Is SNL's Kristen Wiig The New Dan Aykroyd?

[tehMot...@gmail.com]

It was meant as a compliment and Kristen Wiig genuinely was flattered.

"Oh, thank you," Wiig said when it was suggested to her that when
comparing the current Saturday Night Live cast, of which Wiig is a
member, to the classic SNL casts, she is the new Dan Aykroyd.

Not in the looks department, of course. Wiig is quite fetching,
especially in person. And Dan? ... well, we love him, but we recall
Homer Simpson proudly proclaiming at one point that he and Dan Aykroyd
share some physical attributes. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, the heart of the compliment was based on talent.

Back in SNL's early days, John Belushi's characters always were sort
of like John Belushi, and Bill Murray's characters always were sort of
like Bill Murray. Not that they weren't hilarious, but those larger-
than-life comedians always tended to play versions of themselves.

Aykroyd, on the other hand, was the guy who had to become different
people. He never seemed to be playing a version of himself. And that
versatility allowed the skits to go in all kinds of different
directions.

These days, Wiig has grown into that role on SNL.

She joined the cast in 2005, but in the past two seasons she has gone
from someone you saw occasionally to someone who seems to be in just
about every skit.

Wiig is that kind of blank-slate comedian who changes in every skit
and never merely is drawing upon her own persona.

"I don't know, I guess that's true," said Wiig, a 34-year-old native
of Rochester, N.Y. "I don't ever play myself on the show, so I guess
that's what you mean.

"I prefer that, I think, to go on stage and be a character in a sketch
rather than go out and be myself. It's less pressure for me, I think,
yeah."

Wiig's talent was on full display a few weeks ago, during a skit in
which SNL guest-host Christopher Walken was playing a grandfather who
was trying to plan a surprise party for his granddaughter.

The whole skit was based upon the reactions of Wiig's character, who
was just so excited about the prospect of throwing a surprise party
that she couldn't contain herself. It was one of those five-minute
segments where you come away from it thinking, "Man, she is really
talented."

Another recent favourite was Wiig's high-strung impression of an
almost-50-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, who has eaten so much of the
yogurt she's advertising that she develops an uncontrollable case of
the runs.

"I don't want to do just an impression, where I just look and sound
like someone," Wiig said. "Like when Darrell Hammond does Sean
Connery, yes, he sounds like him and looks like him, but the best part
for me is he's so vulgar, and that's the character (Hammond) put with
that. So that's the challenge for me, to try to find that thing in a
person."

In a new episode of Saturday Night Live tomorrow on Global and NBC,
Shia LaBeouf is the host, with musical guest My Morning Jacket. The
season-finale is next week, with Steve Carell as host and musical
guest Usher.

It has been an okay year for SNL overall. Things always pick up for
the show when it's an election year in the United States, although we
must say, Amy Poehler's impression of Hillary Clinton and Fred
Armisen's impression of Barack Obama both leave us a tad cold.

Poehler looks and laughs like Clinton, but to our ears, Poehler's
voice doesn't conjure Clinton at all. Nit-picky, we know, but it just
doesn't quite work for us. And Armisen neither looks nor sounds like
Obama, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Armisen isn't
black, which predictably became an issue south of the border.

Anyway, for all of SNL's successes and failures, Kristen Wiig is
firing on all cylinders right now. Let's hope she decides to stick
around for a few more years.

Wiig is the one who is kind of holding it all together. Just like Dan
Aykroyd before her.

[Daniel L. Bateman]

I've caught a few SNLs recently and was thinking the same thing, Wiig
is really talented and she really tried hard at each role. Plus she's
easy on the eyes.

[Master Ninja]

I just saw her in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", and she pretty
good there too. I wish she was in the movie more though.

[remys...@yahoo.com]

She's got potential, although the nasal pathological liar is being
overdone. She should concentrate on getting another schtick going
before it really gets tired. She ought to grab one of Maya's celeb
impersonations, or keep Amy Poehler from grabbing the next one.
Something bright and cheery for contrast. Then work on a full palate.
Right now, the character development is at a point where she has to
push to make the humor happen. The best characters don't have to say a
word, you're already laughing.

[royz]

shes good sometimes, but she seems like she went to the molly shannon school
of comedy, regarding her characters.(ie: it will be funny as long as I use a
weird voice and yell and spaz out a lot.... target lady, birthday surprise
lady, aunt linda and so on...)

[condum...@gmail.com]

On May 9, 10:40 am, "MikeMWired...@live.com" <tehMottJu...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I couldn't agree more.
She and Amy Poehler have been getting really dominant lately.
I noticed right from the start that she was quite a cut above the
standard SNL fare.
She has her misses here and there (that " nasal pathological liar" is
indeed way overdone) , but she just nails practically everything she
tries.
A few weeks ago her portrayal of Pam from The Office was deadly.
And tonight she she really got Suze Ormon so incredibly right.
I really think both she and Poehler aren't going to stay much longer.
They're destined for major movies, or at the very least their own
shows.

[remys...@yahoo.com]

On May 11, 1:06 am, condumbnat...@gmail.com wrote:

> I couldn't agree more.
> She and Amy Poehler have been getting really dominant lately.
> I noticed right from the start that she was quite a cut above the
> standard SNL fare.
> She has her misses here and there (that " nasal pathological liar" is
> indeed way overdone) , but she just nails practically everything she
> tries.

Her "meteoric" rise seems to have a lot to Maya's departure after the
writer's strike, of which I have still have no idea why. But being
able to go toe to toe with Amy Adams said a lot about her.

> A few weeks ago her portrayal of Pam from The Office was deadly.

That too.

[Jim Roberts]

> Her "meteoric" rise seems to have a lot to Maya's departure after the
> writer's strike, of which I have still have no idea why.

Kristin was impressive long before Maya left.

[Rrstictat]

She has nice tit's, that's for sure...

smjke
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[B. Peg]

> "Rrstictat" wrote in message:

> She has nice tit's, that's for sure...

She has? As in any???

Boney knees though.

[remys...@yahoo.com]

On May 12, 1:33 am, Jim Roberts <jim.robe...@cavtel.net> wrote:

> Kristin was impressive long before Maya left.

Yeah, but there's almost no way that a newbie usurps an established
performer's screen time on the show. Lorne and company had to
scramble to replace Maya and cover her screen time. They got a new
actress and Kristen had her opening.

[Sweetooch]

"B. Peg" <bent_...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in news:g%WVj.276$hJ5.139
@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com:

>> She has nice tit's, that's for sure...
>
> She has? As in any???
>
> Boney knees though.
>

And a very sweet kooch, too.
Did she bop Steve Martin?

ct

[teg]

I agree that Dan Aykroyd was one of the most diverse cast members in
the history of SNL and was very good at playing multiple roles. I have
yet to see a lot of Wiig's skits, but some of my friends rave about
her all the time and one even has a personal fan site. It is always
refreshing to have a comedian be portrayed as very well rounded and
not constantly being cast in the same roles in the show and in future
movies if they make it big.