On Charlie Rose, again: a great conversation with Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen, and James Downey, about what it takes to write, produce, and perform Saturday Night Live — which is as popular and influential as ever. Lot’s of discussion on political humour, impersonations, and how politicians themselves feel about them. One interesting takeaway is the very high praise these guys have for Sarah Palin as a natural performer: lead political writer James Downey said she’s “as good as I’ve ever seen.” The one thing I’ll be looking for the most in the future is Fred Armisen’s impersonation of Obama: I love it, and one of these days they’ll figure out a “handle” for the guy and it’ll really take off.
