Bill Hader is the goat of impressions! We're looking at the SNL alum's best impersonations from Prince Philip to Clint Eastwood. #billhader #comedy #snl #impression #celebrity
The Alan Alda is one of his most underrated impersonations. It is so hard to nail that voice, attitude, and cadence it's not even funny. But you literally can't tell the difference between Hader & Alda himself. Also...who out here is even attempting Alan Alda impressions to begin with!? That in itself is amazing enough.
As someone who grew up around a lot of crackpot conspiracy theorists and even used to be one, I think a lot of people do this to try and feel like they're "helping" the person they idolized so much and somehow returning the favor for whatever they got out of them. They're powerless in the situation, and so the only way they can feel powerful is by infantilising their idol so that they can come to the rescue in their own mind and give themselves some kind of bow on the end of the parasocial relationship to feel like they're assisting a friend by "finding the truth". They unfairly shovel their hopes and dreams on these people, and when they die, that illusion of control over their own lives dies. And they make it the problem of whatever scapegoat is around, whether it's women or vague government boogeymen or whatever ethnic group they don't like. This kind of behavior comes from the same fundamental sense of unfulfillment that drove many of the tragic public figures like John and Kurt to seek out fame in the first place. The feeling that there's just got to be "something else". But there just isn't.
I like how a lot of his impressions are people too obscured by age that most of Bill’s audience probably doesn’t even know them. The Alda impression would have gotten a way bigger response if anyone in the crowd had seen MASH.
The whole series of Vincent Price specials that SNL did with Bill are hilarious. Some of the best writing and talent they ever put forward. Bill’s smooth movement from Vincent in character to Vincent trying to get the folks from the “office” to do their job right is pretty amazing.
