In North America
From the 1970s, Rich Little (Canadian expatriate working in America) has been the pre-eminent impressionist, mimicking politicians and celebrities. Performers in the Saturday Night Live cast have regularly performed impressions of politicians and celebrities. SNL alum and current host of NBC's Late Night, Jimmy Fallon, rose to fame with stand-up comedy acts featuring him doing impressions of many celebrities in varying scenarios such as auditioning for a Troll doll commercial. Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is also known for his uncanny impressions of other movie stars, and during his appearance on Inside The Actor's Studio, demonstrated nine of these upon request, including Katharine Hepburn, Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon. Frank Caliendo has recently come to fame for his impressions as well.
Impressionists are a major part of animation; many film and television cartoons (especially adaptations of franchises) used impressions of famous celebrities of the era. Voice actors who are or were known for their celebrity impressions include Daws Butler, Mel Blanc, Don Messick, Maurice LaMarche, and Rob Paulsen.
Some impressionists have more specialized acts in the art. For example, the Canadian comedian, André-Philippe Gagnon and the American Greg London are impressionists who impersonate celebrity singing voices. Legends In Concert produces musical impressionist shows known as tribute artist productions.
Read more about this topic: Impressionist (entertainment)
Famous quotes containing the words north america, north and/or america:
“We might hypothetically possess ourselves of every technological resource on the North American continent, but as long as our language is inadequate, our vision remains formless, our thinking and feeling are still running in the old cycles, our process may be “revolutionary” but not transformative.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“Why does man freeze to death trying to reach the North Pole? Why does man drive himself to suffer the steam and heat of the Amazon? Why does he stagger his mind with the mathematics of the sky? Once the question mark has arisen in the human brain the answer must be found, if it takes a hundred years. A thousand years.”
—Walter Reisch (1903–1963)
“I am reminded by my journey how exceedingly new this country still is. You have only to travel for a few days into the interior and back parts even of many of the old States, to come to that very America which the Northmen, and Cabot, and Gosnold, and Smith, and Raleigh visited.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)