Saturday Night Live pulled out all the stops for Election Season this year. Maya Rudolph returned to play Kamala Harris alongside fellow series alum Andy Samberg, who played Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff. Another exciting surprise was Dana Carvey returning to the show to play a perfect Joe Biden, and SNL also utilized the impressionist to do other characters, with one being Elon Musk. Now, Carvey is sharing an honest take on his performance as the tech mogul, and one point he made could potentially resonate with Musk himself.
In the post-election cold open, SNL kicked off with the cast glibly expressing their support for former President Trump after he was re-elected. Towards the end of the sketch, Dana Carvey came out as Elon Musk in his signature blazer with an ironic T-shirt under it and a MAGA hat. He started jumping around the stage, imitating Musk’s actions at a rally and doing his unmistakable voice. Carvey admitted that his impression isn't that solid and told David Spade on their Superfly podcast just why it's so challenging:
I can't do Elon Musk very well. But I can do something that sounds not like anything. He has an incredible accent… South Africa via Canada, via Pennsylvania. It's almost like, it's a little bit of Australian in there, a little bit of British. But it’s not totally that.
Due to the various places Elon Musk has lived, his accent is a mix of a bunch of different regions, making his voice very unique. He’s from South Africa, but his parents are from other areas as well, and Musk has lived in the States for a large part of his life. The Wayne's World alum noting the singular nature of Musk’s speaking voice and calling it “incredible” would likely flatter the famous billionaire, and it may not be the only point he'd agree with the comic on.
As the Master of Disguise star mentioned, he can't impersonate the businessman "very well," and Musk disliked Carvey’s impression of him. In Musk's estimation, "Dana Carvey just sounds like Dana Carvey." Via another social media post, the Space X founder then insulted the late-night show for its inclusion of Kamala Harris herself on the pre-election installment. Given that, it's possible that Musk would co-sign the shortcomings of Carvey's impersonation.
This can be included in the line of conflicts that the NBC mainstay has had with Musk over the years. For example, most recently, series cast member Bowen Yang claimed a guest host made some cast members cry. Sometime later, Chloe Fineman said it was Elon Musk who made her cry when hosted back in 2021. Musk didn’t deny the accusation and responded by saying the writing was not funny at the time.
Despite the conflict surrounding Dana Carvey's impression, the bit seems to have been received well by a number of viewers, based on the social media reactions. While the accent may not have been spot on, one could argue that it was apparent what Carvey was going for. Given the comedian's latest thoughts, it's hard not to wonder tell whether the Tesla bigwig will feel compelled to weigh in.
You can revisit Dana Carvey’s impression of Elon Musk by checking out Saturday Night Live's post-election episode, which is now streamable with a Peacock subscription. The late night show is also bringing back more former cast members, as well as exciting hosts and musical guests for its 50th anniversary season. So make sure to check out new episodes when they air on NBC on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
