Great Imitations

Tools    





This is one of my favourites – I was actually thinking about it tonight – and in fact I saw it on broadcast:




Great thread, Tongo!
I love impressions. Most people never knew what a great impressionist Bobby Darrin was. Now, I've heard a lot of people impersonate Jerry Lewis, but I never heard anyone impersonate Jerry's singing - Bobby nails it at 7:48...




This might just do nobody any good.
I keep reading the title of this thread as “Great Limitations”, like it’s some jaded sequel by Charles Dickens.



This one is for @gbgoodies

We were talking about Paul Lynde a while back and I found this on YouTube.
While it's not perfect (outside of Rich Little & Seth MacFarlane) it's one of the best I've ever heard...




I keep reading the title of this thread as “Great Limitations”, like it’s some jaded sequel by Charles Dickens.
Dickens is what I thought when I skimmed the title.

*yes I realize this is an old post I'm replying too.



These guys would be spectacular if only the guy who did Jerry Lewis had the voice down better.

He's got the look & mannerisms down, and the singing isn't too bad, but when he speaks the voice is so off that it's noticeable (and Jerry Lewis is not that hard to imitate).
The guy is doing some kind of Jersey accent, but it's not Jerry Lewis's accent (if you look them up in some other videos that has "Jerry" speaking more you'll hear how bad it is). I assuming that's why "Jerry's" speaking parts seem kind of limited in these clips.

The guy doing Deano, OTOH, is great, especially with the singing.




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
This one is for @gbgoodies

We were talking about Paul Lynde a while back and I found this on YouTube.
While it's not perfect (outside of Rich Little & Seth MacFarlane) it's one of the best I've ever heard...


I've never heard of Michael Airington, but that was a very good impression of Paul Lynde. He has his mannerisms almost spot on.
__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



The following 3 videos are from SNL and contain some great impersonations, but I want to point out Bill Hader's Allan Alda. I've never heard anyone imitate Alan Alda, but Hader's impression is spot on. Each video contains Hader doing Alda.








You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The following 3 videos are from SNL and contain some great impersonations, but I want to point out Bill Hader's Allan Alda. I've never heard anyone imitate Alan Alda, but Hader's impression is spot on. Each video contains Hader doing Alda.






I wasn't really impressed with his Alan Alda impression, but I thought his Al Pacino impression was perfect.

I also liked the Hugh Grant and Ellen Degeneres impressions.



I wasn't really impressed with his Alan Alda impression, but I thought his Al Pacino impression was perfect.

I also liked the Hugh Grant and Ellen Degeneres impressions.
I think my fascination with Hader's Alan Alda is because I've never heard one other person do Alda. So, to be that close with an impression of a celebrity that no one else does (or maybe no one else can do) is impressive to me.

Hader's Pacino is good too, but dozens of people imitate Pacino. (Hoo-Ha!)
I'm impressed with anyone who can do young Pacino (from The Godfather era) when his voice was much higher and more nasally without all the low-pitched growling.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I think my fascination with Hader's Alan Alda is because I've never heard one other person do Alda. So, to be that close with an impression of a celebrity that no one else does (or maybe no one else can do) is impressive to me.

Hader's Pacino is good too, but dozens of people imitate Pacino. (Hoo-Ha!)
I'm impressed with anyone who can do young Pacino (from The Godfather era) when his voice was much higher and more nasally without all the low-pitched growling.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone do an Alan Alda impression either, so I guess on that scale, it was a pretty good impression.

For me, a good impression is one that if I look away from the person doing the impression, I can figure out who they're supposed to be impersonating. And if I can look at them and kind of see the person that they're impersonating too, that's a great impression.

The most annoying thing for me is when someone does an impression, but just before they start, they tell you who they're going to be doing. If they have to tell me who it is, then it's probably not good enough.


One of my favorites is Kevin Pollack's "Star Trek" routine. (It starts at about 1 minute into this video.)




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
FYI, the ending of that is not the original ending. This ending was changed because he was doing a stand-up comedy routine about the Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano.


The original version is on the Star Trek Comedy - The Unofficial Album.

It starts at about 5:52 in this video: