Comedian Jim Gaffigan said Thursday that the original inspiration for his impression of Tim Walz on “Saturday Night Live” wasn’t the former vice presidential nominee.
It was his brother Mitch Gaffigan. (Watch the video below.)
Gaffigan said that when his team learned “SNL” was considering him as a potential Walz, they told “SNL” producers that he had already been sharing funny videos in which he pretended to be the Minnesota governor. The problem was, that wasn’t actually true.
And naturally, “SNL” asked for the tapes.
Gaffigan said he learned about this while he was on a film shoot in England, and had to return to his hotel to conjure Walz’s persona and create the funny videos his team had promised “SNL.”
“I changed a lot and tried to do my Tim Walz impression, which is just an impression of my brother Mitch,” he told host Jimmy Kimmel. “I grew up in the Midwest. My brother Mitch, like Governor Walz, is a sweet, sincere, caring guy that tears up watching every sentimental movie he’s ever seen. And so that’s what I submitted, and it worked out.”
Gaffigan played the Democratic veep hopeful with Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris for several episodes leading up to the election, but the Democrats’ defeat has likely ended the gig.
“The Skinny” standup star fondly recalls the compliments he got along the way:
“People were like, ‘You do a great Tim Walz.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m doing Mitch Gaffigan.’”
Fast-forward to 4:00 for Gaffigan’s brotherly shoutout:
Here’s the funnyman with his brother Mitch.
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