Bobcats, assemble. Youâve had two chances to watch James Austin Johnsonâs impeccable Bob Dylan impression on SNL, which is evolving at the rate of a Modern Timesâera PokĂŠmon. Johnson earned his grand debut in a promo last month that teased Dylan as a new staffer whoâs incapable of writing good material for host John Mulaney, which was followed by an actual sketch on December 7 of the musician spewing profundities on the red carpet for A Complete Unknown. If Johnson got his way, though, we wouldâve seen his impression well before then if pesky song rights hadnât gotten in the way. Speaking with Uproxx, he revealed yet another music idea of his that had to be cut after a table read due to being âtoo expensiveâ for the show to justify. Transport yourself back to the greatest night in pop and get a load of this:
One of my most famous âalmost on the showâ pieces was Andrew Dismukes and I did Bob and Bruce Springsteen standing side by side in the choir on the chorus of âWe Are the World.â And weâre chit-chatting about our sandwich orders. Iâm really proud of it. Itâs one of the hardest weâve ever laughed writing something, and then it murdered at the table. Bob is like, âI got the herbed chicken breast. That sounds good, right? You ever have that herbed chicken breast?â Then Bruce is like, âI got a meatball sub. Iâm still waiting on it.â
Donât worry, we wouldâve gotten the sandwich orders of a few other soloists:
Then he goes, âBob, donât look now. Looks like Cyndi Lauper just got her muffaletta.â And then it cuts to Sarah Sherman as Cyndi Lauper getting ready to munch on a muffaletta. Then we have to sing the chorus. Then Bob and Bruce notice that Hall & Oates got their sandwich. âShit!â Then we have to sing the chorus again.
The obvious thing to do was try to get Stevie Wonder to handle it, but in the meantime, Johnson has a cameo in A Complete Unknown. Try to find him!