Saturday Night Live’’ comedian and impressionist Darrell Hammond is making friends in high places thanks to his dead-on impressions of celebrities like Dan Rather, Regis Philbin, Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

“I was invited once to do a private show for (Vice President Dick) Cheney and some Republican congressmen,’’ Hammond says. “I've done dinners with Clinton a couple times when I've performed. I've done a dinner with Bush and Cheney in which I've performed ...

“I mean playing for the president of the United States — in my simple mind I don't really know what an honor is that's really better than that. I suppose you could win an Oscar and that would be pretty trippy. When presidents and vice presidents compliment you and want you to hang out, you gotta feel like you're doing some pretty good work.’’

"SNL" redefined doing impressions, Hammond says. “Before ‘Saturday Night Live’ people would work on an impression for years and you would do the same material every night. Suddenly with ‘SNL,’ you would be working on impressions for two days. Every assignment you get is either sometime between Wednesday and Saturday night. It's a pressure game — the phrase that we use around (‘SNL’) is ‘I got 70 percent of the impression.’ And 70 percent is good enough to go on the air with. It's good enough to get a laugh with.’’

Hammond says a sketch where his mumbling Sean Connery verbally abuses Will Ferrell's Alex Trebek in a ‘‘Jeopardy’’ parody is a favorite of ‘‘SNL’’ fans.

“That is the most popular thing I've ever done,’’ he says. “I'll do colleges and there will be 18-year-olds there and 60- year-olds there. That's their favorite. I don't know how to explain it. ‘‘It's a sketch that wasn't even supposed to work. We're like, ‘Sean Connery making fun of Alex Trebek? What?’ It was one of those ones where we had to turn something in. Who knew?’’

Making an impression
‘Saturday Night Live’ comedian makes stand-up stop at Tempe Improv
Details
Who: Darrell Hammond
When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Tempe Improv, 930 E. University Drive
How much: $24-$27
Info: and www.tempeimprov.com