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On SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Jimmy Fallon Did Double-Duty as Dual John Travoltas

It was always a given that with Jimmy Fallon hosting Saturday Night Live, at least one sketch would be an excuse for celebrity impersonations. And indeed, his monologue set the tone with a non-ironic imitation of David Bowie singing “Let’s Dance.” But while Fallon is indeed skilled at mimickry, this show would challenge him further by making him do two different impersonations…of the same celebrity…in the same sketch…at the same time.

If comedians stay in the imitation game long enough, it helps to recognize when the target of the spoof has changed significantly. Dana Carvey was excellent at impersonating Grease-era John Travolta back in the day, but the same impression didn’t work as well for Look Who’s Talking John Travolta. In a sketch that seemed put together solely so that Fallon could prove he’s adept at old and young Travoltas, he played both, in an episode of Family Feud pitting time-travelling ’70s celebrities against modern big names. Travolta, of course, was on both teams, in different forms.

That’s not the sole joke in the sketch: Pete Davidson’s David Blaine is an impression we’d like to see more of, and Harry Styles got meta as young Mick Jagger. But a large portion of the humor involved self-awareness, with Kenan Thompson’s Steve Harvey quite obviously stalling for time so Fallon could run around the camera and change outfits multiple times. Carvey back in the day pre-taped his Ross Perot to seamlessly debate his George H.W. Bush; here, the seams were the point.

We are also one hundred percent on board with the game’s number-one answer to the query of things that keep you up at night. No spoiling, but it’s a fear that keeps us awake too.

Which Travolta do you prefer? Would you want to see any of these celebrity impressions recur? Lave us a comment, because if you’re nah ganna dah, that wouldn’t be prudent.

Images: NBC

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