In defense of Jim Carrey's SNL Joe Biden impression

Consequences of Sound

"Technically speaking, Carrey has a better eye for Biden’s manner–the gleaming smile, the clunky folksiness, the tone of his voice–than SNL’s last regular impersonator Jason Sudeikis," Jesse Hassenger says in response to criticism of Carrey's Biden. "What Sudeikis had, though, was an easy rapport with the audience. His Biden was pretty much just a watered-down version of The Onion’s absurdist Diamond Joe, crossed with the Sudeikis Genial Enthusiast persona. But Sudeikis was accustomed to the rhythms of SNL, and knew how to pop in a scene opposite an equally seasoned co-star. As much of a showboater as Carrey is, his timing isn’t always crack on live TV, though sketches that labor to insert him into the action, often with ill-advised cutaways, don’t do him any favors. More notable about Carrey’s recent appearances as Biden has been his clear desire to stretch his legs, comedically. Last week, in a tortured riff on the fly that landed on Mike Pence during the VP debate, Carrey’s Biden went through a teleporter that turned him into Jeff Goldblum’s man-fly hybrid from the David Cronenberg film The Fly. This gave Carrey an amusing if inexplicable chance to both imitate Goldblum and puke up a bunch of goop onscreen. This week, the channel-flipping concept culminated in his Biden switching into a Mr. Rogers guise (inspired by a much-mocked tweet suggesting that Biden’s resemblance to one of the most beloved figures in TV history was a very bad thing indeed), followed by a foray into Bob Ross territory.  This wasn’t wildly funny. In fact, it was pretty hacky: Bob Ross has been a kiddie-cartoon level reference for decades at this point. But there is a demented energy to Carrey’s shapeshifting that makes him more interesting to watch than a wheezy, exhausted Trump impression from Baldwin. If you squint a little, it sort of tracks with Biden’s elderly-go-getter vibe...For two weeks now, he’s wriggled around in a sketch format full of constraints, from its dialogue to its obligatory walk-ons to, yes, its wan both-sides posturing. And to be fair, Carrey’s brand of virtuosic soloing is both not operating at full power, and not particularly conducive to the kind of team effort that powers the better SNL material."