The other day I said something about memories of someone doing impressions of William F. Buckley, and that I thought it was David Frye. As is usually the case with such unimportant matters, I was right (note that I make no such claims to total recall on matters of any significance).

This was back in the 60s, and when I think back to my first awareness of Mr. Buckley and who he was, I see rubber-faced Frye impersonating him before the real man comes clearly into memory’s focus. I suspect that, young as I was, I may have seen the mimic before I ever did the genuine article — or at least, more often.

Either that, or it’s like Dana Carvey and George H.W. I used to entertain friends with Bush impersonations in the early ’90s (I must have done it too much, because I was once asked to do it while speaking to the Sumter Rotary), but they were really Carvey impersonations. The mimic exaggerates in ways that enable the less talented to get a tentative grip on the impression.

Anyway, since I ran across the video, I thought I’d share it. But you know what I’d really like to find? A skit Frye did on the Smothers Brothers’ show in 1968 — a spoof of the 68 elections done on the outlines of "The Sword in the Stone." Frye did all the characters, as I recall. I’d love to see that again. I’d be indebted to anyone who helped turn it up.

Related Posts

• “Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, tail on his hat…”
• Remember Orison Whipple Hungerford Jr.?
• Maybe it would help to have a POINT to the story
• But he’ll remember with advantages What feats he did that day
• Eleanor Roosevelt as a game show contestant
• Nice job there, Ah-nold
• Here we are now, in a world without Chuck Yeager
• It’s Johnny’s Birthday
• OK, let’s talk about Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’
• And remember, to our generation, it’s all about being cool