Jimmy Fallon And Mick Jagger's Mirror Sketch On SNL Almost Didn't Make It To Air
Jimmy Fallon has always had a knack for impressions, and when he does break out his Neil Young or Bob Dylan it's a welcome break from the unctuousness of his talk show. But before he moved down a couple of floors at 30 Rock, he spent his time in the building's hallowed studio 8H as part of the main cast on "Saturday Night Live." During that time we got a lot more of his comedy and impression chops than his exaggerated "look at us bonding" laughter which he can't seem to stop on "The Tonight Show" (once you watch Vic Berger's Vine, where Fallon and Jake Gyllenhaal enjoy a "comedy joke," you probably won't be able to sit through a "Tonight Show" interview again).
When he wasn't being sabotaged by Will Ferrell and breaking during sketches, Fallon was actually doing a decent job of being funny during his run on "SNL" from 1998 to 2004. The young comedian stood out by bringing an appreciation for pop music history to his impressions — whether it was his unhinged take on Barry Gibb or even his musical interpretation of fellow "SNL" alum Adam Sandler. He even performed an impressively choreographed take on David Bowie's "Let's Dance" when he returned to "SNL" as host in 2017.
But there was one impression that Fallon almost didn't get to do, despite it being one of his better sketches. This one involved Mick Jagger and was almost nixed by "SNL" overlord Lorne Michaels. Luckily, even the seemingly omnipotent show creator couldn't overrule the legendary Rolling Stones frontman.
'That sketch has been done a million times'
The sketch in question saw Fallon finding an excuse to do his Jagger impression by literally acting as his reflection. As the "Tonight Show" host recalled in a 2022 interview, he was planning a bit where he would play the famously expressive singer in the mirror, only for Michaels to immediately shoot the idea down: "Lorne goes, 'Please don't do that. That sketch has been done a million times. Groucho Marx did it, Lucille Ball did it. It's just been done.'"
Fallon then started pitching a ton of alternative ideas to Jagger, including one where the two of them would be working at a Sunglass Hut and another where Jagger would be playing a cloned version of Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Unfortunately, Jagger wasn't too impressed with any of these, and politely turned them all down. As Fallon recalled:
"This went on for 20 minutes. Sweat is coming down my face, and I'm about to leave. I go, 'What about, you're in the mirror, and I'm on the other side as you.' And he goes, 'Hey, that's a funny idea. I like that.' We wrote it on a Friday night, which is rare for SNL, and it did really well during dress. And then on air, it destroyed."
It sounds like once the sketch got such a good reaction, Michaels had no choice but to let Fallon and Jagger do their back-and-forth in the live show — a risky move for a cast member to make but one that clearly paid off.
We miss the old Fallon
The sketch itself is kind of charming more than it is funny. Fallon's Jagger impression is pretty good but the obvious fun the two are having is what gives the sketch some staying power. Jagger especially seems to be quite amused by Fallon's animated take on his accent and although there's not much to the whole thing beyond one guy doing his impression of the other, it stands as an endearing little interaction that Seth Myers called an "iconic sketch." In fact, during that chat with his fellow late-night talk show host, Fallon spoke more about the genesis of the whole bit. It turns out he also pitched Jagger the idea of the two of them being in a wedding band, which was also met with a "not really my thing."
Personally, I like sketch performer Fallon more than the "Tonight Show" version. I'd rather watch him impersonate legendary vocalists than crack up at a barely amusing joke and repeatedly tap his guest's knee in some forced attempt to gain their favor. Then again, there was that hilarious time the talk show Jimmys swapped places for an April Fools day prank ... Maybe Lorne Michaels should try to be around a bit more to repeat his sage advice: "please don't do that."