Dana Carvey Reveals the Origin of His Iconic Lorne Michaels Impression

Dana Carvey recently made a nostalgic return to Studio 8H, reflecting on his time at Saturday Night Live and discussing his famous impersonations.

During an episode of the NBC sketch comedy’s new online series The Rundown, the Emmy-awarded comedian shared how he came up with his iconic impersonation of the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels.

“Looking at this, my initial feeling is absolute terror,” he admitted, while viewing the show’s planning board during the latest episode.

Carvey explained, “The impersonation of Lorne Michaels started to take shape on a Wednesday after our read-through. We’d have maybe 50 sketches to go through, and Lorne would be there trying to organize the show’s lineup, often frustrated. He’d exclaim, ‘Um, I still have no f*cking first act.’”

In 2016, Carvey revisited this story, clearing up speculation that a rift had occurred between him and Mike Myers over the latter using his Michaels impression for the character Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. The two have since reconciled.

After his stint on SNL from 1986 to 1993, Carvey returned to the show in 2024, portraying President Joe Biden during the lead-up to Election Day. He was joined by Maya Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, and Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz.