While it can be fun to watch Senator Al Franken publicly expose unqualified Cabinet nominees or stump for the interests of his constituents in the great state of Minnesota, it can be equally fun to go back and revisit some moments from his storied career in comedy, from his work in the late-’70s on Saturday Night Live to his work in the mid-’90s on Saturday Night Live. So, take a break from C-SPAN for a minute and enjoy this video from 1982 of a future U.S. Senator doing an incredible Mick Jagger impression.
This clip comes from a live show Franken did with his long-time writing partner Tom Davis while the two of them were taking a hiatus from SNL for the duration of the Dick Ebersol years until Lorne Michaels returned in 1985. The duo toured college campuses with a sketch variety show that featured “a representative from ‘Whiskey distilleries of America’ tutoring students on what to do if you’re drunk and absolutely have to drive… a test to see if audience members may be too stoned to be among people,” and other early-’80s-college-campus-appropriate material. For their rendition of “Under My Thumb,” Franken donned some outrageously tight pants and showed off his Jagger-esque chicken walk while Davis filled in for Keith Richards.
While promoting his new book, Giant Of The Senate, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Franken made reference to the performance saying that people’s general response to seeing him jump around stage with his pouty lips was, “Wow. Who knew?”