In his record setting 14 year stint on
Saturday Night Live, Hammond did 107 impressions, most famously Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Chris Mathews, and Sean Connery. I watched many of those episodes live and in reruns and was always impressed with how accurate he was with so many diverse and very real people. In this autobiography, Hammond explains what he looks for and how he prepares each new impression as well as all of the hard work so many people contribute to put a new episode of
SNL on air each week. As a long time
SNL fan, I really enjoyed his explanations of how the writers, performers, make-up, hair, wardrobe, interns, hosts, and Lorne Michaels work together to make it all look so fun and effortless. He doesn't throw any of his former colleagues under the bus and even has good things to say about the hosts with whom he appeared.
However, the most compelling part of Hammond's autobiography is his continuing fight with mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, and cutting due to his physical and psychological torture by his parents all through his childhood growing up in Melbourne, FL. His mother was a cruel and damaged person who took out her demons on her son, even when he was a toddler, by cutting his tongue with a knife, slamming his hands in doors, and more. She said awful things to him and purposely scared him. Hammond's father was a vet from WWII and Korea who suffered from flashbacks and untreated PTSD and constantly threatened to kill people who made him mad, even his own son. His rages were terrifying, and Hammond coped by drinking beer at a young age and escaping into baseball, which his father loved. His impressions also started at a young age, as that was how he was able to connect with his mother, who also liked to do impressions of their neighbors. The only love he felt as a boy was from the family's African-American maid, Myrtise, to whom this book in dedicated.
Hammond's road to
SNL was a long one; he was 39 when he was hired. How he got there and stayed so long while battling mental illness and substance abuse throughout his tenure is fascinating, sad, horrifying, and incredibly impressive. I highly recommend this book, especially to
SNL fans. Hammond is a true survivor. 273 pages.
