thirty pm, and then one show on
Sunday at five pm. Stay tuned for your chance to
win tickets. Shortly, Darryl, I want to go back to
(05:18):
your impersonation of Sean Connery, his consistent appearances on so
called Celebrity Jeopardy with Will Ferrell portraying Alex Trebek. I
happened to go to a taping of Jeopardy one night
and Alex Trebeck was taking questions from the audience, and
I asked him about the sketch and whether or not
he had seen it, if he had talked to Will
Ferrell about it, and he said, no, I have not
met Will, but I love it. And just for the record,
(05:40):
I don't have a problem with Sean Connery. Can you
take us through the formation of that idea and how
it developed into a sketch And did you ever encounter
Sean Connery and talk to him about your impression of him.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I never encountered Sean Connery. I heard him talking about
me once on the tonight show and he was favorable.
But you know the thing with all of those we
call them impressions, but they're more like characters. Because you know,
I discovered if I could I could, I could get
bigger laughs if I exaggerated stuff, you know, So the whole,
(06:16):
the whole, Sean Connery and the Gore. I mean, that's
those are caricatures instead of the sort of dead on
impressions you might see like in a Vegas tribute act.
But anyway, the I was in my office middle of
the night, didn't have anything. I was working on impression
of Sean Connery from Jeopard, from Jeopard or excuse me,
(06:39):
the Untouchables, and I was doing lines in the Untouchables
like you know, I'm not proposal Martage. You know you
don't have to think about it, just gnawed right. Will
Ferrell's across the hall working on Alex Trebeck. It was
just like that. I turned to him and I said,
I'm no profriend of the lady. Is all you're for? Beck?
You know what I mean by cementing my only niche
(07:01):
in Western civilization. I always know I got out for something,
but I didn't think you would be famous to these
for five thousand you.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Know, can you take us through the chemistry because the
one that stands out the most to me and I
pulled from it. That was that iconic moment where you're
going back and forth with Will Ferrell estra back, but
then you also have the great Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds.
And that's cracking me up. Just that synergy that happens, Daryl,
when you find that mix that works, that chemistry and
(07:31):
a sketch like that, what that feeling is like, and
when you knew you had it.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I never knew I had it. But you know, as
I look back and see some of the sketches, now
I see that I had some pretty good moments out there.
But that's you know, that's that's the Saturday Night Live cauldron.
That's the melting pot. That's that's over there that no
one completely understands, I guess, but Lauren Michaels, you know,
(07:58):
those writers that wrote those sketches want each multiple Emmys.
I mean, all I had to do was say the
words and do to like an exaggeration of Sean Connery,
which I tried to do.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Darryl Hammond joining us here on Ryan Schuling Live. He
is at Comedy Works South right here at the Landmark
in Greenwood Village this weekend Friday at seven, Saturday at
six and eight thirty Sunday at five. Your chance to
win passes still straight ahead, Darryl, you've done these famous impersonations.
We talk about Sean Connery, but also in the political sphere,
Al Gore dead on. That debate was, in and of
(08:34):
itself a landmark achievement, I think in SNL's sketch history.
And then of course Bill Clinton. You took the baton
from Phil Hartman. Those were big shoes to Phil, because
Phil did such a great job in it, but if anything,
you took it and ran with it. It's probably your
most memorable impression. For those out there that have watched you,
how did that come to be? And how did you
(08:56):
relate that to the actor you talk about caricatures? To
Bill Clinton himself, what did you draw from him that
really hit home.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well? With Clinton? I was living in Hell's Kitchen. I
remember this because I remember the site. The sounds of
Hell's Kitchen you hear at night, and I'd be sitting
in there listen to recordings of Bill Clinton and not
able to do him at all because something was really
bothering about me. From the very beginning, something was bothering.
But the main the first thing was the vowel sounds.
(09:27):
I couldn't I didn't understand the vowels until I looked
at the map and I saw that Arkansas was above Louisiana,
and it's likely there was a French you know dialect down,
you know, by that Bayu dialect that filtered up into Arkansas.
That made his peculiar o's and E sounds right. But
the thing that bugged me from the beginning was I
(09:48):
thought that he was doing somebody and it turns out,
you know, his idol was JFK, and he was doing
he was deriving, say, from JFK. Now this is not
baseball players do it. Everyone does it that we admire
someone like I derived from Richard Pryor we derived from stuff,
(10:10):
so it's not a pathological thing. But what I noticed
was he was putting commas in the logical places, which
you know, I mean, I don't want to be too
dull here, but I got a copy of JFK's inaugural address,
and sure enough JFK was doing the same thing. And
then once I knew Clinton's you know, his inspiration, his muse,
(10:35):
then I could move forward. And then I also had
the vowel sounds. But it took me a few months.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Incredible insight from Darryl Hammond here, because.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
He's a complicated dude. Man. You know, they all are really,
in their own ways, really complicated.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Was that your favorite impression to do Bill Clinton? Now?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I guess towards the end it had to be, because
we were starting to put him in and musicals and
drawing room comedies and all sorts of like off the
wall stuff like him and Monica having conversations with Saddam Hussein,
you know, and it's sort of the SNL brand, which
(11:19):
is silly but smart, right, silly and smart. And I
don't know if people consciously strive for but as I
look back over the years, some of the stuff that
Adam McKay wrote for me, and Tina Fey wrote for me,
and Seth Meyers wrote for me, I mean, good God,
incredible stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Now, Daryl, looking back, there's one other impersonation that you
did that drew a lot of traction, and it's the
current President of the United States, Donald Trump. In fact,
you appeared in several sketches with him when he would
guest host on the program. What was that experience like
and what was it like to work with President Trump
behind the scenes? How was he personally with you.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I enjoyed my time with him. He was very curious
and very insightful, and he worked really hard, and you
didn't see that braggadocio thing that people sort of associate
with him. He was there and he told me one
day that I said, why do you come? You come
later and you stay later and come earlier than anyone ever.
(12:26):
He said, well, listen, I can't act. So I got
to figure out a way to be funny out here,
you know, with words that somebody else wrote. And he goes,
I think, what I'm going to do is I'm going
to add lib paraphrase once in a while, like I'll
say something off script. And I thought, you know, it
(12:49):
worked because you realize the more authentic you are, the
funnier you are. And so he sort of intuitively understood that,
and you know, sure enough he went out and had
a really great show. But the thing about doing a
guy with the guy is the second they walk out,
they change. Got it. They're not talking, They're not talking
(13:12):
the way they were talking a few minutes ago down
on the floor. When they see you doing them face
to face, they change, and then you have to change
with them. And then all of a sudden, there's the
static electricity of two people trying to not be what,
you know, what they were a few minutes ago. You know,
I did my best with that, but he came out
(13:33):
there with a whole new speech pattern but threw me
off quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Finally, Daryl, we're so appreciative of your time today. When
people come out to see you at Comedy Works South
this weekend, what can they expect.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Well, I like to put in all the stuff that
I did on SNL that was half way interesting, and
you know, I'll put in some stuff about the fiftieth
and some stuff about Pam Bond. They will go to
Trump Town a little bit, we'll do the other stuff.
I mean, when you come out there, people want to
see those characters. You know, they don't want to you know,
(14:07):
it's like if you went to the Rolling Stones and
they started playing jazz. You're like, no, that's not it.
I don't want to hear jazz. I want to hear
a start me up, right, So you got to you know,
it's you gotta do a little bit of a balance act.
But Denver is the I believe the best two comedy
clubs in the world, Downtown and out in the country,
(14:27):
and you know you never want to miss a chance
to play there.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
He is one of the all time greats of Saturday
Night Live, and he'll bring those characters to life once
again this weekend. It Comedy Works South. Stay tuned for
your chance to win. The great Daryl Hammond joining us
here on Ryan Schuling Live. Darryl, thank you so much,
best of luck going forward.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Such a pleasure, Ryan, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
All Right, Kelly, do you have a question for our
listeners to win?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
We do?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Okay, go for it?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Okay, which iconic actor did Darryl P.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Trey on SNL Celebrity Jeopardy.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Oh, okay, that's an easy one. That's a layup. Five seven,
seven three nine. Text me your first name and last
a phone number where you can be reached, and which
show you want to go to. It's either Friday at seven,
Saturday at six, Saturday at eight thirty, or Sunday at five.
Send out along five seven, seven thirty nine your chance
to win free passes to hear the guy and see
the guy that you just heard on the radio. Daryl Hammond, Aaron,
(15:24):
Ryan Schuling Live,
Before we begin the double jeopardy round, I'd like to
ask our contestants once again, please refrain from using ethnic slurs.
That said, let's take a look at the scores. Sean
Connery has set a new Jeopardy record with negative two
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. I think you're pretty smart,
(00:24):
don't you trap back? What with your daggo marshtache on
your greasy hat? Look what did I just say about
ethnic slurs? Let's just go to animal sounds for six hundred.
This is the sound a doggy mate, mister Connery move.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
No, well, that'sh the shan your mother made last night.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Okay, that's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I happen to agree with Governor Bauch on that, and
I commend him for it.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
But let me add something.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Let me add something. In my plan, the lock box
would also be camouflaged now to all outward appearances.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
It would be a leather bound edition at the Count
of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
But it wouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It would be the lock Box norm.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Director Rowland Emeric's film Independence Day tells The story.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Tells the story of a.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Young, idealistic compassionate president who's facing a crisis, frustrated in
his personal life and unable to realize his vision for
the country due to a hostile Congress. But suddenly everything
turns around and he's able to achieve true greatness when
aliens invade Earth and a helicopter crash.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Kills his I love this movie. Okay, you've crossed the line.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
I've killed peop fulss looks like you killed a squirrel
to me and put it right on top of your head.
You're one to talk. Your hair looks exactly like mine. Yeah,
except my hair is supposed to look like this.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I'm a janitor, one of the all time greats on
Saturday Night Live, joining us now, and he's coming to
Comedy Work South Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can find
out more at comedyworks dot com. Joining us. Darryl Hammond
on Ryan Schuling Live. Darryl, thank you so much for
taking the time.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Oh man, thank you so much, and thank you for
putting those clips together. It's been a while. It was
a while before I could actually enjoy listening to anything
I ever did, And then, you know, lately, I've been
hearing some stuff and wasn't half bad.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Wasn't well? Daryl, I want to talk to you about that,
because when I was putting that together, the thing that
stood out to me were the quiet moments, meaning you
weren't delivering a punchline. It was just your manner, like
when you had that pause with Al Gore for it,
and then also with Bill Clinton, just a look on
your face or just a word in passing, and the
(03:20):
audience reacted to that. Did you notice that in the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yeah, I mean there was a time when we realized
there were certain things that you could do with each character.
What we could you know, you call them a hook,
and so, you know, once we had it out there
a couple of times and it went well. A couple
of times, we had a couple of hooks, and so
we never never stopped doing them, you know, Daryl, you
(03:45):
mentioned the facial thing with Clinton was something I developed
at the Comedy Seller in New York City, and I
guess I did about three hundred sets. Same with Al Gore.
You know, Gore was I couldn't get people to laugh
at Gore until that first two thousand debate, and then
suddenly we had a hook, you know, Oberbarian school teacher,
(04:08):
and we had a way to play it.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You know, something that stood out to me about what
you just said prior to that, Daryl, was that you
don't go back and watch your old stuff, or you
haven't been able to, or you didn't want to. Why
is that? Are your your own worst credit? Something like that.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
It's something along those lines. But when I watch I
remember very well stuff that I was trying to do
that I didn't do. Now, granted, it looks like the
sketches goes pretty well, but there were some things that
I you know, I mean, as Lauren says, the show
(04:45):
goes on because it's eleven thirty now, because it's ready.
So I always look at that in retrospect and say, yeae,
I wish I had a little bit more time with
that one, but you know, that's part of the game.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Legendary SNL cast member only Keenan Thompson has served longer
than Darrel Hammond, and yes, that means he was on
the program longer than Tim Meadows. That was a running
punchline for a time as well. Darryl Hammond coming to
Comedy Work South Friday at seven pm. Two shows Saturday
six and eight thirty pm, and then one show on
Sunday at five pm. Stay tuned for your chance to
win tickets. Shortly, Darryl, I want to go back to
(05:18):
your impersonation of Sean Connery, his consistent appearances on so
called Celebrity Jeopardy with Will Ferrell portraying Alex Trebek. I
happened to go to a taping of Jeopardy one night
and Alex Trebeck was taking questions from the audience, and
I asked him about the sketch and whether or not
he had seen it, if he had talked to Will
Ferrell about it, and he said, no, I have not
met Will, but I love it. And just for the record,
(05:40):
I don't have a problem with Sean Connery. Can you
take us through the formation of that idea and how
it developed into a sketch And did you ever encounter
Sean Connery and talk to him about your impression of him.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I never encountered Sean Connery. I heard him talking about
me once on the tonight show and he was favorable.
But you know the thing with all of those we
call them impressions, but they're more like characters. Because you know,
I discovered if I could I could, I could get
bigger laughs if I exaggerated stuff, you know, So the whole,
(06:16):
the whole, Sean Connery and the Gore. I mean, that's
those are caricatures instead of the sort of dead on
impressions you might see like in a Vegas tribute act.
But anyway, the I was in my office middle of
the night, didn't have anything. I was working on impression
of Sean Connery from Jeopard, from Jeopard or excuse me,
(06:39):
the Untouchables, and I was doing lines in the Untouchables
like you know, I'm not proposal Martage. You know you
don't have to think about it, just gnawed right. Will
Ferrell's across the hall working on Alex Trebeck. It was
just like that. I turned to him and I said,
I'm no profriend of the lady. Is all you're for? Beck?
You know what I mean by cementing my only niche
(07:01):
in Western civilization. I always know I got out for something,
but I didn't think you would be famous to these
for five thousand you.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Know, can you take us through the chemistry because the
one that stands out the most to me and I
pulled from it. That was that iconic moment where you're
going back and forth with Will Ferrell estra back, but
then you also have the great Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds.
And that's cracking me up. Just that synergy that happens, Daryl,
when you find that mix that works, that chemistry and
(07:31):
a sketch like that, what that feeling is like, and
when you knew you had it.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I never knew I had it. But you know, as
I look back and see some of the sketches, now
I see that I had some pretty good moments out there.
But that's you know, that's that's the Saturday Night Live cauldron.
That's the melting pot. That's that's over there that no
one completely understands, I guess, but Lauren Michaels, you know,
(07:58):
those writers that wrote those sketches want each multiple Emmys.
I mean, all I had to do was say the
words and do to like an exaggeration of Sean Connery,
which I tried to do.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Darryl Hammond joining us here on Ryan Schuling Live. He
is at Comedy Works South right here at the Landmark
in Greenwood Village this weekend Friday at seven, Saturday at
six and eight thirty Sunday at five. Your chance to
win passes still straight ahead, Darryl, you've done these famous impersonations.
We talk about Sean Connery, but also in the political sphere,
Al Gore dead on. That debate was, in and of
(08:34):
itself a landmark achievement, I think in SNL's sketch history.
And then of course Bill Clinton. You took the baton
from Phil Hartman. Those were big shoes to Phil, because
Phil did such a great job in it, but if anything,
you took it and ran with it. It's probably your
most memorable impression. For those out there that have watched you,
how did that come to be? And how did you
(08:56):
relate that to the actor you talk about caricatures? To
Bill Clinton himself, what did you draw from him that
really hit home.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well? With Clinton? I was living in Hell's Kitchen. I
remember this because I remember the site. The sounds of
Hell's Kitchen you hear at night, and I'd be sitting
in there listen to recordings of Bill Clinton and not
able to do him at all because something was really
bothering about me. From the very beginning, something was bothering.
But the main the first thing was the vowel sounds.
(09:27):
I couldn't I didn't understand the vowels until I looked
at the map and I saw that Arkansas was above Louisiana,
and it's likely there was a French you know dialect down,
you know, by that Bayu dialect that filtered up into Arkansas.
That made his peculiar o's and E sounds right. But
the thing that bugged me from the beginning was I
(09:48):
thought that he was doing somebody and it turns out,
you know, his idol was JFK, and he was doing
he was deriving, say, from JFK. Now this is not
baseball players do it. Everyone does it that we admire
someone like I derived from Richard Pryor we derived from stuff,
(10:10):
so it's not a pathological thing. But what I noticed
was he was putting commas in the logical places, which
you know, I mean, I don't want to be too
dull here, but I got a copy of JFK's inaugural address,
and sure enough JFK was doing the same thing. And
then once I knew Clinton's you know, his inspiration, his muse,
(10:35):
then I could move forward. And then I also had
the vowel sounds. But it took me a few months.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Incredible insight from Darryl Hammond here, because.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
He's a complicated dude. Man. You know, they all are really,
in their own ways, really complicated.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Was that your favorite impression to do Bill Clinton? Now?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I guess towards the end it had to be, because
we were starting to put him in and musicals and
drawing room comedies and all sorts of like off the
wall stuff like him and Monica having conversations with Saddam Hussein,
you know, and it's sort of the SNL brand, which
(11:19):
is silly but smart, right, silly and smart. And I
don't know if people consciously strive for but as I
look back over the years, some of the stuff that
Adam McKay wrote for me, and Tina Fey wrote for me,
and Seth Meyers wrote for me, I mean, good God,
incredible stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Now, Daryl, looking back, there's one other impersonation that you
did that drew a lot of traction, and it's the
current President of the United States, Donald Trump. In fact,
you appeared in several sketches with him when he would
guest host on the program. What was that experience like
and what was it like to work with President Trump
behind the scenes? How was he personally with you.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I enjoyed my time with him. He was very curious
and very insightful, and he worked really hard, and you
didn't see that braggadocio thing that people sort of associate
with him. He was there and he told me one
day that I said, why do you come? You come
later and you stay later and come earlier than anyone ever.
(12:26):
He said, well, listen, I can't act. So I got
to figure out a way to be funny out here,
you know, with words that somebody else wrote. And he goes,
I think, what I'm going to do is I'm going
to add lib paraphrase once in a while, like I'll
say something off script. And I thought, you know, it
(12:49):
worked because you realize the more authentic you are, the
funnier you are. And so he sort of intuitively understood that,
and you know, sure enough he went out and had
a really great show. But the thing about doing a
guy with the guy is the second they walk out,
they change. Got it. They're not talking, They're not talking
(13:12):
the way they were talking a few minutes ago down
on the floor. When they see you doing them face
to face, they change, and then you have to change
with them. And then all of a sudden, there's the
static electricity of two people trying to not be what,
you know, what they were a few minutes ago. You know,
I did my best with that, but he came out
(13:33):
there with a whole new speech pattern but threw me
off quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Finally, Daryl, we're so appreciative of your time today. When
people come out to see you at Comedy Works South
this weekend, what can they expect.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Well, I like to put in all the stuff that
I did on SNL that was half way interesting, and
you know, I'll put in some stuff about the fiftieth
and some stuff about Pam Bond. They will go to
Trump Town a little bit, we'll do the other stuff.
I mean, when you come out there, people want to
see those characters. You know, they don't want to you know,
(14:07):
it's like if you went to the Rolling Stones and
they started playing jazz. You're like, no, that's not it.
I don't want to hear jazz. I want to hear
a start me up, right, So you got to you know,
it's you gotta do a little bit of a balance act.
But Denver is the I believe the best two comedy
clubs in the world, Downtown and out in the country,
(14:27):
and you know you never want to miss a chance
to play there.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
He is one of the all time greats of Saturday
Night Live, and he'll bring those characters to life once
again this weekend. It Comedy Works South. Stay tuned for
your chance to win. The great Daryl Hammond joining us
here on Ryan Schuling Live. Darryl, thank you so much,
best of luck going forward.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Such a pleasure, Ryan, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
All Right, Kelly, do you have a question for our
listeners to win?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
We do?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Okay, go for it?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Okay, which iconic actor did Darryl P.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Trey on SNL Celebrity Jeopardy.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Oh, okay, that's an easy one. That's a layup. Five seven,
seven three nine. Text me your first name and last
a phone number where you can be reached, and which
show you want to go to. It's either Friday at seven,
Saturday at six, Saturday at eight thirty, or Sunday at five.
Send out along five seven, seven thirty nine your chance
to win free passes to hear the guy and see
the guy that you just heard on the radio. Daryl Hammond, Aaron,
(15:24):
Ryan Schuling Live,
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