The Funniest ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast Members Ever — Ranked
Melissa Villaseñor may have actually been underutilized on the show. She had some of the best celebrity impressions in the history of the show. Sarah Silverman, Gwen Stefani, and fellow SNL alumnus Kristen Wiig are just a few of her stellar impressions. Its a real shame she didn’t get to do more of them before exiting the show. Although maybe that has something to do with it.
Mikey Day’s possibly the best straight man that SNL‘s had in recent years. His utter shock and disbelief at the insane things his cast mates do onstage has always been hilarious. But, of course, he’s capable of increasing his own zaniness should the need arise. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done such a good job playing a caricature of Donald Trump Jr. Although, his role as a straight man is always the more prominent one.
Aidy Bryant was a part of the batch of SNL players that announced they were leaving before the season 47 finale. Some of her best known sketches were done with her friend, Kate McKinnon. Of course, she was hilarious on her own as well. Aidy had an interesting combination in that she was able to be an effective straight man or just be the most hilarious, zany character a sketch could call for. Which wasn’t a skill many cast members seemed to have.
While Jason Sudeikis was perfect in straight-man roles, Fred Armisen was the go-to guy when things needed to be a little weird. From Garth and Kat to “¡Show Biz Grande Explosion!” to the nonstop corpsing in “The Californians,” Armisen had a knack for making a sketch seem otherworldly simply by being there. He spent a remarkable 11 seasons as a cast member at “SNL” and wore countless faces while on the show, playing everyone from a Native American comedian to Latino TV hosts to President Barack Obama.
In the rich history of memorable “SNL” impressions, Ana Gasteyer’s take on Martha Stewart has to be one of the all-time classics. For six seasons, she consistently used her everywoman looks and flawless timing to steal scenes from some of the show’s biggest stars. Gasteyer’s outsized performances as Will Ferrell’s operatic-singing wife in The Culps sketches were in direct contrast to her hilarious, hushed work as an NPR radio host on “Delicious Dish” alongside Molly Shannon, showing her broad comedic range.
Chris Rock was destined for bigger things than “SNL,” but his brief run on the show was full of memorable performances. He’s one of the few cast members to be given their own “best of” DVD collection, showing how much he brought to the series in just three seasons in the early 1990s. He did impressions of major celebs like Arsenio Hall and Michael Jackson, to name a couple, and recurring characters like Nat X and the host of “I’m Chillin'” made him a strong Black voice in a show that has often been white to a fault.
Many “SNL” cast members have shown off a knack for impressions but Darrell Hammond was the indisputable master of the art form during his long run on the show. He spent a then-record 14 seasons in the cast before leaving in 2009, doing brilliant takes on people like John McCain, Donald Trump and Ted Koppel, while also giving the comedy world the definitive impression of Bill Clinton. He was typically dialed back but his classic performances as Sean Connery in “Celebrity Jeopardy” showed he could also go big and leave the audience dead.
Speaking of “Celebrity Jeopardy,” Norm Macdonald’s performances as Burt Reynolds on those sketches also helped make them all-time fan favorites. But Macdonald was at his best behind the “Weekend Update” desk, where he anchored for several seasons during the mid-’90s. His unique delivery and fearless jabs made him arguably the best to ever hold that coveted position on “SNL.” His no-holds-barred jokes on “Weekend Update” during the O.J. Simpson murder trial are what many believe led to his sudden firing after just five seasons.
Tim Meadows is part of a tiny club of people who spent at least 10 seasons in the “SNL” cast. He was one of those rare performers who could fit into virtually any sketch without looking out of place or hogging too much attention until it came time to deliver his lines. He once played O.J. Simpson and Al Cowlings in the same sketch and also brought Sammy Davis Jr. and David Dinkins to life during his run on the show, which also included work as a writer. Meadows’ turn as the smooth-as-butter “Ladies Man” Leon Phelps perfectly showed the affability that helped him stick around so long.
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