On Saturday night, Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong will become the fourth woman to host the White House Correspondents Dinner solo. It's quite an honor — and she's well-prepared for it, too. Cecily Strong's political SNL sketches have consistently brought the funny since she joined the perennial favorite late-night NBC comedy series in 2012. Aside from embodying fan-favorite "Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party," the 31-year-old comedian has also nailed impersonations of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, CNN's Brooke Baldwin, Paula Broadwell (David Petraeus' biographer), Jeanine Pirro, and many more.
And Strong is feeling the pressure of the high-profile gig. According to an interview in Variety, she's feeling it mostly because her act will follow President Barack Obama's own remarks. “He’s known as an amazingly funny guy,” she said. “He’s maybe our funniest president. You know, his timing is great. He had that moment at the State of the Union where he said [in a comeback to GOP detractors], ‘Well I should know because I won two of them.’ I’ve never said anything that cool on the spot.”
But this funny lady shouldn't worry so much; she has definitely been honing her skills on SNL. Here are six sketches from the show that prove Strong can knock it out of the park when it comes to political comedy.
"Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party" On ISIS (Kind Of)
Hey, even the party girl has rambled her way into talking (badly) about American politics.
As Paula Broadwell, General David Petraeus' Biographer
Strong plays the author of Petraeus' biography in this C-SPAN book reading and it becomes apparent that Broadwell's chapters — and relationship with the former head of the CIA — resembles 50 Shades of Gray.
As MSNBC's Rachel Maddow
Strong donned Maddow's famous haircut for this MSNBC sketch about the 2012 Presidential Debate between Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Colorado, called "the worst thing that ever happened anywhere."
CNN's Brooke Baldwin
Recently, Strong stepped into Baldwin's shoes to talk about current events with some pretty hilarious graphics (and performance art) from the CNN animation department.
Women In the Workplace
As a host of this retro workplace instructional video, Strong lets you know how to handle diverse co-workers in the 1990s — and hilarity ensues.
With all this under her belt, Strong will be sure to get all the laughs among the politicians, journalists, and the president at the dinner.
Images: Dana Edelson/NBC; Giphy
