Every Saturday Night Live generation has its great political impersonation. Dana Carvey had George H.W. Bush, Darrell Hammond had Bill Clinton, Will Ferrell had George W. Bush, and now Larry David has Bernie Sanders. Over the last few months, the genius that created Seinfeld has crafted a brand new, equally iconic persona by lampooning presidential candidate Bernie Sanders with pitch perfect authenticity. David took to the SNL stage last night to tackle his hosting duties, and as you can probably expect, the show featured an amazing Bernie Sanders skit that took a shot at David's classic series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Check it out below.
The SNL writers clearly did their homework on Larry David’s famous HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, because the skit is a nearly perfect recreation of the series’ awkward, cynical humor. The sketch begins with Bernie Sanders at a rally shaking the hands of his supportes; when one supporter coughs into her hand, Bernie refuses to shake it which causes a massive scene and draws the ire of several people in the crowd. At Bernie’s campaign headquarters his staff – all of whom perfectly mimic characters from Curb – chide him for not sucking it up and merely shaking the woman’s hand because he needs all of the support he can get. After an intense shouting match, Bernie storms out to get a cup of coffee. During his walk one of his supporters is in a car crash, and asks him to pop her shoulder back into place – a request he squeamishly refuses. As he frantically runs away from her she screams and curses at him, completely reversing her positive opinion of the progressive politician. Back at his headquarters Bernie watches the result of the Iowa caucus and realizes he has lost by five votes: four people from the sneezing incident and the woman in the car.
Beyond the fact that it’s a perfect impersonation of the democratic socialist, the sketch also reminds us just how much we miss Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show featured flamboyant characters and awesome personalities, but truly shined primarily through the way in which it poked fun at everyday awkward situations. Bern Your Enthusiasm is an honest stroke of genius; even if Bernie does not get the democratic nomination when the primaries roll around, we hope that SNL still finds a way to incorporate Larry David’s caricature of him into the show at every possible avenue. If ever there was a reason to vote for Bernie: it would give us four more years of Larry David.
Anyone with an affinity for political humor would be wise to check out the video above. It’s perfect political satire, as well as a phenomenal call back to one of the greatest comedy series in recent memory. We will keep you up to date with the latest and greatest sketches from Saturday Night Live as they become available to us, stay tuned!
