Ana Gasteyer once caught Jimmy Carter 'laughing hysterically' at Dan Aykroyd's “SNL” impression of him

Ana Gasteyer had an interesting childhood as the friend of first kid Amy Carter. She was present at the Camp David Accords, she bopped in and out of the White House for sleepovers, and one time she even caught President Jimmy Carter cracking up with a beer in his hand while watching Dan Aykroyd's impression of him on the buzzy new variety show Saturday Night Live.

Gasteyer was only around 10 or 11 at the time, but even then she knew how powerful comedy was that even the "leader of the free world" could laugh at himself.

Gasteyer visited the Las Culturistas podcast hosted by SNL star Bowen Yang and commander general in Mariah Carey's lambily army Matt Rogers. When asked their standard question — "What was the culture that made you say culture was for you?" — Gasteyer, still reeling from the election, could only think of this anecdote.

"It's gonna sound really humble-braggy, but it is about SNL, and it's about the importance of laughter. I can't believe I just said that," she said, noting how she usually mocks people who tout "the importance of laughter" and such.

Gasteyer grew up in D.C. and became friends with Amy Carter, who, like little Ana, also played the violin.

Related: Watch Martha Stewart get surprised by SNL impersonator Ana Gasteyer on The Drew Barrymore Show: 'You look better than I look!'

"And so I weirdly had this, like, whole childhood life in middle school where I would go and, like, sleep over at the White House and go to Camp David," Gasteyer recalled. "I went to Camp David during the Camp David Accords. I played the violin for [Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat and [Israeli Prime Minister] Menachem Begin.... I watched Star Wars with the Sadats. Insane."

So one evening, Gasteyer's sleeping over at the White House, and she and Amy Carter head out for a late-night snack. Then she sees Amy's dad, who's usually off doing Commander-in-Chief things, being all dad-like, watching the "radical" new satirical show SNL.

"Sort of in the middle of the White House living area, President Jimmy Carter was sitting in a chair with a burgundy V-neck and a beer, and he was watching Dan Aykroyd play himself on Saturday Night Live, and he was laughing hysterically," Gasteyer said, noting that Carter "understood that it was funny" and that she realized "there was a power to that."

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While the "surrealness" of the moment stayed with her all these years, Gasteyer finds particular relevance in our current sociopolitical climate.

Related: The best Saturday Night Live cast members, ranked

"The ability to laugh at things and the ability to pull yourself out of situations and to find what's funny about it," she explained. "I can't even believe I'm saying this, but the gift that humor does actually give us as a piece of storytelling and political commentary.... I feel like we're gonna have a lot of places in this new era where news has proven itself to be untrustworthy and social media... maybe we idiotic performers will be able to tell the truth a little bit."

Listen to Gasteyer's full interview on Las Culturistas above.

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