On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Wednesday night, the late-night host dressed up like Russian president Vladimir Putin to interview Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor and 2008 candidate for Vice President of the United States.
Satirizing Putin’s stoic demeanor, Fallon played Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” on the Russian balalaika, while Sarah Palin chimed in on the flute.
When “Putin” said his March Madness bracket is “totally busted,” he asked Palin how hers is holding up, and she said, “Oh, thanks for asking. Bracket’s good, he’s going to be six this month” — poking fun at her children’s unique names. Sitting on a fur-covered chair, she added, “Bracket just went out with Track and Jacket, and he shot his first bear.”
“Putin” responded, “Interesting, you shoot bear? I prefer hand-to-hand combat…I come from strong genes. President Obama, he come from mom jeans.”
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com