Political Impressions

Politicians are on the campaign trail, and so is Dana Carvey, sort of. For his upcoming three-day run at The Orleans, Carvey is sharpening a Barack Obama impression, which he describes as "a little Ross Perot and a little Bill Clinton."

"When (Obama) is on the stage with his sleeves rolled up, he does have a neat sort of nifty twang to him. When you're one on one, it's not really there," Carvey says.

Carvey's impression of John McCain is even more dead-on as a mix of Johnny Carson's voice and ... Carol Channing's.

"People don't realize McCain has that sort of lockjaw thing, where the jaw's kind of clenched together," Carvey says, then launches into the clenched-jaw impression: "My friends, I understand I sound like Carol Channing and look like an albino chipmunk."

As always, Carvey isn't one of those Hollywood guys who only picks on Republicans. He mocks the way all politicians change their tones at different times. Obama, he says, sounds more churchy with crowds, then less-so in interviews.

Four years ago, Carvey points out, the failed, upper crust Democratic candidate John Kerry tried out a more down-home accent, and it was as fake as could be.

"John Kerry in 2004 was quail hunting: 'I'm gonna bag me a critter!' '' Carvey says.

Even though Carvey is an equal opportunity joker, he helped launch the career of a more regular mocker of conservatives: Stephen Colbert. Before Colbert and Steve Carell got their big breaks on "The Daily Show," they worked on "The Dana Carvey Show."

"We looked at 300 people" during auditions for the 1996 "Carvey" variety show. "And those were the two that really stood out for me."

A few years ago, Carvey had dinner with Colbert, right before the start of "The Colbert Report," and Colbert credited Carvey for putting him and Carell in one sketch in particular, "Waiters Who Are Nauseated By Food," that got both men hired at "The Daily Show."

"He (Colbert) said, 'Well, we both got "The Daily Show" from the sketch, "Nauseating Waiters," which we did on your show.'

"That made me feel good," Carvey says. "So I'm not really a talent scout, but as you go along, every once in a while, you're able to maybe give someone a hand up."

Carvey is proud to say other big talents were on his show, which probably would not have been canceled if it had been on cable. But it was on broadcast TV, which was unforgiving with ratings and controversial sketches.

"We could have sustained it longer, and probably recalibrated. But at that point, the energy dissipated. (Future screenwriting great) Charlie Kaufman was there, working on a screenplay, and I had to get in his face and say, 'Chuck, you're here to write sketches.' "

"The Dana Carvey Show" is available for download through the various pay services, and Carvey says it's going to DVD soon.

If you're wondering where Carvey has been, he took off for 15 years to focus on his family, performing about 50 dates a year and doing a few movies, but mostly staying close to home with his wife and two sons.

"Two life forms changed me," he says.

To be as big as Carvey was more than a decade ago, "you just have to be totally focused" on career.

"It was (all work, all the time) for me in my 20s and 30s -- literally everything I ever thought about every second. Now it's kind of fun. But I'm getting older and they (family members) want me to leave and do work."

He says he was never truly satisfied living primarily as a celebrity.

"Some of us really have an attraction-repulsion with that level of fame," he says.

Now, he's writing a few movies. He's going to parent-teacher meetings. And he's happy to be doing stand-up, just as he has since 1977.

"An hour-20 with 800 people staring at you is something I have to do to stay fit mentally," he says. "Just the fear of bombing really sharpens your mind."

What sucks: Carvey spent a bunch of time learning other political impressions, then market forces turned on him.

"I spent months on (Rudy) Giuliani and boom, he's out!" Carvey says. "Tell me who's going to win so I can work on them."

Doug Elfman's column appears on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.