Joe Piscopo’s funniest sketches on SNL: a long blog with details on specific moments of Joe Piscopo’s SNL career.
A few weeks ago, when I wrote about the best sketches from SNL’s 1990-1991 season, I mentioned that I would post some more thoughts on the top ten cast members of that era.
So, here is the first installment of my list: my thoughts on the two best performers from that year, Mike Myers and Joe Piscopo.
Joe Piscopo’s first appearance on SNL was in season 6, 1980. He became a regular cast member the following year. He is well known for his impressions of celebrities, most notably Frank Sinatra and Eddie Murphy.
Here are some of Joe Piscopo’s funniest sketches on SNL:
Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York” with Liza Minnelli as Nancy Reagan (Season 7, 1981)
Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra singing “You’re So Vain” (Season 7, 1981)
Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra singing “The Lady is a Tramp” with Billy Crystal as Sammy Davis Jr and Martin Short as Dean Martin (Season 8, 1982)
Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra singing “You Will Be My Music” with Christopher Guest (Season 9, 1983)
Joe Piscopo was hired as a writer/utility player for SNL in 1980 and elevated to featured player in 1981, the same year as Eddie Murphy. This was a particularly good year for the show, as these two (along with another unknown named Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gave it its first infusion of fresh talent since the firing of Chevy Chase had nearly killed the show.
Piscopo’s big break came when Eddie left the show and he became one of the stars of SNL during the 1982-83 season, along with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. Unfortunately, Williams and Crystal were movie stars who only appeared on SNL occasionally; Piscopo was an SNL regular who seemed like a movie star. In fact, he is one of only three or four people (including Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell and maybe Mike Myers) who achieved this distinction during SNL’s history.
I think Piscopo’s most famous sketch is his Frank Sinatra impersonation (you can watch it on YouTube). It’s almost always included in any clip show of classic SNL moments, even though Piscopo only did it twice! In fact, I would argue that Eddie Murphy’s impersonation
When most people think of SNL alumni, the first name that comes to mind is Eddie Murphy. But one could make an argument for Joe Piscopo being the funniest person to ever come out of SNL in its first five years. Whereas Murphy was a movie star in the making, Piscopo didn’t really have a future in film (although he did star in a few movies like Johnny Dangerously). So, instead, we remember him as being a brilliant sketch comedian.
Piscopo’s career on SNL lasted from 1980-1984, and he has the distinction of being one of only four cast members from 1980-1981 to last more than one season (another was Eddie Murphy). However, considering how brilliant his work was, he definitely deserved to be held over.
It’s not hard to see why Piscopo was such a hit; his impressions were spot on and hilarious. In this article I’m going to run down my five favorite Joe Piscopo sketches from his time on SNL.
Joe Piscopo is widely regarded as one of the great comedic actors in the history of Saturday Night Live. In the 80s, he was known for his impressions of Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen, but it was his original characters that made him a core member of the SNL cast.
His Joe Piscopo character became famous for his frequently-used catchphrase “that’s all folks!” His portrayal of a fat man who was always struggling to lose weight turned Joe Piscopo into a household name.
When people talk about the 80s, they think about Joe Piscopo. They think about his character from SNL, Fatso Johnson, and how he would always struggle to lose weight before gaining it back.
Joe Piscopo’s most memorable SNL sketches include Fatso Johnson and his impression of Bruce Springsteen. His time on SNL helped propel him to stardom and he later went on to appear in various television shows and movies.
When Joe Piscopo joined the cast of SNL he was not a known name. He had some work on TV and radio, but he was mostly known as a stand-up comedian. When he joined the cast, Eddie Murphy was also new to the show and Piscopo had worked with him before on a now defunct TV show called “Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell”.
When Piscopo first took over the Weekend Update segment, viewers didn’t know what to expect. Jerry Seinfeld was also a co-anchor for the segment but left after one season.
Piscopo has been called a “triple threat” due to his acting, singing and writing ability. In 1983, he released an album called “Phunny Business” that included some of his best-known characters from SNL such as Frank Sinatra, Woody Allen and David Letterman.
As much as we love Jerry Seinfeld, he is not the only reason why we think Joe Piscopo should be considered one of the best Saturday Night Live performers of all time.
Joe Piscopo is an actor, comedian, and radio talk show host. Piscopo was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and attended West Essex High School. Piscopo gained fame as a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s where he played a variety of recurring characters. He is most known for his impressions of Frank Sinatra, whom he also portrayed on film in the 1982 TV biopic The First
The best part of being a kid in the 90s was getting to grow up with all of your favorite actors from the 80s. This was the time when several of the greatest and most popular actors were coming into their prime, and we were there to witness it all happen. Some of them have gone on to become even better and more popular than they were back then, but one thing that hasn’t changed is how much fun it is to watch them perform.
The following list contains ten of the most famous actors from the 80s who went on to become even more famous during their time in the 90s. This is not a ranking of all-time greats; instead it’s an attempt at looking back at some of those actors who had their biggest impact during this decade while also recognizing what they did before
